USA > Illinois > Bureau County > History of Bureau County, Illinois > Part 21
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104
CHAPTER XIII.
JOHN H. BRYANT-A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, IN WHICH IS CON- NECTED EVERY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENT OF THE COUNTY SINCE HIS COMING HERE-BIRTH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY- THE FARMER POET-ETC., ETC.
" And I think, but not with sadness, When I in earth am laid, How after generations Will bless this grateful shade."
-J. H. BRYANT.
TN the preceding chapters, wherever we 1 have been enabled to give in their own language, the detailed accounts of the voy- aging to this place of any of the pioneers, who were young men mostly in their first rough experiences in the world, we have not hesitated to do so, and to make them as full in details as possible. They are full of his- tory and interest, and for the rising genera- tion are very instructive; they will find here food for healthy reflection.
From the year of the first permanent set- tlement here to the present hour, the biogra- phy and life of John H. Bryant and his three brothers, has been very nearly the com- plete history of the struggle into life of that feeble band and the record, existence and present high standard of the county of Bu- reau. There need be no apology then, for making this chapter and placing the title that is found at the head, nor need we further explain that when we have once started upon the story of Bryant's life that it is consistently followed up, although it brings in some of the facts that are of recent date, and in the design of the work, except for this reason, would have only appeared in their consecutive order as the work pro- gressed toward completion.
The facts here given are in nearly every instance verbatim as we found them in elab-
156
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
orate notes of the life of Mr. Bryant, by Dr. Richard Edwards, of Princeton, only in cer- tain portions being condensed, and some of the details being here omitted, as they are given in other portions of this history.
It is probably true that no human being has ever lived, whose record, faithfully kept, might not be useful. Even of the hum- blest and most obscure this would be true. The labors and aspirations, the hopes and disap- pointments, the successes and failures of men, are an index of the possibilities for good or evil, of a human being. For this reason it happens that no form of literature is more in- structive than biography. In the history of another's life each one is reminded of his own experiences, and with the reminder comes in- struction.
All this is especially true of those lives which have been connected with important events. Every man who has helped in a marked way to mould the institutions of a country, or to conduct its movements, ought in some way to leave a record of what he has done and sought to do. Institutions, political and social movements, are products. They spring from the thoughts and deeds of indi- vidual men, and nothing can be more in- structive than to observe these developing processes, to note how the labor of head and heart has blossomed into permanent social forces.
The life of John Howard Bryant is cer- tainly worth being written, not merely on the ground that all lives may be so, but for the important events with which it has been connected. His birth and early residence in New England turn our thoughts to the sturdy civilization which has given that part of our country so much influence at home and abroad. His removal to Illinois will introduce the reader to those movements by which the Mississippi Valley bas been made the
luxuriant home of many prosperous commili - nities. And his concern in political affairs will lead to some study of the great move- ment by which the country was freed from the incubus of slavery.
Mr. Bryant comes of Puritan stock on both sides, both families having emigrated from Bridgewater, Mass. His father, Dr. Peter Bryant, was a man of considerable promi- nence. As a physician and surgeon, his standing seems to have been very high, and he enjoyed the distinction, not small, of a seat in the State Senate. He was a man of large cult- ure and excellent literary taste. The moth- er's maiden name was Snell, and she was of a family that had produced a number of distin- guished men. She was a woman of strong character, earnest piety and great skill in practical affairs. Her ideal of duty was high and her code of morals rigorous. The second son was the eminent poet and journalist- William Cullen Bryant.
The subject of this sketch was born July 22, 1807, in the house, in the town of Cum- miugton, known as the Bryant homestead. Some time after Dr. Peter Bryant's death, which occurred in 1820, this estate went out of the family, and remained in the possession of strangers for many years. But in the year 1864 it was repurchased by the poet, and now belongs to his daughter. It is beautifully situated, and surrounded by scenes well cal- culated to nourish the poetic faculty. John was the seventh child, the youngest of five sons of his parents. Of the scenes of his early life not much is recorded. It is noted, however, that the year 1811 there occurred a notable eclipse of the sun .*
* Simultaneously with the eclipse was the great New Madrid earthquake, and the passage, in the midst of the earth's throes, of the first steamboat ever on the Western waters from out the Ohio River and into the Mississippi River. The 18th day of De- cember, 1811, at least here in the West, is thus signaled as our great historic day. The eclipse and the earthquake were but manifestations of the forces of nature, the latter by far the most remarkable on this hemisphere so far recorded in history; while the steamboat was a human thought fashioned into a
İ
157
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
This is a well remembered incident, because of its indirect influence upon his early school- ing. By looking at the sun with unprotected eyes, his vision was greatly weakened, not until he was about fifteen years of age was he able to apply himself continuously to reading. Thus it appears that about eleven years of his early life were in a large measure lost to him. And this was the very period in which elementary knowledge could be best ac- quired. But the loss seems to have been well supplied afterward. As compared with his brothers, however, he was decidedly behind in his studies at the age of fifteen.
On the death of Dr. Bryant, the mother found abundant scope for her knowledge of practical affairs. Her husband, in the ardor of his professional enthusiasm, had been careless of money matters. The consequence was he left the estate involved. Accordingly the boys, except Austin, the eldest, and Will- iam Cullen, the poet, who had already begun life for themselves, were put to work upon the farm. Cyrus was the manager and John was one of the helpers. In the summer they worked together. In the winter the former taught school and the latter did the chores. The services of Cyrus were considered to be sufficiently important, he being of age, to be paid for by the mother. But of John this does not seem to have been the case.
At this time it seems that a neighborhood club was in operation for the improvement of its members in reading and composition. It included the family of Nortons, Briggs, Porters, Packards, Snells and Bryants. The
meetings were held by turns in the houses of the members. The best English litera- ture was studied in private, read at the meet- ings and commented upon. Mr. Bryant was employed in the combination of farm and literary work for two years; and he declares that during that time he read more good English prose and poetry than in any other period of equal length. The club was an undoubted and permanent benefit to its mem- bers. It no doubt had much to do in the formation of the correct literary taste which has always been a marked characteristic of Mr. Bryant.
In the year 1826-27 he was a pupil in a select school taught by the Rev. Mr. Hawks, near Cummington Meeting-house. The same teacher was afteward employed in the acad- emy in East Cummington, where he attended also, one winter. In the years 1828 and 1829 he taught school in the winters, in the town of Williamsburg. In the spring of 1828 he was a student in the Renselaer school, now the Renselaer Polytecnic Institute, at Troy, N. Y. The principal instructor at that time was the able, but somewhat eccentric, Prof. Amos Eaton. The studies pursued by the young man were chemistry, mineralo- gy, geology, natural philosophy (physics), botany and zoology. For a period of two years, which was the time he spent at this school, this seems a formidable list. But a young man with a clear head and an earnest purpose, with the hunger and thirst for learn- ing upon him, and sustained by the vigor acquired in a country life, often makes as- tonishing progress, accomplishing great re- sults in a brief space of time. Another helpful circumstance in this case was the fact that much of the work lay out of doors. Collections in botany, and to some extent in mineralogy, were a part of the required 'course. Hills were climbed and woods tra-
steamboat-the New Orleans, Capt. Roosevelt. Compared to the awful. the appalling play of nature's forces amid which the ves- sel rode out of the lashing waters of the Ohio into the yet worse troubled waters of the Mississippi, how insignificant it must have appeared, yet like the great inventions and thoughts of genius 'growing in good and enduring forever-encircling the globe with its blessings, and lifting up and beariug aloft the human family. The earthquake, like wars, famines and pesti- lences, is but temporary in its effects, and kindly nature covers up and hides forever its wrecks and ruins, and their horrors and the appalling terrors are forgotten. But the thoughts, the dis- coveries and inventions of genius grow and live eternally. In the perfect economy of God, they alone are immortal.
158
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
versed, as a part of the regular school work. The country about Troy is especially rich in botanical specimens, and the Renselaer student, as he trudges about with his tin cylinder strapped to his back, is cheered and stimulated by the frequent prizes he is able to secure. In this way he attains or preserves the soundest physical health, and at the same time adds most efficiently to his mental possessions. Study is made both effective and harmless by an abundance of pure air, wholesome sunshine and vigorous exercise, to say nothing of the benefit derived from the charming beauty of the scenery.
In June, 1829, he took final leave of Troy, walking home by way of Williamstown, Mass. This place he reached at 9 o'clock at night -- a walk of forty miles. Here he spent three or four days with his brother, Arthur, who was then a student in Williams College. The succeeding months of November and Decem- ber were spent at the same place, in the study of geometry and trigonometry, and " some Latin." All his time, however, was not consumed in these dry topics. He wrote poetry for the Williamstown paper and also, by invitation, wrote for a paper called the Philanthropist, published in Boston. These poems are now lost, and the most that Mr. Bryant remembers of them is, that of one of them the subject was "Cohoes Falls." After this he seems to have returned to the farm. Cyrus had given up his supervision of home affairs and gone to South Carolina, and Aus- tin had taken his place. He worked several summers on the farm. In the summer of 1830 he took the United States census of that part of Hampshire County that lies west of the Connecticut River. Iu the winter of 1830-31 he taught school in Plainfield, his compensation being $14 a month and " board around."
And now the young man's eyes began to.
turn away from the home of his childhood. The valley of the Mississippi had begun to be permanently peopled. Reports came of the gorgeous beauty and inexhaustible fertil- ity of the Illinois prairies. The stony hills of Hampshire County began to seem hard and sterile. He resolved to seek a home in the new realm, where land was so cheap, and the soil so wondrously productive. In the spring of 1831 he set out for Illinois. His worldly goods, consisting of clothing, car- penter's tools, etc., were stowed into two chests and a trunk. A tanner in West Cum- mington was accustomed to make business trips to the State of New York. In this man's wagon Mr. Bryant placed himself and his possessions, and was carried to Hudson, on the river of that name. Leaving the bag- gage in that city, he took a trip by river to New York, wishing to look at the metropolis before emigrating to the far West. He left New York on the 18th day of April, 1831, touching at Hudson for his goods, and passed on to Albany. The Erie Canal, the monument of Gov. Clinton, had then been in operation over five years. On this "artificial river," in a "line" boat, a boat for trans- porting merchandise, he made the voyage from Albany to Buffalo, at an expense, for meals and passage, of $4.60. The trip oc- cupied seven days.
But the lake at Buffalo was full of ice, which made it necessary to hire a team to convey the traveler and his baggage to Dun- kirk. His plan was to go by way of Lake Erie to Cleveland, and then by the canal to the Ohio River. The Dunkirk harbor was open, and a boat was about to set out for the upper lakes, but Cleveland was not to be one of its stopping places. Mr. Gurnsey, of Dunkirk, who gave the traveler a letter to Judge Lockwood, of Jacksonville, Ill., ad- vised himto go via Jamestown on Chautauqua
159
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
Lake, thence down the Conewango Creek on a raft or flat-boat, and to the Ohio River by way of the Alleghany. After some tribula- tion Jamestown was reached, but the Cone- wango had subsided; its waters would not float a raft or flat-boat, hence recourse was had to a wagon, and the Alleghany was thus reached at Warren, Penn. It happened to be court week at this place, and the town was filled with people. At that time the country was violently divided on the subject of Masonry. An exciting discussion was going on in Warren, and soon culminated in a street fight; the first thing of the kind he had ever witnessed.
The next business was to find a conveyance to Pittsburgh. There happened to be at that time two families of English people who wished to make the same journey, and they had means of conveyance. They owned an " ark," and had their goods on board of it. The heads of the families were elderly men, both of whom had lost their wives in Toronto. One of them, a Mr. Angell, was accompanied by two stout grown daughters. They made room on the "ark" for Mr. Bryant and his baggage. For a time it floated along the stream without any exciting incident. The passenger made himself useful by going ashore, as occasion required, and shooting squirrels for the table, also by putting up a mast in the hope of accelerating their speed. But one afternoon they struck a rock; the ark was turned so as to lie broadside to the stream. The force of the current tilted it somewhat, the water rushed in and the load- ing, among other things a very fine set of joiner's tools belonging to the Englishman, and our hero's two chiests and trunk, were thoroughly wet. The owners of the craft were in great tribulation; they supposed they were ruined by the mishap. But the boat was at last righted and tied up for repairs.
An attempt was made to dry the wetted tools and clothes, but with only indifferent success. The disaster happened on Satur day, and the boat was not loosed from its moorings until Monday following. In seven days they made the trip from Warren to Pittsburgh. At this point Mr. Bryant shipped on board the steamer Abeona, the largest boat then plying the river. An attempt was made to dry the wet clothes that had been wet in the Alleghauy River, on the boat's boilers, but the records say " the con- tinuous rains made it difficult." At Louis. ville he was transferred to another boat for St. Louis. On board were 125 slaves, the property of a number of Kentuckians emigrating to Missouri. The boat was worn-out, leaky and unclean, having long before seen its best days. Among the passengers was a clergy- man and his wife from Kentucky, with whom our traveler soon formed a most agreeable acquaintance. The weather had continued wet, and a Franklin stove belonging to these good people was a source of great comfort. St. Louis was reached about the 24th of May. The young traveler betook himself to a sail- ors' boarding house. It sounds strange to write this of the now great city of St. Louis, or that it was ever so small a village as he found it. Its population was then about the same as Princeton now. After a brief stay in St. Louis he boarded a steamer for Naples. It was called the "Traveler," and plied regularly between St. Louis and Naples. On the 27th he reached the latter place. His objective point was Jacksonville, where his brother Arthur had been for some months. From Naples to Jacksonville, about twenty- two miles, he journeyed on foot, reaching his destination before night. In this walk he had for a companion a Mr. Harlam, after- ward a prominent merchant and a member of the Legislature. This long and tedious
.
160
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
journey from Cummington to Jacksonville occupied five weeks, and the expense of the trip was $60; one-tenth the time now, and less than one-quarter the cost, with incomparably more accommodations and com- forts, would make the trip between these points.
The intelligent reader will see at once the importance of these details of this young pioneer's long and dreary journey. It is the vivid story of the changes that have so swiftly taken place in this broad land. Like the stories we give in preceding chapters of Strattons, Kittermans, Henry F. Miller and many others; stories that are full of interest and history. It is impossible for us to realize the increase of value and importance these accounts of the travels of the pioneers will be to the generations that are to come after us hundreds of years from now. Al- ready railroads have been so long in opera- tion in our country that the younger among our people have but slight conception of how our fathers lived and traveled. It is, therefore, a useful exercise to study the de- tails of a journey made by a respectable young man who seems to have availed him- self of the best conveyances the country then afforded. The comparison of then and now is full of wholesome instruction, giving themes for the painter, the poet and the historian.
He found his brother Arthur domi- ciled at the house of Thomas Wiswall, but he himself stopped at the house of his future father-in-law, Elijah Wiswall, at $1.50 per week for board. with the privilege of paying this in work. The autumn of 1831 was spent in the store of Henry Wiswall, and the following winter he was a clerk in Gillett & Gordon's store. In the spring of 1832 he worked upon his brother's land near Jacksonville, while
Arthur was East on a mission of marriage. In the meantime his other brother, Cyrus, had joined him at Jacksonville, and in Sep- tember. John and Cyrus started for Bureau. They came on horseback. Their attention had been attracted here by the knowledge that the Hampshire Colony had located at Princeton.
The colony had been dispersed by the Black Hawk war. On their way they found Elijah Smith's family, in Tazewell County, the husband and wife teaching school. Near Granville, Putnam County, were John Leeper aud family. They looked at the country at various points, but Cyrus had known Roland Moseley in Massachusetts, and having re- ceived a favorable impression in regard to the land in Bureau, they pushed on to this point and arrived at the Moseley house, a few miles southeast of Princeton. Among others they were introduced to the elder Dr. Chamberlain. Their friends directed their attention to the spot on which John H. Bryant now lives. This was the land Mr. Kitterman had " claimed " two years before, and which had been jumped by "Curt " Williams. The war had run Williams off, and as he did not return, up to this time, they supposed he had abandoned it and left the country. But "Curt" was on hand in time. Suffice it to say, that Williams was finally bought out, and the Bryants peace- ably installed in possession. The two brothers took possession of this little cabin, with its dirt floor and stick chimney. They were their own cooks and housekeepers, and most probably did their own washing and ironing, such as it was. The table groaned beneath pork and corn-dodger chiefly, if it had occasion to do any groaning at all. A heroic resolve and struggle was directed toward the luxury of flour bread of their own construction, once a week. This was a
1
161
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
daring dash at the enervating luxuries of the day, but the young men made it. Their lot was sweetened by the fortunate discovery, in the autumn, of a bee tree, so that, although there was not any flow of milk in this Canaan, yet the honey was not wanting. In their work they had the help of three yoke of oxen, brought with them. Hay for these was cut on the prairie. Cyrus, it seems, tended the kine, while John was chief housekeeper, and mauled rails while resting from the arduous duties of the household, making thus one hundred a day. During the winter they fenced forty acres each. In the spring they began breaking the sod. They had an old Carey plow they had brought from Jacksonville. When the share became dull, it was carried on horseback eighteen miles to the Laughlins, in Florid, to be sharpened. It was an ugly thing to thus carry, and once the perplexed and tired rider was hailed by an old pioneer: "Why didn't you fill a bag of hay on which to lay it?"
The two bachelors . had not time to get very lonesome, yet sometimes it must have occurred to each of them that there was something lacking about their establishment. Perhaps in the lonely watches of the night, when sleep had been for the moment dis- pelled by a vivid dream of two bright young eyes, and waving curls, or innocent laughter, and pearly teeth-ah, precious, guileless girlhood, helpless and dependent, yet the flush of whose laughing eyes are more power- ful over poor, lonesome man, thao an army with banners. Perhaps-nay, it is now to us quite plain-in the long watches of the dreary winter there came to the young men the first chapter in that old, old story, that is ever new, that is always life's sweetest tryst.
In June, 1833, John H. Bryant journeyed back to Jeffersonville for the purpose of being married to Miss Hattie Wiswall, who now for
more than fifty-one years has been his worthy and faithful companion and helpmeet. The trip was made on horseback, following the trail made by the soldiers of the Black Hawk war. He was no laggard on a journey so auspicious, as is evidenced by the fact that the last day carried him over seventy-five miles of the road. On the 17th of June the ceremony took place, and the next week the happy pair started for their little cabin in the lonely wilderness. They came by way of Meredosia and the Illinois River to Hen- nepin. At this place their goods were placed in a warehouse. High waters had made the river bottom nearly impassable. Young Dr. Chamberlain happened to be in Hennepin, aud he had a saddle-horse, the use of which he offered to the young couple. Mrs. Bryant was mounted and the husband trudged along piloting the way on foot, only getting up to ride where the water was too deep to wade. They reached the house of Maj. Chamberlain and spent one night, and the next day they arrived at their cabin and housekeeping commenced. Here they lived for one year, Cyrus remaining with them. That is, he remained during the winter, and in the spring he went east and was married
In the spring of 1834 Mr. Bryant built for himself a cabin on the site where his pres- ent elegant residence now stands. All the work, except the window sash, was performed by his own hands. At the "raising" no whisky was used. This was probably the first departure in the county toward temper- ance or prohibition. The new house was first occupied in June, 1834.
This year John H. Bryant and Joseph Brigham were elected Justices of the Peace for Bureau Precinct, Putnam County.
In 1835 the land came into market and Mr. Bryant entered 320 acres. Afterward he pur- chased 80 acres at $7 per acre, and in 1859
162
HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.
he bought 160 acres, paying therefor $4,000.
Mr. Bryant was the prominent agitator of the subject of the division of the county. His wedding trip across the bottoms from Hennepin evidently made a lasting impression on his mind. Lobbyists were sent to Van- dalia to push the project before the Legisla- ture, but nothing was accomplished at this . session. At the Legislature of 1836-37 Bry- ant and Elston went to Vandalia at their own expense, and finally secured the passage of the act which led to the formation of Bu- reau County. Stephen A. Douglas was a member and Chairman of the Committee on Counties, and to him these visitors were greatly indebted for the success of their mis- sion. The vote on the adoption of the meas- ure was taken April 1, 1837. The division carried by a majority of thirty votes. This result was reached and the new county formed only after overcoming the greatest obstacles. The people east of the river and especially in Hennepin, were earnestly opposed to the proj ect that would rob them of the most of their rich territory. The particulars of this strug. gle are given in another place. Suffice it to say here, that the important work and the respon- sibility rested largely on the shoulders of John H. Bryant. The completion of the or- ganization of the county took place in 1837, the year noted in American history as that of the beginning of the hard times commenc- ing that year and lasting until 1843. The poor farmers would haul their wheat to Chi- cago and after spending ten days in getting there through storms, and sloughs, and mud, and mire, have to sell it, if they could find a buyer at all, for 373 cents a bushel and pork $1.50 a hundred.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.