USA > Illinois > Christian County > History of Christian County, Illinois > Part 12
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Taylorville, the capital of the county, is situated near the centre, on the lines of the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway, and the Springfield branch of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. It is eighty-one miles north-east from St. Louis, and twenty miles south- west from Decatur.
Form .- In form the county is nearly au oblong square, and is divided into fifteen full, and ten fractional congressional townships, and into seventeen municipal townships or voting precincts, as fol- lows: namely, Pana, Assumption, Prairieton, Rosemond, Locust, May, Stonington, Mosquito, Greenwood, Jolinson, Taylorville, Buckhart, Mt. Auburn, Ricks, Bear creek, South Fork, and King.
Population .- The population of the county, according to the census of 1870, is 20,552. The increase has been very large since then. The population is composed of English, German, Irish, French, and Swede extraction, with a few colored persons.
Waters. - It is watered by several streams: the Sangamon river,
on the north, is the largest, and drains a large area of country ; its principal tributaries are Buckhart and Mosquito creeks. Buck- hart creek rises in the south-eastern part of Stonington township, and flows in a north-westerly direction, leaving the county in Sec- tion 22, township 15-3, and mingles its waters with the Sangamon. Mosquito creek heads in Wheatland township, Macon county, and runs in a westerly direction until it crosses the Christian county line, when its course assumes a north-westerly direction, emptying in the Sangamon on Section 25, Tp. 16, Range 2. By far the greatest area drained in the county is by the South Fork, Flat Branch, Bear creek, Clear creek, Lick creek, Cottonwood creek, Prairie Fork, and their tributaries. All of the county south of Buckhart and Stonington township is drained by these streams and their tributaries, which flow principally in a northern and north-western direction, and are all affluents of the South Fork. Each of these streams possesses its tributaries, so that the entire surface of the country is well watered and drained. In portions of the county good water is afforded by copious springs; the high grounds are the water-sheds between the creeks.
Timber .- The streams of the county are lined with belts of tim- ber varying from two to six miles in width, abounding with the various species of oak, hickory, walnut, sycamore, maple, cherry, etc. The native kinds of timber are fully set forth in the chapter on the Flora of the county, and hence demand but brief mention here. In earlier years the timber was destroyed with a degree of reckless- ness. More particularly was this the case with the lands of non- residents and speculators; the latter class entered most of the timbered lands with the view of future speculations. Much of the forest has disappeared before the axe of the woodman, and is used for railroad ties, for fuel and fencing. Since the introduction of Osage orange for hedges, which are a common fence in this county, and the introduction of coal for fuel, it may be safely estimated that the annual growth of timber is fully equal to the yearly consumption of this county. Artificial grooves and belts, consisting chiefly of hard and soft maple, elm, and fruit trees, have been planted on the prairies for shade and shelter.
Land Surface .- The land surface is divided between timber and prairie. At least three-fourths of the county consisted originally of prairie. The surface in Rosemond, some portions of Pana, Bear ereck, South Fork, Mt. Auburn, and parts of Johnson and May, are rather undulating. There are occasionally small hills or bluffs adjacent to the streams, principally along the Flat Branch, South Fork, and Sangamon, and their tributaries. This county is a part of what has been happily termed "Grand Prairie of the West," which extends from the licavily-timbered regions of the sluggish Wabash on the east, to the pine-clad Rocky mountains on the west. A few mounds exist. The most noted are those in Rose- mond and Mt. Auburn townships. The natural and artificial groves, the fringed banks of the water-courses, the smiling farms, with their fields of maize, and grain, and herds of cattle, all go to form a picture of surpassing loveliness. But little of the land is too flat for drainage or too broken for tillage, hence the greater portion is susceptible of cultivation, and affords the widest application of machinery.
Soil and Agriculture .- This county may be classed among the richest and most productive in the state. Its soil is dark and of the richest quality, ranging from one to four feet in depth. It is com- posed largely of vegetable mould, formed from the decomposition of grass and prairie weeds, the accumulations of centuries. It is seemingly inexhaustible. In the more northern portions of the county the soil is somewhat changed, and is called the "sand ridge." It produces well, and most of it is under cultivation. Experience
46
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
has demonstrated that this kind of soil will stand the drought much better than heavier soils. There is another ridge of a similar ehar- acter, extending in a north-east direction from the county seat, west of the Flat-Branch timber. It also produces well. The soil of the county generally is adapted to raising nearly all the cereals, such as wheat, eorn, oats, rye, barley, ete. Tobacco, eastor beans, and flax have been cultivated to a considerable extent. Before the "deep snow" cotton was raised profitably. The climate then was milder. A few years ago the castor bean was cultivated extensively on Bear creek and other portions of the county. A market was found for them at Edwardsville at from $1.50 to $2.50 per bushel. In grain and live-stoek the official reports exhibit a wonderful growth during the past few years. The elimate is favor- able to fruit culture; all kinds ean be raised with success and profit. Those mostly deserving attention are the apple, pear, peach, cherry, plum, grapes; and many smaller fruits and berries thrive well. Vegetables of all kinds grow to perfection. The "Illinois Maga- zine," published nearly forty years ago at Vandalia, says, "Cabbage heads three feet in diameter, or nine feet in circumference, are no great wonder in Illinois soil." The seed has somewhat degenerated since that date, or the imagination of the editor was larger than the results attained at the present time by the growers of cabbage.
Grasses .- Blue grass, red and white top clover, and timothy, grow with great luxuriance.
The chief industry of the people is agriculture and stoek-raising, which employs a majority of the people of the county, who possess all the sterling virtues of the rural frecholder. Directly upon the broad shoulders of the tiller of the soil rests the prosperity of every other class of men. He holds in his hands the destinies of all. His prosperity means universal prosperity ; his failure universal distress.
UNITED STATES SURVEYS.
The following are the dates and Surveys made in Christian county, names of Deputy Surveyors, &e., &e.
Township
Date (f
Township and Date of Return of
Deputy Surveyors.
Range. Survey.
Survey.
Deputy Surveyors.
Range. Survey.
Survey.
Enoch Moore 11-1 W 1818
1819
Wm. V Rector 13-2 W
1821
Wm. Gordon 12-3 E 1818
1819
do
14-2 W
1821
W. S.Hamilton 11-1 E
1821
do
15-2 W
1821
dlo
12-1 E
1821
A. L. Langham 16- 2 W
1821
do
13-1 E
1821
E. Moore
11-3 W
1819
do
14-1 E
1821
Wm. V. Rector 13-3 W
1821
Enoch Moore 12-1 W 1818
1819
do
14-3 W
1821
Wm. V. Rector 12-1 W
1821
do
15-3 W
1821
do
14-1 W
1821
11-4 W
do
15-1 W
1821
12-4 W
A. L. Langham 16-1 W
1821
Wm. V. Rector 13-4 W
1821
Enoch Moore 11-2 W
1819
do
14-4 W
1821
do
12-2 W
1819
Wm Rector Surveyor General, 1818.
Public Lands .- The publie lands were first offered for sale in November, 1823, after which they were subject to private entry. On the 1st of July, 1820, Congress reduced the price of the public lands from $2 to $1.25 per aere. On the 8th May, 1822, a land office was established at Springfield, Illinois. The lands in the north half of the county were subject to entry at Springfield. All lands were exempt from taxation for five years from date of entry.
The first traet of land entered in what now constitutes the boun- daries of Christian county, was by Jacob Cagle ; it being the E. } of W. 1, section 10, township 14-3 (Buckhart township), March 10th, 1827. The second tract entered was the W. 2, S. W. 4, sec- tion 13, township 15-3 (Mt. Anburn), Nov. 21st, 1827, by Robert Archie, an old settler familiarly known in the county. " Archie's Mill" was a household word. It was located on this tract.
The third traet entered was in the same township, W. 3, N. W. }, section 26, township 15 -- 3, on the 12th of September, 1829, by John Daigh. The fourth traet by Ephraim Cooper, W. 3, N. W. }, seetion 24, township 15 -- 3 W., Oct. 19th, 1829 ; he was the pioneer settler in the north part of the county. These inen occupied these lands several years as "Squatters," before they came into market. As all the lands in the county were vacant, they did not apprehend any danger in being entered out.
MANUFACTURING INTERESTS FROM CENSUS OF 1870.
While the chief industry of the people of this country is agricul- ture and stock raising, yet the manufacturing interests are small only in a comparative sense. We call the attention of the reader to the following statistics.
Census 1870.
Establish-
ments.
Hands em-
ployed.
Capital.
Wages.
Materials.
Products.
CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Dollars.
Dollars.
Dollars.
Dollars.
Agricultural implements ..
2
8500
2360
47.87
12244
Brick ..
3
24
5390
3700
1020
12000
Carriages and wagons.
5
18
7300
37:20
3077
12525
Clothing, men's
2
13
7000
2400
13800
Flouring-mill products
7
40
131500
20410
:693290
7904 0
Sash, doors and blinds
1
13
16000
5000
17000
29200
RAILROAD SYSTEM. Transportation Facilities.
The Illinois Central Railroad enters Christian county on section 36, township 14, range 1 cast, and traverses the county in a south- western direction, leaving it on section 33, township 11, range 1 east, passing through Assumption and Pana. The latter is the most important station. In September, 1850, congress passed an act, and it was approved by President Fillmore, granting an aggregate of 2,595,053 acres to aid in buikling this road.
The act granted the right of way, and gave alternate sections of land for six miles on either side of the road. The grant of land was made dircetly to the state. On the 10th of February, 1851, the legislature of Illinois granted a charter to an eastern com- pany, represented by Rantoul and others, to build it, with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The legislature, in granting the charter, and transferring to the corporation the lands, stipulated that seren per cent. of the gross earnings of the road should be paid semi-annually into the treasury of the state forever. This wise provision, in lieu of the liberal land grant, yields a hand- some annual revenue to the state. This road has a total length of 706 miles, connecting Cairo with Chicago and Dunleith, or from Cairo to Centralia 112 miles, and from Centralia to Dunleith 341 miles. This road is one of the great trunk lines of Illinois and the Mississippi Valley ; its principal leased line in this state is the Gil- man and Springfield road, and with its Iowa division, running from Dubuque to Sioux city, serve to mark it as one of the principal roads of the west. It conneets Chicago with St. Louis by the Van- dalia road. The first ground broken toward the building of this road in this county was in 1853. And the ears were running the following year, and then Pana and Assumption stations were located.
INDIANAPOLIS AND ST. LOUIS RAILROAD.
(Formerly the Terre-Ilante, Alton and St. Louis railroad). Its general offices are located at Indianapolis, which point is its cast- ern terminus. And St. Louis being the western termini, the length of track from either termini is 261 miles. The road-bed is of substantial build, well ballasted, tied and ironed. It enters the state of Illinois in Edgar county, and the principal towns which it
Date of
and Date of Return of
47
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
passes through in this state, are Paris, Charleston, Mattoon, Shel- byville, Pana, Hillsboro, Litchfield, Bunker Hill, Alton and East St. Louis. The line of the road is laid through a very fertile dis- trict of the state, and it receives a fair proportion of the traffic. It strikes Christian county first on the northern portion of seetion 24, Pana township, and traverses the county in a south-westerly direction, leaving it on section 33, in Rosemond township. The stations in this county are Pana and Rosemond ; Pana being the most important station. This road was completed near the same date as the Illinois Central, the crossing of which determined the location of Pana, in 1855.
WABASH, ST. LOUIS, AND PACIFIC RAILWAY.
This is the most important road in the county, and is the great north and south line connecting with the principal castern and western cities; it does a heavy business. The length of the line in the county is over thirty-one miles. It furnishes transportation facilities for the flourishing towns of Taylorville, Morrisonville, Pal- iner and other stations on the road and the district of country tributary and adjacent tliereto. It enters the county on section 1. Stonington township traverses it in a southwesterly direction, and leaves it at Harvel on section 34, King township. It crosses the Springfield division of the Ohio and Mississippi, at Taylorville, the county-seat.
This road was built under a eharter granted to a corporation under the style of Decatur and East St. Louis Railroad ; the work was commenced in 1869, and finished through this county in the spring of 1870. The Wabash is now one of the best roads in the west.
SPRINGFIELD DIVISION OF OIIIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD.
This road runs diagonally through the county, from the North- west to the South-east corner. It enters the county on section ten, Buckhart township, and traverses it in a south easterly direction, crossing the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific at Taylorville, and pass- ing on to Pana, leaves the country on section 24. Pana township, Taylorville and Pana, are the principal stations on the road, and do the greatest amount of business. There are other thriving and growing towns on the line of this road, such as Edinburg, Sharps- burg, Owaneco and Millersville. This road was formerly known as the Springfield and Pana R. R., afterwards as the Springfield & South-eastern R. R., and on the first of April, 1875, it was sold to the O. & M. R. R. Company. It was built under a charter ob- tained in 1865 and completed in 1870. The first train entered the corporation of Taylorville at 5 P. M., October 28th, 1869. The first through train from Beardstown to Shawneetown was run on the 28th of March, 1872. The first telegraph office opened in Tay- lorville was at the office of this road, May 11th, 1872.
CHAPTER VI. GEOLOGY.
W
E are indebted to A. H. Worthen, editor of the State Geological Report for the following article, and have selected such portions as we deem of most interest to our readers.
GENERAL FEATURES, SOIL, TIMBER, ETC.
On the north, it is drained by the Sangamon river, and the cen- tral, southern and western parts of the county are watered by the South Fork of Sangamon and its tributaries, Bear, Locust, Prairie Fork and Flat creeks. The smaller streams sometimes are nearly dry, but the two main forks of Sangamon generally flow tlie year round. The South Fork is rather a sluggish stream with muddy banks, but occasionally, as at Taylorville, the water is clear and fresh, indicative of latent springs.
The topographical features of this county do not vary much in different localities. The prairies in the south-east are rolling, often rising into mounds. In every other part of the county they are flat or very gently undulating. Near the streams the slopes are often very gentle. In the southern half of the county we very rarely find a bluff twenty-five feet high, and in passing down the South Fork no broken or hilly land is seen until we get below Taylorville. Four miles north-west of Taylorville the country is rather hilly, the hills about sixty feet high, but not often too steep to admit of cultivation. A few miles further down, there is a gradual deseent from the prairie to the river, the bluffs of which are about twenty feet high. In the north east the slopes are often so gentle as to render it impossible to trace a line between the upland and the lowland.
On the North Fork of the Sangamon there are occasional drift bluff's thirty to fifty feet high, capped with a heavy growth of white oak, but the white oak lands do not often extend more than a quarter of a mile from the river, giving place to a more undulating surface, with a growth of elm, hickory, oak, sassafras, cherry, hazel, etc.
This county consists mostly of prairie, the timbered land being confined to a narrow belt along the streams. On the South Fork of the Sangamon the timber belt is generally about three miles wide, and along the other streams from one to two miles The prairies are generally flat, with a luxuriant growth of resin-weed, two species, viz :- Silphium liciniatum and S. terebinthinaceum, golden rod, solidago, several species ; Liatris, or blazing star, two species, and the beautiful and delicately colored Physostegia Vir- giniana and Gerardia tenuifolia. Occasionally, on the basin-like depressions or flat marshy spots on the prairies, may be found Iris versicolor and Vernonia fasciculata.
There is not much difference in the quality of the prairie soil, it being all a rich black loam of from one to two and a half feet in depth, and in the northern part of the county slightly sandy. The soil along the edge of the prairie near Taylorville is quite sandy ; eastwardly for six miles there are occasional spots of poor sandy soil, with post oak and black jack, but this often gives place to better land, with white oak, black oak, hazel and sassafras, or cherry, laurel oak, pin oak, hickory, plum and crab apple. Along Locust Fork its whole length, and on South Fork above the mouth of Locust Fork, both on the bottoms and hill sides, the soil is deep and rich, with principally a growth of American elm and cornus. On Bear creek the soil and growth is similar. On and near Mosquito creek the soil is rich and black, with a growth of elm, linden, coffee tree, cherry, red oak, hiekory, red bud, spice bush hackberry, black walnut, honey locust, ash, mulberry, etc. West of Mosquito creek, on the slopes leading to the North Fork, the timbered land is quite sandy and the growth variable; on some soil black oak predom- inates ; where there is much clay mingled with sand there is a growth of red elm, sassafras, etc ; where there is still more clay, laurel oak, American elm, white oak, black hickory, shell bark hickory, red bud, black oak and sassafras.
On the south side of South Fork, below the mouth of Bear creek, the prairie land often approaches the stream, and the adjoining woodland growth reaching to the river bank consists of laurel oak, elm, hickory, linden and sassafras.
North of the South Fork there are white oak hills occasionally spreading out into flats. Along the Sangamon river and adjacent hills there is a good supply of very good timber, consisting of white oak, burr oak, black walnut, red oak, elm and linden.
Out on the prairie the farmers have planted many hedges of Osage orange, and they seem to thrive very well. Near Rosemond there is a thrifty berberry hedge.
48
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Crops .- This is an excellent corn-producing county, generally averaging forty to fifty bushels per acre, and often sixty to seventy- five can be raised. Fall wheat gives a fine return to the farmer, but requires the ground to be well broken and grain put in with a drill. It will average fifteen bushels, and often reach twenty-eight to thirty-two per acre. As yet there have not been many orchards planted, but the apple crop is generally sure, and the peach trees often bear two years in succession. Where the prairies are grazed down blue grass naturally springs up, and -soon affords excellent grazing.
The Geological formation of this county ineludes the Quarternary and Coal Measures.
QUARTERNARY
Under this head were recognized the alluvium, loess and drift. The alluvium includes the soil and recent deposits from the streams; and the black clays of the wide rich Sangamon bottoms are good examples of alluvium. On Mosquito creek the exposure along the banks shows as much as six feet of dark rich loam. On the South Fork of the Sangamon the black loam is often ten feet or more in depth.
The loess is but partially developed, and is scarcely recognized as separate from the drift.
East of Taylorville the washings in ravines exhibit about ten feet of buff and brown clays and sand which may be referred to the locss ; and in digging wells, about ten to fifteen feet of similar clay is passed through, reaching beds of sand and gravel, in which good streams of water are generally found. Sand beds are often reached within eight feet of the surface. Good streams of pure and pleasant tasting water are generally reached at a depth of from twelve to sixteen fect on the prairies, sometimes as much as twenty feet, and very rarely they have to dig deeper ; but in the timber, wells have to be dug deeper, often twenty to thirty-five feet.
Bluff's of well marked drift deposits are often seen along the streams, and consist of brown sand with rounded pebbles and boulders, and brownish-yellow and blue clay.
On Prairie Fork and Bear creek, ten miles south of Taylorville, the washings on the hillsides exhibit at the top soft brown clay, and below clay with many small round pebbles. On the North Fork of the Sangamon, one mile west of the east county line, the river bluff is fifty feet high, the upper portion of blue and dark-brown clay with sand and pebbles; below there is a loose mass of sand and pebbles, sometimes cemented into a rough sandy conglomerate, at times sufficiently firm and regular to make rough walls. Below this there is a dark-colored bed of finely comminuted sand and clay. Two miles further down the stream there is a low bluff of dark drift clay, with pebbles and small boulders at the bottom and brown clay at the top. At this place we observe a quantity of bituminous shale, a little coal and some fragments of limestone, all associated with the drift.
The drift boulders in this county are generally small, and their character and composition various. Among them may be found greenstone, quartzite, granite, sienite, epidote rock, corals from the Devonian and limestone from the Silurian, but no peculiar drift fossil .
At Pana, the I. C. R. R., passing through a mound, exhibits the following section ;
1 Soil and Subsoil I.T. IN.
0 18
2 Ash-brown clay .
8 0
3 Brown Clay and small round pebbles . 15 0
This section is similar to what may be found in all the mounds of this part of the State.
COAL MEASURES.
The formation, as seen in this county, embraces a thickness of about 230 feet, in which are visible two coal seams, only one of which is of workable thickness. These measures underlay the whole of the county, although there are no outcrops in the south- west, nor do we find any in the north east quarter of the county, they being restricted to a small district south of Pana, to Locust Fork, to South Fork for ten miles up the stream from the west county line ; on North Fork for three miles from the west line of the county, and one other outerop between the forks. The deep drift deposits cover the rocks in other places. These rocks belong to the upper coal measures, and their position in this section is from No. 12 to No. 32 inclusive,
The highest rocks (geologically speaking) are the beds south of Pana, at or near White's coal bank, of which the following is a section : -
FT.
IN.
1 Drift of clay, pebbles, ete .. 23
2 Clay shale . 10
3 Blue and bituminous shale, part quite calcareous, passing into a dark-colored limestone 4
4 Bituminous coal (No. 14) . 0 16 to 22
5 Fire elay . 5
6 Rough-looking hard grey sandstone, sometimes in thin even beds, No. 20 of section 4
7 Sandy shale, with iron-stone eoneretions 15
There is here a regular southerly dip at the rate of thirty feet to the mile, extending from Pana for four miles South. It is probable that near or north of Pana, the rocks are horizontal and soon dip north-westwardly, which they evidently do ten miles north-west of Pana, although the dip is slight.
The next rocks in descending order crop out on Locust Fork on Section 2, T. 11 N., R. 1 W., and just north. They belong near No. 21 of the section, and appear thus :
1 Dark blue shale, with some regular layers of lenticular concretions of Iron stone and occasional strata of brown ferruginous shales, con- taining remains of fossils, inelnding Prod. longispinus, Bellerophon,
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