History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 4

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 758

USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Bond County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The first Justices' or County Commissioners' Court ever held in the county, met at Perry- ville in the month of October, 1818. The Jus- tices were Thomas Kirkpatrick, Martin Jones and Isaac Price. Daniel Converse was Clerk, and Samuel G. Morse, Sheriff, Converse being Clerk of both Circuit and County Courts. The principal business of this first court at Perry- ville seems to have been rewarding persons for killing wolves, 82 being the amount paid for each scalp produced. There were thirty-five orders passed allowing pay for wolf-scalps, and it appears that fifty-one wolves had been killed. The whole amount of money expended by the county for the year previous, as stated by the Sheriff, was $97.75, which was probably mostly for wolf-scalps.

Among the orders passed at this term of the court was one for the erection of a jail at Perry- ville, giving plan and specifications of the build- ing. It appears to be the only order of any im- portance passed after remnnerating the wolf- killers ; a jail, whether needed or not, being evi- dently considered as a mark of civilization, or, at least, tending in that direction. After perus- ing this order, the reader can form his own con- clusions as to the condition of the literature and architecture of Bond County at that time, and picture to himself the imposing appearance such a building would now present if located in the public square of Greenville. The follow- ing is the order, given word for word and letter for letter :

Ordered that Martin Jones be appointed and Em- powered to let a Gail to the lowest Bidder to bee built in the following Manner : twelve by eighteen feet in the clear, to bee built of timber hewn square 12 Inches, the log with a partition of the same kind of Timber, the partition to be 6 feet from one end, the corners to be dove-tailed together and also the

partion walls, -the outside door to be double, of two Inch plank, and sufficiently mailed with Strong nails and barred with two Iron barrs, half an inch thick and three inches wide, to answer for the hinges, to be hinged with steeples 2 of an Inch in Diameter drove through the Logs and Clinched, and also stee- ples through the logs in the same manner on the other side of the door, with holes through the bolts to Lock the door with Pad Locks to each.

This jail was built, but not strictly in ac- cordance with the above order, for if it had, it would have been without roof or floor. It is likely the architect, supplied with his inventive powers what was omitted in the specifications. The first man ever imprisoned in Bond County was incarcerated in this building during the first Circuit Court held at Perryville. He came into court not only a little "tight," but very drunk, swearing and making quite a disturb- ance. The Judge ordered him to jail until he became sober, which order was promptly exe- cuted by the Sheriff. That worthy official, how- ever, found it impossible to lock the door, for the reason that there had been no padlock pro- vided. as stipulated in the building contract, but as the door opened to the outside, he closed it and placed fence-rails and poles against it, making everything, as he thought, secure. This was late in the afternoon, near sunset. The pris- oner lay down and soon fell asleep. About mid- night he awoke, duly sober. and finding himself in such a place, was at first much surprised, but after a little reflection, recollected his con- dition the day before, and imagined that some- body had put him in there for mischief. After groping around the walls awhile, he found the door, and by pushing, kicking. swearing and yelling till almost daylight, succeeded in get- ting out. The next day he was going about trying to find the perpetrators of the outrage, swearing he could whip any man that helped to put him in there, never for a moment sup- posing that an order of court had anything to do with it.

Some idea of the sparseness of the settle-

HISTORY OF BOND COUNTY.

ments at that time may be obtained from the fact that a party of three or four lawyers, on their way to the above-named court, got lost in crossing the prairie between Shoal Creek and the Okaw. After wandering about for several hours, vainly endeavoring to discover some signs of a human habitation, night overtook them, and they were compelled to pass it in the tall grass near a pond, where, bitten by mos- quitoes and gnats, and serenaded by hundreds of wolves and myriads of frogs, their medita- tions were anything but pleasant. They ar- rived at their destination the next forenoon, hungry and sleepy, where their acquaintances accused them of having been on a spree the night previous, judging from the reddened ap- pearance of their countenances.

The courts continued to meet at Perryville for more than three years, and until Greenville was laid out and established as the permanent county seat, which occurred in 1821. In the chapters devoted to the history of Greenville, the erection of the public buildings will be fully given. For several years Bond County contin- ned to exercise jurisdiction over a large extent of territory, as the following will serve to show : At one of the Justices' Courts, held at Perry- ville, an order was passed at a subsequent ses- sion, when a license was granted authorizing one Jones "to establish and keep in operation a ferry over the Okaw River at Vandalia." This large territory, however, was curtailed, as we have seen, in the organization, some years later, of Fayette, Montgomery and Clinton

Counties. Notwithstanding the rough state of society then existing, and that the county con- tained some pretty " hard cases," yet the laws were, with few exceptions, strictly and prompt- ly executed, without any serious resistance or attempts at lynching. The only case of the latter was that of a man named Baker, arrested on Big Shoal Creek for horse-stealing, where he was tied to a tree, whipped, and then driven from the county. He went to Vandalia, stole another horse, and started east, but was pur- sued, overtaken and shot near the Indiana line. The precise date of this occurrence is not known, but was probably about the year 1820.

Bond County, in its civil organization, dif- fers from a majority of the counties in the State, in that it is not governed by township rule, or more properly speaking, is not under township organization. For civil purposes it is divided into ten election precincts, which do not correspond in territorial boundaries with the Congressional survey, but are laid off accord- ing to the best advantage, or to suit the will of the people. These precincts, which are more fully described in other chapters, devoted to each severally, are as follows : Greenville, Ripley, Cottonwood Grove, La Grange, Poca- hontas, Beaver Creek, Okaw, Fairview, Mulber- ry Grove and Zion. These, as we have said, are more minutely described in chapters which are devoted exclusively to them, and in which everything of interest in regard to them are fully given.

HISTORY OF BOND COUNTY.

CHAPTER IV .*

AGRICULTURE IN EARLY TIMES-THE FIRST PLOWS USED-HORSE COLLARS, HARNESS, TRACE CHAINS, ETC .- " GREEN HEADS"-WHEAT, AND THE MODE OF HARVESTING IT-AN INCI-

DENT - HOG RAISING-DIFFICULTIES OF TEAMING - ROADS TO ST. LOUIS AND

SPRINGFIELD-A SERMON ON A LOAD OF APPLES-BUILDING MILLS AND OTHER MANUFACTORIES, ETC., ETC.

THE inhabitants of Bond County are an in- telligent, industrious and enterprising people, and are engaged mainly in agricultural pursuits. In the early history of the country, when Southern Illinois was but sparsely settled. agriculture was in a very rude state, when com- pared to the science to which it is now reduced. The prime cause of this was the great lack of agricultural implements, which were few in number and of simple construction. Inventive genius and Yankee enterprise had not yet been employed in this direction to any great extent. The plows in common use when the first settle- ments were made within the present limits of the county of Bond were of a rude character, and of three kinds, viz., the " bar-shear," the " shovel" and the " bull-tongue." To attempt a description of the bar-shear plow would be useless, as those who never saw one could scarcely understand the description ; like the alligator, it must be seen to be appreciated. It was constructed on about as simple a plan as could be imagined, having a heavy wooden mold-board to turn the soil. The shovel plow is yet in use and need not be. described. The bull-tongue was like the shovel, though nar- rower and longer.

With such implements as these it was im- possible to do good plowing, the ground being merely scratched over instead of broken up deep. The harrows then had wooden instead of iron teeth ; but a heavy brush drawn by a

pair of horses or oxen usually served in their place. As there were no seed drills of any kind, the grain was all sown by hand, and cov- ered by brushing or harrowing. Horse-collars were made by plaiting and sewing together corn-husks. They were constructed without opening at the upper end, and put on the horse by being pushed over his head, a fcat some- times difficult to accomplish, especially for boys. The hames were much heavier than those now used, and not plated with iron. A raw hide or buckskin strap fastencd them together. When chains could not be procured for traces, raw-hide, hickory withes, bark ropes or dressed deer-skin served instead. These were held up in proper position by a strap or back-band made of the kind of material most convenient, a piece of rope passed over the back of the horse and tied to each trace, or a strap of leather or hide two or three inches in width and, in some cases, cloth obtained by taking strips of the best parts of worn-out pantaloons and other garments, sewing them together and forming a band of the required length and strength.

In addition to the lack of good plows and harness, the early farmers were much troubled and hindered by horse-flies, which annoyed their horses during the plowing season to such an extent that it was often impossible for them to work except during a small portion of each day-early in the morning and late in the even-

· By R. O. White.

HISTORY OF BOND COUNTY.

ing. The flies were most numerous in the prairies and vicinity.

Some seasons, during " fly-time," it was im- possible to ride across any of the prairies. In going a half-mile, or mile at farthest, the horse's neck and shoulders would be literally covered with flies, which would cause him to rear and jump about, or lie down and wallow to get rid of them, so that the rider could not maintain his seat. These flies were of a gray color, with green heads, by which they attained the name of "green-head flies." With the rude plows and harness of the time an acre was as much ground as one team would break up in an entire day ; and hindered as they were by flies in the spring of the year, the amount plowed per day was much less. But, to com- pensate for this want of culture, the wild land was more productive than it is now, and the people raised the most abundant erops, in pro- portion to the ground cultivated.

Most of the early inhabitants of Bond County had emigrated from sections where corn was the principal grain, and continued its cultiva- tion here as their main crop, raising but little wheat, notwithstanding it was of good quality and fair yiekl. But, little as they did raise, it was just about as much as could be harvested with the implements they then had. For sev- eral years after the first attempt at wheat-rais- ing, the only means of harvesting was the old- fashioned sickle or " reap-hook," as some called it-a slow process-the man that could cut and bind one acre per day being considered an extra good hand. During harvest the people in a neighborhood would unite, on the principle that " many hands make light work," and be- ginning at the farm where the wheat was ripest, proceed to reap first one hield and then another, till all the grain was cut. They looked apon harvest as a time of social enjoyment as well as profit ; when the neighbors, male and female, met together and had a good time generally. Sickles were succeeded by grain-cradles, which

continued in use until superseded by reapers and mowers.

Wheat was threshed by beating it with flails, or laying the bundles down in a circle and tramping them out by horses. As barns were very scarce, the operation of threshing was per- formed mostly on the ground, scraped off and swept for the purpose. The grain was cleared by slowly pouring it from a half bushel, or sift- ing through a coarse riddle, in the wind, and when this proved insufficient, an artificial cur- rent of air was produced by two men holding a sheet or coverlet at each end, and bringing it round with a peculiar swing ; this served to blow away the chaff and render the wheat toler- ably clean. In consequence of the scarcity of wheat, flour bread was quite a rarity, some families having none at all, others enjoying the luxury of biscuits for breakfast only on Sunday morning.

The following incident will show the scarcity of wheat bread, and how highly it was prized by some persons : At a wedding party, the bridegroom, after the Justice had pronounced the words which bound two hearts together, for " weal or woe," called him to one side, and whether he gave him any money or not is un- kuown, but he took from his capacious coat- pocket six biscuits, with either of which one could knock a man down at a distance of twenty paces, and giving them to him, exclaimed, " Here, Squire, take these home with you, and keep them expressly for yourself and the old woman ; hide them away somewhere, so the children can't get them, for you know what children are." The bridegroom is yet living in Bond County, and represents one type of the "old settler."

Some of the first apple and peach orchards in the State were planted in Bond County. For many years it was noted for producing more and better fruit than any of the adjoining coun- ties, and at the present time, according to popu- lation, it produces more apples than any other,

HISTORY OF BOND COUNTY.

although the fruit is not as good as in former years, owing to the severe droughts.

As most of the early emigrants settled in the timber where nuts and acorns were plenty, they paid but little attention to the raising of any kind of stock except hogs. There was then but one breed, a lank, sharp-nosed, long-legged, ravenous hog, that ran in the woods at least three-fourths of the year. Near the commence- ment of winter, the settlers usually began to hunt up their hogs for the purpose of convert- ing them into pork.

These hogs, when found in the fall, were more or less shy, many of them being half or entirely wild. After finding them, the first en- dleavor was to tame them in the woods, and when considered sufficiently gentle for the purpose, they were brought home and put into an inclos- ure, and afterward butchered.

Such was the commencement of hog-raising in this county. Great improvements have been made in this kind of stock in late years, both in the breeds now reared and in the taking care of them. Hog raising has become an extensive as well as a valuable industry with our farmers.

The same imperfection and rudeness of con- struction of other farm implements applied also to wagons, which were clumsily and heavily made, and drawn almost exclusively by oxen. Buggies, and the lighter kinds of carriages, were not used. When horses were worked to wagons, the harness was of but little better quality than that already described. Lines were ignored in those days ; the driver rode the lead-horse, and either held the reins of the other in his hand or hung them on the hames of the leader. A wagon, team and driver fitted up in the style of fifty-five years ago, if now driven through the streets of Greenville, would present quite a grotesque and ludicrous appearance. When people first began to drive with lines some of the settlers ridiculed them, saying it was out of the question for a man to drive horses as ac- curately in that way as to ride one of them ;

that a horse could pull more, and with greater ease with a man on his back than without, and that it was all laziness, but notwithstanding their misgivings, the new way of driving soon became general, as everything always has done which tends to ameliorate, or to do away with any portion of manual labor.

The largest part of the hauling to and from St. Louis-our only market at that time-was done with ox teams. Wagons intended to be drawn by oxen, were much more stoutly made than others, in order to stand the rough usage on the road, for it was no uncommon thing to see six or seven yoke of oxen attached to one wagon going to market in the spring, when the mud was tough and almost bottomless. The business of teaming necessarily increased as the country became more populous, for this was the only way in which produce could be sent off, or merchandise procured. When people first began to haul to and from St. Louis, and for several years afterward, there were no bridges across the streams on the route ; so the reader can imagine some of the difficulties at- tending those engaged in this business during the spring or breaking up of winter. Even after bridges were built over the larger streams it was, at certain seasons, a serious undertaking to perform the trip from Greenville to St. Louis and back, and usually occupied from two to four weeks, according to the state of the road. Per- sons were often under the necessity of unload- ing their wagons before going through a deep mud-hole, and after driving through reloading on the other side, carrying the load over by peacemeal on their shoulders ; or worse than this, undertaking to go through loaded, the wagon wonld mire down, every wheel sinking to the axle in the tough mud, and they be com- pelled to wade through it knee deep or more, and carry the loading out to solid ground.

After orchards were planted and apples be- came an article of produce, the settlers hauled them to other points besides St. Louis. Being

HISTORY OF BOND COUNTY.

searce, they always commanded ready cash, and for several years it was not unusual to see teams from Bond County taking them to Springfield, a distance of eighty miles, over a worse road than that to St. Louis.

The writer heard a sermon delivered about twenty-seven years ago, by one of the primi- tive preachers of Bond County, wherein he related a case of miring down on the road with a load of apples, about the year 1836, in which he and another individual were the principal actors. As nearly as can be recol- leeted, he described it in the following lan- guage :

" My dear brethring and sisters, I'm a going to tell you of a circumstance that happened to your poor, unworthy speaker on the road to Springfield with a load of apples. It is one that I love to tell to my dying hearers, when- ever I'm called upon to stand up and try, in my stammering and imperfect manner, to preach about the mysterious workings of Providence toward the poor fallen sons and daughters of men and wimmin-ah. Oh, my hearers, when I think of that awful winter night, when we lay out on the big prairie, with the wind and snow and sleet a pourin upon us-ah ; and when we had no fire and only about a quart of whisky to keep us from freezing, I feel, my dying con- gregation, jest like the Lord had retched His hand down from the shinin canopits of heaven and jerked me right out from between the very jaws of death-ah. We were on the road to market, my dear brethring, with a load of apples. They were ' big Romanite' apples, put up in barrels, and were the finest apples I ever saw-ah. We had my big wagon and four yoke of oxens, and had on about forty hundred pounds ; we had got along very well and were making great calculations on gettin a good price for our apples-ah. And right here, let me tell you, my dying hearers, I learnt what it is to feel disappointment and have all our cal- culations blasted-ah. Along in the evening,

my brethring, it commenced raining a cold rain, that soon wet us from head to foot, and just about that time the wind turned to the north, and the first thing we knowed it was blowing and snowing and freezing, with all the combined fury of the elements-ah. Then, my congregation, we came to a big mud-hole, where the ground had froze a little on top, but not sufficient to hold up the wagon and team- ah. When we drove into it, my hearers, the wagon and oxens went in plumb up to the hub-alı, and the poor unworthy worm of the dust that stands before you to-day, my breth- ring, was soon in the same deplorable eondi- tion-ah. But, my dear friends, we believed we would get out safe, for we had a noble team -all except the off ox at the wheel. Some- times he was a little tricky and wouldn't pull when it eame to the pineh-ah ; and now, my dear brethring and sisters, when we needed all the help we could get, it seemed as if Satan entered into that ox as he did into the swine of old, and he stopped stone still and wouldn't pull a pound-ah. So, my dear brethring, we had to unload and carry them barrels of apples about a hundred yards on our shoulders from the wagon to the dry ground and lay them down in the open prairie-ah ; and my dear, dying hearers, as we carried them barrels through the mud, water, snow and ice, we sunk in up to our knees at every step-ah. Then, my dying congregation, we drove the wagon and team out, and crawled into it, wet, cold and hungry-ah ; and wrapped up and kept ourselves alive with that little bottle

of spirits till morning-ah. When morn- ing came, my dear brethring and sisters, all our apples and two of the oxens' tails were froze hard and were fit only to be taken back and made into cider-alı. Thus you see, my dear congregation, that it is through the mys- terious workings of a spiritual power that your unworthy servant stands before you to-day."

When the spring rains ceased and the roads

HISTORY OF BOND COUNTY.

became dry, hauling was attended with fewer difficulties. One of the greatest troubles, how- ever, was the failing of the water-courses, which became quite low in summer ; some of them drying up entirely, and others having water standing only in holes. This being the only chance for watering teams, it was often a source of much inconvenience. After traveling many miles through the heat and dust, the oxen, of course, grew very hot and thirsty ; in this con- dition, all who are acquainted with their nature, know that some of them are almost unmanage- able when coming within sight of water. At such times, they would start with a rush, not stopping until the whole four or five yoke, wagon and all, were in the water, or mud and water, as decp as they could get, notwithstand- ing the driver used every exertion to prevent them from so doing. Sometimes they turned so abruptly out of the road into the stream as to upset the wagon in the operation, and some- times the driver, fatigued with walking, would be carelessly seated on his wagon, when he would find himself suddenly roused by the sudden start of his team, and fearing an upset, would be forced to jump from his seat, alight- ing up to his knees, or coming down sprawling in mud and water.

Such scenes as teamsters passed through in the " olden times " until the building of rail- roads, may truly be termed the times that tried not only.men's souls, but their temper and re- ligion. The remark was often made, though perhaps intended as a joke, that any one, not even excepting a preacher of the Gospel, who could drive an ox team through the mud to St. Louis and back without swearing, would be re- garded as one of the most remarkable men of the age.

The price of hauling varied with the condi- tion of the roads and the distance ; from Green- ville to St. Louis it varied from 50 cents to a $1 or more per hundred ; to Vandalia it was from $1 upward. This mode of transporta-

tion, although attended with so many incon- veniences, was the only means of obtaining sup- plies for a large scope of territory, and as late as the year 1840, it was no uncommon thing to sec ox teams, in gangs of five or six from Effing- ham County, passing through Greenville on their way to St. Louis. They were noted for offering venison hams for sale along the route ; hence, some gave that county the appellation of " Venison Ham County," a name which it has long since lost the ability to sustain.

For several years after the first settlements were made in this county, the pioneers were compelled to do without mills of any kind. The sparsely settled country did not justify the expenditure required to erect mills even for grinding corn. The nearest place for having grain ground was at Edwardsville. For several years after corn-mills were first built in this section, the people had to take their wheat there to have it ground into what they called flour, though it would hardly be so considered at the present day. Most of the people were content if they had plenty of pork and corn bread, or " hog and hominy," as they called it. Warm corn "dodgers " and "johnny-cake," stewed pumpkins, fresh spare-ribs and backbones, with plenty of gravy, usually called " sop," varied oc- casionally by a dish of wild game, were con- sidered the sum total of good eating by the early backwoodsmen.

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History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 4

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin Number of Pages: 758

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 758