History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 22

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776

USA > Illinois > Bureau County > History of Bureau County, Illinois > Part 22

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).

In 1840 Mr. Bryant took the Government census for Bureau County. The entire pop- ulation was 3,067. In 1842 he was elected

to the Legislature for Bureau, Stark and Pe- oria. In 1839 the State Capitol had been removed to Springfield, and the sessions were held in an old stone building on the east side of the square, now used for a United States court room. At this session of 1842 Mr. Bryant was an efficient member, com- manding the respect and kind attention of all his fellow-members. A law relating to Bu- reau County-the Dover Road -- was passed by his influence. This was the original road to Chicago from Princeton, and marketers had driven straight across the wild country, but when the lands were being fenced it would compel the road to wind around the section lines. The land owners objected, of course, but the people who had to do the wag- oning wanted it as short and straight as pos- sible. Mr. Bryant was again elected to the Legislature in the year of great political ex- citement in Illinois-1858.

When the county seat was located in Princeton, the owners of the land were re- quired by law to donate a certain part of the ground, and to give bonds and security to aid in a large amount in the public buildings. Mr. Bryant was the leader in this part of the work, and in paying for the ground and ex- ecuting a bond to the amount of $7,000, re- quired by the Locating Commissioners. His name leads in the list of public and liberal- minded men who put their hands in their pock- ets and furnished the money, as well as the required bond and security. During these years and afterward he was a prosperous far- mer, but not only a farmer. He made roads and bridges, manufactured brick, of which the original part of the court house was built, besides many other houses now stand- ing in Princeton.

In 1847 he became one of the editors of the Bureau County Advocate, the first paper issued in the county. But of this a complete

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account will be found in the chapter on the Press, in another part of this work.

Until 1844 Mr. Bryant had always been a Democrat, but in the action of that party at that time in discarding Van Buren because of his opposition to the annexation, he did not agree with his party and he left it and at once affiliated with the Liberty party, the leader of which was John P. Hale in the United States Senate. This organization was distinct from the original Abolitionists of the Garrison school. The Abolitionists claimed that slav- ery was a constitutional institution, and they therefore attacked the constitution. The Lib- erty party said that slavery could be abolished under the powers of the constitution; that the spirit of that instrument was hostile to slavery and that whenever the country should become faithful to the spirit. instead of being bound by the letter, the evil would vanish. They believed as did Henry Clay on the subject of slavery, as Jefferson taught, and as was exem- plified in the celebrated ordinance of 1787, by Thomas Jefferson, which prohibited the introduction of slavery into all the North- west Territory.

But his faith in political action did not prevent him from rendering other help to the oppressed. Many times has he entertained fugitive slaves, both before and after the fa- mous law of 1850, and the cruel "black laws" of Illinois of 1853. The unreasoning sever- ity of these laws was an attempt to scourge men for acts of the highest Christian virtue. Their injustice and cruelty made them repul- sive to a large majority of our people, and like all excessive laws, they were treated gen- erally with contempt by good men and spit upon. Among the latter were Mr. Bryant. In 1854 he had as many as fifteen runaway slaves on his place at one time. He aided all he could to reach Chicago, sending them in broad daylight over the Chicago, Bur-

lington & Quincy Railroad to Dr. Dyer, of Chicago.

On the 4th of July, 1854, the anti- slavery celebration was held on the ground a little southwest of Mr. Bryant's house. At this meeting the Republican party of Bureau County was organized. Nearly all the Whigs entered the organization, as did many Demo- crats. The new party carried the county that year, and Owen Lovejoy was elected to the Legislature. This result was chiefly due to the action of Mr. Bryant.

Previous to this, in 1852, Mr. Bryant had been a candidate of the Free Soil party for Congress. But at that time this party had but few earnest supporters in this district.

He was a delegate to the Pittsburgh Con- vention, February, 1856, for the purpose of a general organization of the Republican party, as were Owen Lovejoy and Charles L. Kelsey. His recollection is that Horace Greeley was much disgusted with a speech in that convention made by Lovejoy.

In 1856 a Congressional Convention was held in Ottawa. Mr. Bryant headed the Bureau delegation in the interests of Love- joy. Gen. Gridley, of Bloomington, was in favor of nominating Judge Dickey, and he fought. Lovejoy with all the intensity of his intense nature. Mr. Lovejoy was triumph- antly nominated and elected, and then com. menced that remarkable career that ended only with his death, in 1864. The wide re- sults flowing out from this nomination of Lovejoy are known to the civilized world, and it is no detraction to his other and many patriotic supporters to say that his nomina- tion was in a large part dne to his tried and constant friend, John H. Bryant.

Mr. Bryant was a delegate to the Repub- lican Convention in Chicago in 1860 that nominated Mr. Lincoln for President, and in the war of the Rebellion he was among

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those and the foremost, who gave their time and money to the patriotic work of raising and equipping armies. He visited Spring- field and Washington to secure the accept- ance of new troops. He advocated and urged the appropriation of money by the towns and county to pay the expenses for the bounties and other purposes connected with the war.

In 1862 Mr. Bryant was appointed Collec- tor of Internal Revenue for the Fifth Con- gressional District of Illinois, and discharged the duties ably and well for four years. His responsibilities were very great; his duties in organizing the most important district in the West, under the new and complex law, were vast and arduous. He not only had to en- force the law, organize its vast and complex machinery, but had to teach the people what the law was and how to comply with its in- tricate windings. The whole idea of the law and its enforcement were something so for- eign to the American people, a people who had never seen or hardly heard of a tax- gatherer of their general government, that this was not small work, but an increase of the responsibilities and labors. Some of the heaviest distillers in the nation were in this district. An American tax-payer was to a tax-gatherer, much like our volunteer soldiers who could see no harm in dodging behind a tree when the enemy was recklessly shooting in front. In short, they had educated one anoth- er to believe that there was no serious harm in outwitting a tax-gatherer. The Peoria distil- lers found him rather too alert and vigilant for the whisky smuggling operations, and they, aided by Congressman E. C. Ingersoll, trumped up a long string of charges and alle- gations, that of course had their temporary effect in discrediting a worthy officer at Washington, but the investigation following was his most triumphant vindication, and in- stead of ruining Mr. Bryant it ended forever

the political career of E. C. Ingersoll, who, in an overwhelmingly Republican district, was beaten for Congress in the succeeding race by Mr. Stevens, a Democrat.

There is a circumstance connected with Mr. Bryant's appointment as Collector that deserves to be told. When the office was created he wrote to Mr. Lincoln and told him he would accept the office with pleasure. Mr. Lincoln knew him personally and inti- mately, and thus the two men needed no middle man between them for " infloo- ence." Ile wrote by return mail, " You shall have it." But soon the busy politician ap- peared, claimed the appointment as a per- quisite and had arranged this to "go to a friend," etc. Every combination was brought to bear upon the President, to use the office to "grind the ax " for ambitions politicians; a tremendous effort was made in order to promote other interests. Every argument about "fixing fences," etc., etc., were brought to bear upon Mr. Lincoln, and all this time Mr. Bryant was at home and unconscious of what was going on to defeat him. He had no reasons in the world to have suspicions- he had none, and the writer does not know whether Mr. Bryant to this day knows any- thing about it; certainly no word has escaped him indicating that he ever possessed such knowledge. He simply trusted Mr. Lincoln, and the evidence of Mr. Lincoln's trust in him is the fact that his commission was promptly sent him, and he entered upon his office, and probably all the politicians in the world could not have changed this result.

In 1860 Mr. Bryant was a member of the Board of Supervisors of the county which voted, by one majority, to build a court house. The money was not easy to get. Eastern capital was suspicious of Western : securities. He went to New York and obtained $15,000, but had first to get the bonds secured

Henry J. Miller

Mary Jane Miller

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by himself and many leading capitalists of Princeton. The cost of the new improve- ment was about $20,000.

The effort to establish in Princeton a high school commenced in 1866. The plan as ultimately carried out was a new one, and involved the necessity of procuring a special charter from the Legislature. The law pro- vided for high schools in districts, incorpor- ated towns and cities, but not for townships. He took the most active and prominent part in this enterprise. A town meeting was called to consider the subject. Although the meeting was legal, it was not certain that what it agreed upon would be legal. It resolved to establish a high school. To this there was only one negative vote in the meet- ing. Superintendent Bateman was consulted. A project promising so much in the line of improvements could not fail to enlist that gentleman's sympathy. He encouraged the citizens to proceed. But in order to remove all doubts a charter was secured through the Legislature. It fixed the number of Directors at five, and provided that no new Directors should be elected for three years. The object of this was to permit the school to get fairly under way before its existence could be endangered by opposition. But money was needed to erect the building. Bonds were authorized to be issued, but capital was afraid of this security. Again Mr. Bryant went to New York, taking the bonds with him. Again he got the money but only on a personal guarantee of the leading men of property in Princeton. Total cost about $65,000. Mr. Bryant was the first President of the Board of Directors, and has occupied this position, with a brief intermission ever since. So complete has been the success of this school that by a law of 1874 any township in the State is authorized to establish and maintain a high school.

For six years or more Mr. Bryant was a member and President of the Princeton District School Board, and much credit is due to him for the late and marked improve- ments in the schools, and especially in the south school building.

Of late Mr. Bryant has been residing quietly in Princeton enjoying the comforts of life. His spacious house is surrounded by stately trees of his own planting, and is rendered attractive by many evidences of refined taste. It is situated a few rods from the southern limits of the city of Princeton. Around it extend his broad and fertile acres, including not only fine farming lands, but also charming scenery. There is a consider- able extent of primeval forests, reaching down to the banks of the creek. Through this he has, at considerable expense, constructed car- riage ways, over which the public are always welcome to drive. Large numbers avail themselves of the privilege. On almost any summer's afternoon mauy vehicles may be seen making the circuit of "Bryant's woods." Here the lover of nature delights to walk. Here children gather flowers. Here picnics are held. For the comfort of the frequenters of the place the proprietor has been at pains to furnish a fountain of pure and cool water.

It is not surprising that amid scenes like these, the owner's natural love of poetry has been nourished and intensified. His claim to distinction as a poet is overshadowed by that of his gifted brother, William Cullen. But a volume published some years ago cer- tainly entitles him to a respectable rank among the sweet singers. It is marked by great purity of language, a correct knowledge of metrical laws, and a severe accuracy in the description of natural objects, as well as by the worth and beauty of the thought. The following is inserted as a mere sample:

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THE VALLEY BROOK.

Fresh from the fountains of the wood A rivulet of the valley came, And glided on for many a rood Flushed with the morning's ruddy flame.

The air was fresh and soft and sweet; The slopes in spring's new verdure lay, And wet with dew-drops, at my feet, Bloomed the young violets of May.

No sound of busy life was heard Amid those pastures lone and still, Save the faint chirp of early bird, Or bleat of flocks along the hill.

I traced that rivulet's winding way; New scenes of beauty opened round,

Where meads of brighter verdure lay, And lovelier blossoms tinged the ground.

" Ah, happy valley stream," I said, "Calm glides thy wave amid the flowers,

Whose fragrance round thy path is shed, Through all the joyous summer hours.

" Oh ! Could my years like thine be passed In some remote and silent glen,

Where I could dwell and sleep at last. Far from the bustling haunts of men."

But what new echoes greet my ear ! The village school-boy's merry call;

And mid the village hum I hear The murmur of the waterfall.

I looked; the widening vale betrayed A pool that shone like burnished steel, Where that bright valley stream was stayed To turn the miller's ponderous wheel.

Ah ! why should I, I thought with shame Sigh for a life of solitude, When even this stream without a name Is laboring for the common good?

No ! never let me shun my part Amid the busy scenes of life,

But, with a warm and generous heart, Press onward in the glorious strife.

In politics Mr. Bryant has always mani- fested a sturdy independence. In the early years of the Republican party, as we have seen, he gave that organization a cordial and efficient support. In later years he has felt at liberty to oppose it. For this his action

has been criticised by some, but by none who were broad and liberal enough in their own natures to comprehend his, or they had built conclusions without foundations. Surely an American citizen ought to be allowed to dic- tate his own politics. Not only has Mr. Bry- ant the right to change his party affiliations, when in his judgment the good of the coun- try requires it, but it is his solumn duty to do so. It will be a sad day for the Nation when fealty to party becomes stronger than fealty to the republic. And it is to be re- membered that the discarding of a party commonly involves to the individual a loss both political and pecuniary. The bolter sel- dom secures any outward benefit. As a rule, he neither gets office nor makes money by the operation. The only possible exception to this rule is when the bolt is into the majority party, and from the minority, and never vice versa. His only reward is the comfort that comes from the honest discharge of duty.

Mr. Bryant enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest and one of the most promi- nent and highly respected citizens of Bureau County. He has been the friend of every good enterprise, the eager champiou always of the cause of the people of his county and the State, ever giving his time, his talents and his money to promote the cause of the gen- eral good. Here he has lived and toiled for fifty-two years, and his imperishable monu- ment shall be the good works of his life and the beautiful words he has spoken. Amid the surroundings of a pioneer life with all its scarcity of the advantages for self im- provement and the severest labor of the hands, his acquirements are varied and profound. He has drunk deeply of the fountains of En- glish literature and philosophy, and kept pace with the thought of this great age. All his writings, in prose or poetry, show the man of thought and cultured taste; his bearing al-

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ways dignified, courteous and polite, with no particle of self-assertion in his nature. Firm and conscientious in all his views, and bold and fearless in their enunciation, he has, at the same time, respect for those who honestly differed from him on even the most vital tenets of his faith. His personal experience, his education, and his reason taught him the fallibility of human judgment and the lia- bility of honest and wise men to disagree upon almost every question of political phil- osophy in a government constituted as ours is; and he claimed no charity for himself that he was not ready to cordially extend to others. In all the relations of life a sense of duty-stern and inexorable-accompanied him and has characterized his every act, and disregarding selfish and personal considerations, he has obeyed its behests. *

CHAPTER XIV.

SOMETHING ABOUT A GREAT MANY PEOPLE-WHEN DIFFERENT PLACES WERE SETTLED AND BY WHOM-FIRST GOVERNMENT LAND Sua- VEYS-THE DENHAMS -- MOSELEYS-J. V. THOMPSON-JUDGE R. T. TEMPLETON-REV. E. SCUDDER HIGH, AND DOUGHNUTS-TO MARKET TO SELL A PIG-WALNUT AND OHIO TOWNSHIPS.

"Again we stray, far, far away, The club-moss crumbling 'neath our tread, Seeking the spot by most forgot, Where sleep the generations dead." -J. H. BRYANT.

W ARREN SHERLEY came, in 1829, with Sylvester Brigham and made his claim at Heaton's Point. His was the first settlement in this part of the county. Eli and Elijah Smith married two sisters and

their wedding tour was a journey to Illinois. They and Dr. Chamberlain came in company and were a part of the Hampshire Col- ony. The three men had bought a wagon and two yoke of oxen and Dr. Chamberlain had the only horse in the crowd. A single instance of this journey will serve as a suf- ficient illustration. They had nearly reached their journey's end and were trying to find Foristal's cabin, where they expected to stop. They left Spring Creek timber; with no road to guide them, they took a northwest direc- tion. In a stream on the prairie (Brush Creek) their wagon stuck in the mud, and as night was coming on and it seemed impossible to get it out, it was abandoned and they proceeded on their journey. Dr. Chamberlain took Mrs. Eli Smith on his horse behind him; Eli- jah Smith and wife were mounted on an ox. Night overtook them at East Bureau, near where Malden now is, and it was so dark they could not proceed further, so they dis- mounted and went into camp. Their only chance was to get brush enough together to sleep on. The next morning they mounted and pursued their journey, only reaching Foristal's late in the afternoon.

Elijah Smith was born in Conway, Mass., November 7, 1806, and died March 2, 1882. He settled in Princeton, III., in July, 1831. Epperson was the only man living in the township when Smith and his company came. Dr. W. Chamberlain settled one-half mile south of Princeton. Eli and Elijah Smith built a double log-cabin on the Bureau Bluffs, three miles north of Princeton. Among the young men of the Hampshire Colony were

*The editor would say, in addition to Dr. Edward's account of Mr. Bryant, that in compiling this history of Bureau County he has patiently gone over the records, considered the details of every important movement either political, social, or educa- tional, as well as the public enterprises, the economic move- ments, and the moral, social and intellectual interests of the people, and it is no figure of speech to say that everywhere and

in every way the foremost name, the one name that was upon every foundation and upon every coluiun has been that of John H. Bryant. Indeed, so much is this the case, that the history of the man and the history of the advancement of the people and the county are much one and the same thing. Therefore, the read- er will understand that in the general history of the county is coustautly recurring Mr. Bryant's name, and that this sketch is but a small part of the record of facts that will some day be the material for the construction of a complete biography of a life, the moral of whose history will be one of great interest and instruction.

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

C. G. Corss, George Hinsdale, Aaron Gunn, ' John P. Blake, E. H. and E. S. Phelps, Jr. Aaron Gunn made a claim on the Doolittle farm, and afterward at LaMoille. Mr. Corss made a claim two and one-half miles southeast of Princeton, on which he lived until his death, which occurred a few years ago. John G. Blake made a claim where Arthur Bryant lived, but soon afterward went east of the river, where he settled. Mr. Blake now lives in Putman County, and for many years was County Judge. E. H. Phelps is now living in Princeton, and is one among the few original members left of the Hampshire Colony Church. E. S. Phelps, Sr., died in Princeton. E. S. Phelps. Jr., lived in Wyanet, and is now in Nebraska.

The settlement made by the colonists was called Greenfield, and Elijah Smith was ap- . voices of the riders, crying at the top of their pointed Postmaster.

John Griffith, who owned Griffith's Mill. was one of the rangers, and traveled much over what is now Bureau County, before its settlement. Matson says there were seven young men belonging to the same company of Rangers that Griffith was in, and of whom Matson says: "Seven young men, belonging to this company of rangers, among whom were Madison Studyvin, John Griffith, Ira Ladd, and Jonathan Wilson, being desirous of seeing the country, continued their jour- ney westward, and stayed over night at Henry Thomas'. Next day, as they were re- turning home, they saw, while on the Prince- ton prairie, three men on horseback, traveling westward, and being fond of sport, galloped their horses toward them. These three men proved to be Epperson, Jones and Foot, who were on their way to Epperson's cabin. Mis- taking the rangers for Indians, they wheeled their horses about, and fled in the direction of Hennepin. The panic was complete, and the fugitives urged their horses forward under

the whip, believing the preservation of their scalps depended on the fleetness of their steeds. Saddle-bags, blankets, and other valuables were thrown away to facilitate their speed. On they went, at a fearful rate, pursued by the rangers. In the flight, Foot's horse fell down, throwing the rider over his head; but Epperson and Jones made no halt, having no time to look after their unfortunate comrade, but leaving him to the tender mercies of savages, they continued on their way. When the fugitives arrived at the Hennepin ferry. they were exhausted from fright and over exertion. their horses were in a foam of sweat, while loud puff's of breath came forth from their expanded nostrils. Above the snorting of the horses and clatter- ing of their feet were heard the hoarse

voice, "Injuns, Injuns." On the west side of the river were a number of people looking after their cattle, which had been driven from their claims, and on hearing the cry of "Injuns," they, too. ran for their lives. Epper- son and his comrade sprang from their horses and ran for the ferry-boat, saying they had been chased by a large body of Indians, who were but a short distance behind them. As quick as possible the ferry-boat pulled for the opposite shore: one man being left behind jumped in and swam to the boat. Soon the pursuers arrived, and the joke was laughed off and the scare was over."

Foot and Jones were single men and be- longed to the Hampshire Colony. Foot made a claim two miles north of Princeton, now occupied by Shugart, and Jones made a claim where James Garvin's family now live.

Land Surreyed .- In the spring of 1819 John C. Sullivan began surveying under the direction of Graham and Phillips, Commis- sioners appointed by the President of the United States for the purpose of locating

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the old Indian boundary line running from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi at the mouth of Rock River. This runs a few de- grees south of west, passing through the northern part of Bureau County. This was the standard line in the surveys of the coun- ty, causing fractional tracts north and south of it.

The surveys south of the Indian boundary were commenced in 1816, and completed in 1822. The last were made in this part of Illinois by Thomas C. and Stephen Rector. Their returns bear date November 6, 1822. The surveys north of the Indian boundary were commenced in 1834 and completed in 1843. The land sonth of this boundary came into market in August. 1835, and north of it in 1844. The land office in this district was at Galena until 1841, when it was moved to Dixon.

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History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 22

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company Number of Pages: 776

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776