USA > Illinois > Cass County > History of Cass county, Illinois > Part 21
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The historian, like an insurance agent or an undertaker, has a thankless task to per- form, no matter how diligently he may rum- mage through the dusty memorials of the past, putting forth his greatest powers to en- compass everything of any degree of appro- priate importance, and to hand down to poster- ity an accurate and comprehensive record; it falls far short of what a great majority of people anticipated it would be. But there is one satisfaction, the coming generations will become more fair and consistent in taking in the situation, and will more fully appreciate the labors of the historian. It must be tak- en into consideration, that but few of the first settlers are living; those that are, their memories and recollections are not what they were in the prime of life, and a history at best must consequently be but a partial narra- tion of events.
Monroe Precinct has no village within its present limits; about half of its surface was originally prairie, and the rest brush and timber land. The timber was scattered over the precinct in little groves, which were often of considerable length along the ravines and streams. There is some very beautiful level land in places, along the streams; and around the groves it is considerably broken and often bluffy. Perhaps no better fruit produc-
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
ing land can be found in the county. The soil seems less sandy than the land in the northern part of the county, and more pro- ductive and more easily cultivated, except- ing the Sangamon Bottom. Wheat and eorn seem to be the staple productions, though there are a goodly number of stock farmns, and some very fine blooded stock raised. Farmers are fast learning that the improve- ment of their stock has become a very profit- able investment.
There was a village named Monroe, laid out June 27, 1836, and surveyed by Johnston Shelton, for Morgan County, while this was a part of Morgan. It was on the west half of southwest quarter of section 11, township 17, range 11, and was about four and a half miles from Virginia. The place has long since been abandoned and vacated, and only a church uow marks the site.
There are three creeks, namely: Lost, Clear, and Prairie, that run across the precinct from east to west in almost parallel lines. Along the banks of the two first, some very good timber in an early day was found; along the latter was mostly prairie. Some portions of the year these streams assume the size of rivers, but it is not unusual to see them dry, or nearly so, during the summer months of the year.
The first settlers were seemingly afraid of the prairie, and would not locate unless they could secure a site for a eabin within the sheltering shades of some grove, or strip of timber. The immigrants coming mostly from timbered localities, thought it impossible to settle on the naked prairie. And thus we find the first settlers closely hugging the timber, and every neighborhood was known as such a grove, the name being taken from the first settler that pitched his tent or built his cabin there.
The first man that entered the present lim- its of Monroe Precinct as a settler is not
definitely known; but as early as 1827, the following families were here: Benjamin Ma- thus, Thomas and William Clark, George Ruby, James Davis, Alexander Huffman, and Richard Graves; of all of these, Mrs. Elizabeth L. Davis is the only survivor. She is eighty- two years of age, and lives on the old home- stead with her son George. It is but a mat- ter of a few years, when she too will enter the sleep of her fathers, and the last of Monroe's pioneers will have passed away. It is sad to follow the old venerable pioneer veterans one by one to the grave, and cover them with the sod which they struggled so many years to conquer and subdue, but " All that lives must die."
" Of all the men
Whom day's departing beam saw blooming there, In proud and vigorous health ; of all the hearts That beat with anxious life at sunset there, How few survive, how few are beating now !' .
Mr. Mathus settled on the land now own- ed by Elias Davis; William Clark on Edward Davis' present farm. Thomas Clark settled on Clear Creek, on the farm now owned by Henry Pratt. The land Mr. Ruby purchased is still owned by his heirs. The Huffman and Graves estates which they respectively pur- chased and improved, is also owned by their heirs. Isaiah Huffman, James Graves, George, Turminan, and James Allen Davis, are the prominent descendants of the first settlers now living in the precinct. Mr. James Davis was one of the first settlers of the County, coming in 1821, and settled on Indian Creek, where he lived till 1827, when he moved to Monroe Precinet.
To show the manner of building the earlier cabins of the country, it will be necessary to to give but one instance. Mr. James Davis came in the winter of 1827, and built his log house near where he afterward built his present frame building; and after completing it and closing it up, he returned to his family,
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
and when they moved in March to their pre- viously built cabin, they found three feet of snow on its floor. So open and poorly con- structed were the first cabins, that the stars could be counted at night through the roof, and wolves shot through openings in the sides.
Previous to 1832, the settlers had no road to Beardstown; what little trading and selling they did was at Springfield.
There was but little grain raised, however, to be carried to that distant market, as the new immigrants annually coming in consumed nearly all of the first crops that were raised.
The road to Beardstown was traced out by a committee appointed especially for that pur- pose by the settlers, three of the committee were Joshua Crow, James Davis and Benja- min Mathus, the names of the others, like many events and facts of carly settlements have passed into oblivion.
The road was cut through and completed to Beardstown in 1833 or thereabouts. This made a nearer or better market, and also a post-office, and a cheaper place of purchase, thereby not only benefiting the country in the immediate vicinity of Monroe Precinct, but many miles beyond. Previous to this, the settlers had but little mail or heard scarcely any news. About the only com- munication they had from friends and relat- ions left behind, was by settlers coming in or some one returning, through whom friendly messages were communicated.
In those days it cost money to receive a a letter. Our modern postal system had not then been developed; the iron horse, with his heart of fire and flaming breath, did not sweep through the country with the swift- ness of an eagle's flight. There were no stoves, no matches; people were compelled to seek their neighbor's house for fire should their own go out. Living now and fifty years ago are decidedly two different things.
In 1832, the following families were
then in the precinct: Benjamin Mathus, James Davis, Alexander Huffman, George Ruby, Thomas and William Clark, Richard Graves, Austin Sims, Benjamin Montgomery, Joshua Crow, and a Mr. Black.
During the deep snow there was much in- convenience and some considerable suffering. John W. Davis was visiting at the resi- dence of Austin Sims when the storm began. During the night his horse broke loose and attempted to return home, but was never seen after; his bones were found the follow- ing spring several miles away.
Deer were easily caught that winter, by riding upon them with a horse. Mr. . James Davis, who had never killed a deer in his life, decided to try his luck one morning. Seeing one struggling in the snow but a short dis- tance from his house, he took out his horse, easily overtook the timid animal, and in a moment of excitement found himself straddle of the deer, without knife or gun, or anything with which he could make himself master of the situation; but he finally griped the nose of his prey, and succeeded in so twisting its neck that he broke it and thereby secured his game.
Mrs. Low, on Little Indian Creek, killed two deer with a meat ax. Two bucks, in testing their physical strength, became an easy prey, by locking their horns so tightly together that they could not separate from one another, and Mrs. Low, taking in the situation, and with the courage and bravery of an Indian, marched to the scene and suc- cessfully dispatched both animals.
The first settlers had their first milling done at Mr. Quiller Hall's horse-mill, on Little Indian Creek. They patronized that mill till Mr. Streets put up his, some four miles north of the present site of Virginia. Ben. Montgomery run a horse mill on a small scale, on the farm now owned by Rosa Huffman, for several years. It had a grinding capacity
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
of about twelve bushels per day, yet there was scarcely an hour of the day but what there was a team standing at his door, wait- ing for a grist. He also run a small copper still for a time, which perhaps added some- thing to the patronage of his mill. It was no mark of disgrace at that day for a man to manufacture or drink whisky. Every farmer kept it; nearly every man drank it. It was thought impossible to harvest a grain crop without it. But times, and men, and whisky have changed, the two first for the better, the latter for the worse.
Schools .- The cause of education received the early and timely attention of the pioneers of Monroc Precinct, and to-day the fruit of a hundred fold may be seen in the intelligence and culture of the descendants of those early and honest settlers. Though in the first settle- ment there were a great many influences that worked against the development of a general system of education, neighborhoods were thinly settled, money scarce, and people gen- erally poor, no school-houses, no public fund, no trained and qualified teachers, no books, and nothing characteristic of the present schools was at the command of the pioneers, yet they organized schools, their children were taught and grew to manhood and to years, wiser and more learned than the vener- able sires that gave them existence and watched and rocked their cradles. When we look at the poverty and early condition of the settlers, the untiring industry of both sexes, old and young, we are surprised that they had schools at all. Private residences, vacated cabins, barns, or any place of shelter where fire could be protected from the falling rains or drifting snows, were used for school purposes. These rude temples of learning, in which the pioneer children of the county studied and shivered, were not to be despised, for they were the best that the wealth and circumstances of the country permitted.
The early settlers were not unmindful of the care, education and culture necessary to prepare their children for the trying struggles of life, that they might be a credit to their parents and a benefit to the country. They performed well their duty, and many a rich harvest has been the reward of their labors.
In the year 1829, Mr. James Davis offered a portion of his premises, just south of his residence, for a school-house, to be used also for church purposes, or anything of an edu- cational or moral character.
The neighbors found Mr. Davis very liberal and enthusiastic in his proposition; he offered not only the site for the building, but also money and labor necessary for completing the house and conducting a school. A log house was at once erected by the united labors of the neighborhood, each contributing logs, labor, or money, according to their means, and ere a month had elapsed the building was com- plete and ready for the service for which it was built.
Mr. Jesse Pierce had the honor of being the first teacher of Monroe Precinct, and taught a good and satisfactory school. Among his scholars were the following : Isaiah and Sylvester Huffman, David, Thomas and Pa- tience Clark, Julia Ann, John, Thomas and James A. Davis, Emily Spencer, George Savage, Mary, Logan and Samuel Wilson, Mary, James and Nelson Graves, and Jake Shoopman.
The second teacher that was given author- ity in this log temple of learning, was a Mr. Chapman. He was shortly after succeeded by John Galesp, who perhaps was among the most successful teachers of the precinct. He taught several years, and it was during his time of service that the building caught fire and was consumed. The chimney became defective, being made of sticks and mud, which was very characteristic of the early style of chimneys, and caught fire and made
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
such rapid progress that it could not be over- come.
The settlers were not discouraged, but im- mediately put up a new building within two hundred yards of the first, also on Mr. Davis' land. This was also built of logs, with pun- cheon floor, slab seats without backs or sup- port, but it had one decided advantage over the old building, that in that day was consid- ered a very great improvement. Instead of greased paper for windows, it was supplied with regular sash and glass window-lights. Besides the regular building, a shed at one end was attached, in which school was kept during the summer months of the year. School was kept in this building some ten years or more, when a building was put up at Monroe, with but very little improvement on the old, except the logs were hewn a little smoother, and a little better fitted together, the seats or benches being about the same. School was successively taught here, from 1843 to 1854, when the present building was erected, and where school has successfully been taught ever since.
Mr. Alexander Hoffman, about the year 1842, taught a private school at his own house, which was considered a great benefit to the community. A school-house about this time was built on the land of Richard Graves, but after the second term it took fire and was con- sumed.
Clear Creek Church .- One of the first things which our Pilgrim Fathers did, after crossing the storm-swept ocean, was to as- semble upon the frozen, barren rocks of Ply- mouth, in the great temple, whose majestic dome was the over-arching skies, and offer prayers of thanksgiving for their safe voyage and successful landing. So it was with the first settlers of Cass County. Whenever a few families were sufficiently near to each other to be called a neighborhood, we find them often assembled, either in the open air,
or within the narrow confines of some pioneer cabin, blending their hymns with the moan of the autumn winds, and returning thanks amid the sereams of the panther and the howling of wolves. In all the trials, priva- tions, and sufferings that attended the first subduing of the forests, or the taming of the prairies, the settlers forgot not that God was the great source of blessing, and would not forsake them in their hour of need.
Clear Creek church was first begun at the residence of Mr. John Ray, about the year 1832. He being a minister of the gospel, in- vited in a few families, and under his own roof first began the work of organizing a a church. The members that first added their names to the roll of membership were, himself and wife, Joshua Crow and wife, James Davis and wife, John Mathews, Benja- min Mathews and wife, William Shoopman and wife, and Naney Hill.
Meetings were continued at the cabin of Rev. Mr. Ray, for two years or more, when he removed to Texas, and left the settlers without a minister, and a regular place of meeting.
Rev. Cyrus Wright came among the set- tlers about that time and offered his services to the community, which were gladly and thankfully received. Meetings were then held at the cabin of Mr. Shoopman, who re- sided on Clear Creek, and the church from that took its present name. After continuing the meetings for some time at the residence of Mr. Shoopman, the society decided to hold their meetings at the cabin of Mr. James Davis, where services were continued for fourteen years, Rev. Cyrus Wright being the officiating minister. During this time the following members were added to the so- ciety: D. Hardy and wife, Elijah Davis and wife, Julia Ann Davis, Millie Hoffman, Nancy Rnby Mr. Harding, Betsy, Bridgewater, Thom- as Cowen, Mrs. Morgan, Lucy Bridgewater,
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
Peter Hudson and wife, John Howell and wife, Joshua Howell and wife, James Blan and wife and two daughters, Mr. Richards and wife, Rachel Epler, Nancy Hill, Ira Crow and wife, Amanda Thornsberry, Thomas Buck and wife, Miles White and wife, and Mr. Ephraim White. At the present day but few of the above members are living.
In 1852, they built their present church, at a cost of $500, besides the time and labor contributed by the individual members.
The building committee was made up of the following persons: Alexander Hoffman, James Davis, and William Shoopman. The above committee were also elected the first trustecs of the church, to which a deed of the
land was given by John Schaffer, free of all cost.
No regular services at present are held. William Dyre occasionally preaches to the few members that are left. The church at one time had a large membership, and was among the most prosperous of the county.
The society saw its brightest days of pros- perity when the church was first built, and Rev. Mr. Wright was pastor. After his death, Rev. Mason Beadle took the charge as pastor, and at the close of his ministerial services, many of the members moved away, others died, and now there are but fifteen members remaining of that once prosperous body.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
CHAPTER XIX .*
OREGON PRECINCT - DESCRIPTION AND SETTLEMENT - PIONEER LIFE - INDIANS - CHURCHES, SCHOOLS.
" Once o'er all this famous land Savage wilds and darkness spread, Sheltered now by thy kind hand, Cheerful dwellings rear their head. Where onee frowned the tangled wood, Fertile fields and meadows smile,
Where the stake of torture stood, Rises now thy churches' pile."
THE world is now taking time to look back and the story of the pioneer is becoming one of absorbing interest. Illinois was for a long time considered "out West," and its people, scarcely yet out of the prairie wastes, took little interest in those traditions relating to a condition of society but little removed from their own. But the onward rush of the quick march of civilization, has pressed back the western frontier, making the once north- western territory the central link in the brilliant chain of states. This awakening to the true value of the pioneer history of this country comes in many respects too late. The children of the pioneer settlements have been fast gathered to the rest of their fathers within the past decade, and the old land- marks, one by one, have decayed and passed away with those that placed them.
The men who first burst into the native sod that hugged the hills and valleys of Oregon Precinct; the men whose axes rang first along its winding groves, where the foot-prints of the red man were imprinted in the sands; the men whose bullets first pierced the bounding deer that played and hid among its countless hills, have long since passed away ; their lips
are hushed in sleep that never can impart the hunger, and hardships, and trials of their pioneer struggles. "The half can never be told." It must rest in secret and in silence in the pulseless bosoms that know no waken- ing.
" Great God of love, we dedicate these hills and vales to Thee,
To hold Thy dead of every name, God's Acres let them be.
And may the souls whose bodies lie within this beau- teous calm
Be resting in the bosom of The Heavenly Paschal Lamb."
We honor those pioneer veterans for their self-sacrificing devotion in opening up for us such a country of richness, of happy homes and of glowing prospects for the future.
The path which men pursue in life, the dark waves they struggle to repel, the rough waters they endeavor to traverse, and their temporal happiness, depends almost wholly upon surrounding circumstances. See the life and pursuits which the pioneer has chos- en; he knew there was but hardship, priva- tion and long suffering in store for him; the vigorous years of his manhood must be given, and the strong muscular frame must be weak- ened with age to secure a brief respite from toil in the autumn of his declining years. Such was the character and make-up of the first settlers of Oregon Precinct, and the suc- cess of their labors, and the realization of their most sanguine expectations, no one will question ; the churches, school houses and beautiful homes that everywhere meet the eye, are the monuments of their pioneer industry.
*By J. L. Nichols.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
Oregon Precinct, like Richmond, is rather too undulating for convenient travel over its roads. There seems to be nothing but hills, over one only to be at the foot of another, and so on throughout the precinct; yet as broken and bluff-like as the country seems to a passing traveler, it contains some of the best and most productive farm lands in the county.
The land that is too broken for cultivation, makes admirable pastures for sheep and cattle, and the farmers with their improved and im- ported stock, find abundant wealth in the Ore- gon hills.
There are three streams that form the prin- cipal drainage of the precinct. Coxe's Creek, running through the Western part, is quite heavily timbered; some portions of this tim- ber, in the past has been of more than an ordinary growth, but the best part has been cut down, and a dense, thrifty growth of young trees has taken rapid pos- session of the ground. Panther Creek rising in the centre of the precinct, is rather a small stream whose banks in many places are very high and bluffy; there is also some timber scattered along its banks, and quite a grove where it takes its rise and from which it de- rives its name. Middle Creek flows through the Northeastern corner, and contains very little water, and has but very little timber growing along its banks till it reaches Rich- mond Precinct, where it is quite heavily tim- bered. These streams are comparatively small, and only in places contain water the year round; they invariably cease running "about the first of June, and in very dry seasons scarcely any water can be found in the entire length of their channels. While in the dry portions of the summer they can scarcely be termed creeks of the smallest character, in Spring, after the heavy rains, they become raging, roaring rivers, sweeping through the bills with such velocity and force that bridges,
fences, trees, and everything of a movable character that comes within their reach, is swept away and rushed down stream.
Timber is more or less scattered throughout the precinct. It is mostly of a young growth that has started since the prairie fires ceased to rage and sweep over the country. The best and most timber is found in the southeast por- tion of the precinct, and in the western part along the banks of Coxe's Creek.
The first settlement in Oregon Precinct was on Middle Creek. Mr. McDonald and Mr. Redman were the first to penetrate the pathless wilds and seek homes among the In- dians and wild beasts that roamed over the hills and woods of the country. They built their cabins near the present site of New- mansville, in 1824, and lived there in the soli- tude and silence, with Salem their nearest post-office, and Eli Cox, who had settled at Coxe's Grove in 1820, their nearest neighbor, till 1828, when Bartlet Conyers and Henry Hopkins were added to the little settlement.
Beardstown or Salem were the only places where farm produce or grain could be sold, and groceries and household necessaries pur- chased. At this time, however, there was but one store at Salem, kept by Messrs. Hill & McNamer. In reaching either of the above named places, the early settlers found much difficulty; the country was rough, the streams unbridged, and the only way farmers could travel was for several to go together and double up their yokes of cattle in the bad and difficult places of the road, and help each other through. And after getting their grain to market through these trying circumstances they could realize but 10 cents per bushel for their corn and 40 or 50 cents for their wheat, the corn being shelled and the wheat threshed by hand.
Bangs, frizzes, paint and lily hands were un- known among the rustic maidens of pioneer times. They spun and wove their own cloth-
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
ing; went into the field with their brothers and fathers; mowed, reaped, bound, raked, and cut wood, were strong, rugged, and perfect pictures of health. But very little luxury was enjoyed on the part of the pioneer in these days; during the big snow of 1830 and '31, many families lived exclusively for months on corn bread and parched corn, the meal being prepared in a mortar, as there were no mills that could be reached.
In 1844 we find in the other portion of the precinct the following settlers: Mr. and Mrs. Cress; G. Wood, on Sec. 34; Elijah Carver; James Garner, Sec. 3; Geo. Beggs, Sec. 34; John Sherrer, Sec. 3. In 1846 the cabin of Joseph Allison was put up with no other neighbor but Amos Garner, who lived then on the farm now owned by his brother William. Much of the land in Oregon was sold for 50 and even 25 cents per acre, and there was government land as late as 1854; the farm now owned by R. P. Bell was sold that year, among one of the last pieces, at the low gov- ernment price of 25 cents per acre.
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