History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 43

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 43

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 annual exhibit of 1884 was by far in all respects the most successful county fair, both in display and attendance, ever yet held in the county. The gate money on Thursday reaching the large figures of a

fraction over $2,500, indicating a paying at- tendance of nearly 12,000 people.

From 1856, the first year a county fair was held, to 1884, there was only one year, and that on account of the war, but that a regular county fair has been held. This was about the first that county fairs were or- ganized in the different counties in the State. It has been only a few counties, but that the life of the county organization has been fitful and uncertain, and often run- ning for some years, then disbanding and reorganizing, and in many the grounds have been allowed to go to creditors, and the im- provements to decay or removed from the grounds. The opposite of this has been true in Bureau County. There has been a steady and continuous growth, and to-day it may be called a permanent and one of the most valuable institutions in the county. The society owns valuable and very conven- ient grounds-comprising over sixty acres of land-and extensive and permanent houses, sheds, stalls, amphitheater, and all the con- veniences of the well-equipped fair ground; is but a little in debt, and altogether may well be classed as one of the most prosper- ous agricultural fairs in the State. The people of the county are peculiarly agricult- ural in their pursuits. The county is with- out great towns and cities; until the present year (1884) there has never been a charter city in the county. There were simply twenty- four postoffices, small villages and trading points. The whole was a vast aggregation of rich farms, and in the county were nearly 30,000 people identified with agriculture- nearly the entire population, and all directly, therefore, dependent upon the warm and generous soil, spread in such rolling splen- dors about them. In the county are 463,993 acres of improved land, exclusive of 5,300 improved town lots. These farms are worth

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at least $20,000,000. The total average in the county, improved and unimproved, ex- clusive of town lots, 546,638 acres. It is all rated on the Assessors' books as improved land except 82,637 acres. Think of all this agricultural wealth. The total tax of the county for 1884 is $269,665.59. And within the memory of persons yet living in the county, Charles S. Boyd paid the county tax one year-70 cents.

There are several counties in Illinois which can show a larger tax-roll each year than Bureau County. But no exclusively agricultural county can. Every county that can or does pay as much has large cities, towns, and various manufactories within its borders.

The total population of Bureau County in the census of 1880, is 33,172. Of these 17,088 are males, and 16,084, females; 8,781 males are over twenty-one years of age; and from five to seventeen there are males 5,042, females, 4,985. There are 3,657 improved farms in the county, and live stock valued at $3, 170,334. Estimated value of all farm products for a year, $3,294,250. The differ- ent leading productions are: Barley, 41,997 bushels; buckwheat, 1,316; corn, 8,425,683; oats, 1,188,234; rye, 41,140; wheat, 264,626; hay, 69,013 tons; potatoes, 170,595 bushels; sweet potatoes, 1,116 bushels. Value of or- chard products, $50,800. There are 16,997 horses in the county, 40,983 cattle, 535 mules, 9,872 sheep, 63,901 hogs. All property is assessed at one-third value, and at this rate the horses are valued, $28.22 each; cattle, $8.33; mules, $28.37; sheep, $1.21; hogs, $1.73. There are only sixty-three steam engines in the county; total assessed value $6,817. There are 6,457 carriages and wag- . ons, valued at $11.70 each; 4,651 watches and clocks, $2.19 each; 2,994 sewing- machines, $4.37 each; 302 pianos, $37.97

each. There are fifteen water crafts and steamboats in the county; average value as- sessed $329.85. And $159,245 in goods and merchandise. The total manufactured articles in the county, 4,080. And agricult- ural machinery $46,439. Total of all per- sonal property in the county, assessed $2,- 007,052. The total tax of the county, from all sources, 1883, was $280,695.

It will be noticed that the manufactured articles in the county are infinitesimal com- pared to the resources of the county in other respects.

CHAPTER XXIX.

HON. OWEN LOVEJOY.

[N all that pertains to the political history of Bureau County, and especially the anti- slavery movement that commenced here more than a generation ago, in first a protest and then in open and active defiance of the fugi- tive slave law, the one pre-eminent name is that of Owen Lovejoy. Individuals and nations are wonderfully the creatures of cir- cumstances. This fact becomes the more ap- parent and curious the more intimately our pursuits or our reading and study lead us to minutely examine the history of either gov- ernments or individuals. This, as much as anything else, is the source of much of our interest in all historical subjects. This will explain our here introducing the follow- ing paragraphs from the current history of Illinois:

The year 1837 is memorable for the death of Illinois' first martyr to liberty, Elijah P. Lovejoy. He was born at Albion, Kennebec Co., Me., November 9, 1802. At the age of twenty-one he entered Waterville College, and after graduating with the first honors of

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his class, removed to St. Louis and com- menced teaching. A year or two afterward he exchanged the occupation of a teacher for that of the journalist, became the editor of the St. Louis Times, and advocated the election of Henry Clay as President of the United States. Not long after he had en- tered this new field of labor he united with the Presbyterian Church, and determined to abandon it also for the clerical profession. Accordingly, at the age of thirty he repaired to the Theological School at Princeton, N. J., and entered with great ardor upon his studies, and in 1833 was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. The following summer was spent in preaching in Newport, R. I., and at Spring Church, N. Y., after which he returned to St. Louis. Here he again assumed the editorial chair, and issued the first number of the St. Louis Obserrer, a religious newspaper, November 22, 1833. Soon after he incurred the ill- will of the Catholic Church by characterizing their proceedings in laying the corner-stone of a cathedral on the Sabbath as a desecra- tion of the day, and charging the use of the United States artillery and cavalry, which were brought into requisition to give prestige to the occasion, was a prostitution of the purpose for which they were intended. From the clerical rancor excited by this out- spoken expression of opinion, he thought, proceeded the persecutions which he subse- quently encountered, though masked in the guise of [anti]-Abolitionism. The question of slavery even at that early day was one of absorbing interest, and it was impossible for one of Mr. Lovejoy's vigorons intellect and fearless manner of speaking not to become involved in its discussion and not to incur the hatred of its advocates. The subject hav- ing arrested his attention he wrote an edi- torial on it, and left the city to attend a

Presbyterian Synod. During his absence it appeared in the columns of the Observer, and such was the commotion it excited that the owners of the press were compelled to publish a card to allay the excitement and prevent a mob from destroying their proper- ty. On his return a paper was presented to him by a number of leading citizens and the minister who received him into the church, in which they expressed the opinion that slavery is sanctioned by the Bible, and asked him to desist from its further discussion. Though the authors of the request repre- sented the intelligence and morality of St. Louis, if honest, how little they understood the personal rights of mankind; and how little they supposed this question was des- tined in less than half a century to shake the continent with civil commotion. This paper was inserted in the Observer and also a reply from Mr. Lovejoy, in which he claimed the right to publish his honest convictions. In answer to the Biblical view given of slavery, he reminds his censors of the golden rule, " Make not slaves of others if you do not wish to be made slaves yourselves." His state- ment, although conched in the most inoffen- sive language, again excited the ire of the citizens, and the proprietors of the press took possession of it to prevent a recurrence of the disturbance. A friend, however, inter- fered, and agreed to restore the press to him, provided he would remove it to Alton, where he might use it safely. The offer was ac- cepted, but after he had gone thither to make arrangements for publishing it he was in- vited to return to St. Louis. On going back he resumed his editorial labors and continued there until the summer of 1835, when he again became involved in difficulties.

On the 23d of April, the police arrested a negro by the name of McIntosh, who, while on the way to prison, drew his knife and

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killed one and badly wounded the other. In consequence of the murderous assault, a large crowd surrounded the jail in which he was imprisoned, and taking him thence they bound him to a stake and burned him to death. The community being largely in sym- pathy with the perpetrators of this unlawful and fiendish act, it was a long time before they were brought to trial. When at length the matter was presented to the grand jury, the judge, by the most gross perversion of facts, informed them that the Observer had caused the negro to murder the policeman, and that there was no law for punishing them who burnt him at the stake. A succeeding number of this sheet repelled the flagrant charge made by the judge, alluded to the fact that he was a Catholic, and intimated that his views respecting the enforcement of the law could only result from Jesuitical teach- ings. The editor, aware that the statement would be followed by another outburst of in- dignation and an attempt to destroy the press, immediately caused it to be shipped to Alton, where it arrived July 21, 1836. The day being Sunday, Mr. Lovejoy proposed to let it remain on the wharf until Monday; but the ensuing night it was secretly visited by a number of persons, who broke it into pieces and threw it into the river. When this das- tardly act became known the next day, the people became excited and the ensuing eve- ning a large meeting assembled in the Pres- byterian Church, to listen to addresses by Mr. Lovejoy and other speakers. The former stated that he had come to Alton to establish a religious newspaper, that he was pleased with the town, and as most of his subscribers resided in Illinois, it would be best for him to make it his future home; that he regretted that his presence had caused so much excite- ment, and the people must have a wrong ap- preciation of his object; that he was not an

Abolitionist, and had been frequently de- nounced by Garrison and others as being pro- slavery because he was not in favor of their measures; that he was opposed to slavery, ever had been, and hoped he always would be. This statement corresponds with his previous declaration and position in regard to slavery. He always manifested a strong sympathy for the oppressed, and in common with North and South, regarded colonization as the best means of freeing the country from the curse of slavery. With the progress of events, this scheme. though it had enlisted the regard of statesmen and philanthropists, was abandoned for more practical views. Mr. Lovejoy, who never permitted himself to fall behind the march of ideas, also took a more ad- vanced position. In the same meeting he also said that "he was now removed from slavery, and could publish a newspaper without dis- cussing it, and that it looked like cowardice to flee from the place where the evil existed and come to a place where it did not exist to expose it." With these declarations, extort- ed to a great extent by the tyrannical censor- ship of the slave power, he no doubt after his arrival in Alton intended to comply. In- deed he might justly have concluded that it was useless to waste his time and energy in en- deavoring to benefit a community which was endeavoring to exercise over him a bondage worse than that which fettered the body of the slave. Yet, as the contest between free- dom and slavery grew warmer, and earnest champions were needed to contend for the right, Mr. Lovejoy concluded that duty re- quired him to again enter the arena of discus- sion.

As the result of the meeting funds were raised, another press was sent for, and the first number of the Alton Observer was issued September 8, 1836. Its editor, gifted with more than ordinary ability, soon extended its

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circulation, its discussions at first being mostly confined to subjects of a moral and literary character. By and by the question of slavery was also broached. Mr. Lovejoy no doubt smarting under the unjust surveil- lance to which he was subjected at the start- ing of his paper, seemed now determined to exercise his constitutional rights to free speech, being willing that the laws of his country, not the dictation of ruffians, should decide as to whether he abused this privi- lege.

In the issue of June 29, 1837, at the in- stance of the Anti-Slavery Society, he favored the circulation of a petition for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the succeeding number he speaks of the importance of organizing an anti-slavery so- ciety for the State of Illinois. In the same paper he also indulged in the following re- flections, suggested by the Fourth of July: " This day reproaches us for our sloth and inactivity. It is the day of our Nation's birth. Even as we write, crowds are hurrying past our window in eager anticipation to the ap- pointed bower, to listen to the declaration that, ' All men are created equal;' to hear the eloquent orator denounce, in strains of man- ly indignation, the attempt of England to lay a yoke on the shoulders of our fathers which neither they nor their children could bear. Alas, what a bitter mockery is this; we assemble to thank God for our own freedom, and to eat with joy and gladness of heart, while our feet are on the necks of nearly 3,000,000 of our fellow-men. Not all our shouts of self-congratulation can drown their groans; even the very flag which waves over our head is formed of material cultivated by slaves, on a soil moistened by their blood, drawn from them by the whip of a republi- can task-master." As soon as this was read, the pro-slavery men assembled in the market

house and passed a number of resolutions, in which, with strange incongruity, they claim the right of free speech for themselves, while they plot to deprive another of the same privi- lege. A committee was appointed to inform Mr. Lovejoy that he must cease agitating the question of slavery, and they accordingly dropped a letter in the postoffice, containing a demand to that effect. The editor replied to the communication by denying their right to dictate to him what it was proper to dis- cuss, and at the same time tendered them the use of his paper to refute his opinions if they were wrong. They, however, chose a more summary manner for ending the controversy. On the night of the 25th of August a mob made an assault on the office of the Observer, with stones and brickbats, and after driving out the employees, entered and completely demolished the press. Mr. Lovejoy himself was afterward surrounded in the street by a number of ruffians, it was believed for the purpose of offering him violence. These out- rages were boldly committed, without any at- tempt being made by the city officials to bring the rioters to justice. The anti-slavery party of the town, of course, were justly incensed at this wanton outrage and willful disre- gard of individual rights, but being largely in the minority, all they could do was to quietly submit and send for a new press. This, however, the proscribed editor was never to see. Leaving Alton shortly after to attend a presbytery, the press arrived Sep- tember 21, and in his absence it was demol- ished, and, like its predecessor, thrown into the Mississippi. These unlawful proceedings had now been perpetrated so often in St. Louis and Alton with impunity, that not only these localities but other places were rapidly becoming demoralized Not long after the destruction of the third press, Mr. Lovejoy visited his mother in St. Charles, Mo. Here

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he was violently assailed by a crowd of ruf- fians, with the avowed object of taking his life, and it was only by the interposition of his heroic and devoted wife, that he escaped their murderous intent.

In the meantime the friends of Mr. Love- joy sent for the fourth press, and it was in connection with this, the tragedy occurred which cost him his life. In anticipation of its arrival a series of meetings was held in which both the friends of freedom and elav. ery were represented. The object of the lat- ter was to effect a compromise, but it was one in which liberty was to make concessions to oppression; in which the proprietors of the Observer were to forego the legitimate use of their property to appease an ignorant mob, and in which right and modern progress were required to submit to injustice and the exploded ideas of the past. Mr. Hogan, the Methodist minister, endeavored to prove from the Bible the inexpediency of the course pur- sued by Mr. Lovejoy and his friends, in which he remarked "The great Apostle had said all things are lawful for him, but all things are not expedient; if Paul yielded to the law of expediency, would it be wrong for Mr. Love- joy to follow his example ? The spirit of God did not pursue Paul to his destruction for thus acting, but on the contrary com- mended his course; Paul had never taken up arms to propagate the religion of his Master, nor to defend himself from the at- tacks of his enemies; the people of Damas- cus were opposed to Paul, but he did not argue with the populace the question of his legal rights; did he say, 'I am a Minister of Christ and must not leave the work of my Master, and flee before the face of a mob?'"

This was strange advice to come from the abettor of a faction, first to inaugurate vio- lence and at that very time conspiring against the life of one who was legally void of offense.

The reverend gentleman seemed to think the aggrieved should exercise forbearance, while the mob might insult and destroy with im- punity. Mr. Beecher, President of Illinois College, was present and delivered addresses, in which he took a position almost as objec- tionable as that of Mr. Hogan. He believed that slavery was morally wrong, and should not be tolerated for a moment. He contended that if the Constitution sanctioned iniquity, it was also wrong, and could not be binding upon the people; that for his part he did not acknowledge obedience to the Constitution, and as long as it tolerated slavery, he could not. But when he came to urge the rights of his friends to free speech and the peaceable use of their property, he invoked all the guarantees of the Constitution and Govern- ment to protect them in the enjoyment of these privileges. He would now have others submit to the law, while he was unwilling to do so himself. Mr. Lovejoy, who was more consistent than either of these gentlemen, contended only for his undoubted rights, and expressed in a conciliatory manner his unal- terable determination to maintain them. "Mr. Chairman," said he, "what have I to compromise? If freoly to forgive those who have so greatly injured me; if to pray for their temporal and eternal happiness; if still to wish for the prosperity of your city and State, notwithstanding the indignities I have suffered in them; if this be the compromise intended, then do I willingly make it. I do not admit that it is the business of any body of men to say whether I shall or shall not publish a paper in this city. That right was given me by my Creator, and is solemnly guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and this State. But if by compromise is meant that I shall cease from that which duty requires of me, I cannot make it, and the reason is that I fear God more than man.

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It is also a very different question, whether I shall voluntarily, or at the request of my friends, yield up my position, or whether I shall forsake it at the demand of a mob. The former I am ready at all times to do when the circumstances require it, as I will never put my personal wishes in competition with the cause of that Master whose minister I am. But the latter, be assured, I will never do. You have, as the lawyers say, made a false issue. There are no two parties be- tween whom there can be a compromise. I plant myself down on my unquestionable rights, and the question to be decided is, whether I shall be protected in these rights? That is the question. You may hang me as the mob hung the individual at Vicksburg. You may burn me at the stake as they did old McIntosh in St. Louis, or you may tar and feather me, or throw me into the Mississippi as you have threatened to do, but you cannot disgrace me. I, and I alone, can disgrace my- self, and the deepest of all disgrace would be at a time like this to deny my Maker by forsaking His cause. He died for me, and I were most unworthy to bear His name should I refuse, if need be, to die for Him."

The boat having the obnoxious press on board arrived early in the morning, Novem- ber 7, 1837, and the latter was immediately removed to the stone warehouse of Godfrey, Gilman & Co. The proprietors and their friends now assembled with arms to defend it. No violence was offered till the ensuing night, when a mob of about thirty persons came from the drinking saloon and demanded the press. This insolent and unjust demand was of course refused, when the assailants, with stones, brickbats and guns, committed an attack on the building. Those within, among whom was Mr. Lovejoy, returned the fire, by which one of the mob was killed and several others wounded. This warm recep-

tion caused them to retire, some to bear away the dying man, others to summon reinforce- ments, but the most of them visited the ad- jacent grog-shops for the purpose of reviving their courage. Soon after, the bells of the city were rung, horns were blown, and an excited multitude came running to the ware- house, some urging on the drunken and im- bruted mob, and others persuading them to desist. Ladders were placed against the side of the building without windows, where there was no danger from within, and several persons ascended to fire the roof. Mr. Love- joy and some others, on learning their dan- ger, rushed out, and firing on the incendiaries drove them away. After returning to the inside, on reloading their pieces, Mr. Love- joy, with two or three companions, not seeing any foe on the south side, again stepped out to look after the roof. Concealed assassins were watching, and simultaneously firing, five bullets entered his body, when he ex- claimed: "My God! I am shot," and ex- pired.

With the fall of the master spirit, the de- fenders of the press surrendered it to the mob, who (?) broke it into fragments, and threw them into the river. The following day a grave was dug on a high bluff in the southern part of the city, and the body, with- out ceremony, was thrown into it and covered up. Some years afterward the same eleva- tion was chosen as the site of a cemetery, and in laying out the grounds the main ave- nue chanced to pass over the grave of Love- joy. To obviate the difficulty, his ashes were interred in a new locality, and within a few years past a simple monument was erected over the spot bearing the inscription: " Hic jacet Lovejoy ; jam parcere sepulto."*

This is but one of the many similar inci- dents in history. In the march of civiliza-

*Alexander Davidson's History of Illinois.

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tion, there are more unknown, unhonored martyrs, sleeping in unmarked graves, than there are honored and well known names in history. The shores of time have been strewn with their mangled remains. Lovejoy died in defense of a free press and free speech. The effects flowing out from this circumstance are curious and interesting subjects for philosophical study, and, when we have all passed away, they will (that is, cause and effect) be gone over with passionless judg- ments, and lessons drawn therefrom that will stand as beacon lights to all mankind.

But here we give the story of Elijah P. Lovejoy's death, because it is intimately connected with the past political history of Bureau County. It brings us understandingly to the wonderful story of Owen Lovejoy's life and times in the county, and is the key to the whole. When we have secured the key to a man's mission in life, and Owen Lovejoy was one of the few men in history who had a mission, it is easy enough to tell the remainder of the story. The man with a mission, on which he stakes his existence, his all, his everything here and hereafter, is a man of destiny, a hero whose story will at- tract men of every age and clime. There is no question but that if our country has pro- duced such historic characters, Owen Love- joy stands among them pre-eminently con- spicuous.

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History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 43

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