USA > Illinois > Christian County > History of Christian County, Illinois > Part 14
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Platanus occidentalis-syeamore.
Ulmus fulva-red elm; Morus rubra-red mulberry; Urtica dioica -stinging nettle; Ulmus Americana-white ehn, abundant.
In the above list we have given the scientific as well as the Eng- lish names, believing such a course to pursue in the study of plants more beneficial to the student or general reader. There may be some plants omitted, yet we think the list quite complete.
CHAPTER IX. CIVIL HISTORY.
P RIOR to 1839 that portion of Illinois now known as Christian county, was a part of Sangamon, Mont- gomery, and Shelby counties, and was originally named Dane, which title it held for one year. In 1839 the legislature, in session at the capital, Vandalia, passed an act entitled " An act creating the county of Dane," and appointing Commissioners to select a seat of Justice, whose names appear in the report which is appended.
" An Art to establish the county of Dune " " BOUNDARIES OF DANE COUNTY." "That all that tract of country lying within the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning where the third principal meridian crosses the north fork of the Sangamon river : thenee,
down said river, to the line between sections nine and ten, in town- ship fifteen north, of range three west; thence south, to the south- cast corner of section four, in township fourteen north, range last aforesaid ; thence west, three miles by the surveys ; thence south three miles by the surveys ; thence west three miles by the surveys : thence south, to the southern boundary of township eleven, range last aforesaid ; thence cast, with the surveys, to the third principal meridian ; thence north, to the place of beginning, shall constitute the County of Dane.
Approved, February 15th, 1839.
THOMAS CARLIN, Governor."
We append the following report of the Commissioners .- " The undersigned, Benjamin Mitchell, of Tazewell county ; John Henry, of Morgan county ; and Newton Walker, of Fulton county, having been appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice of ' Dane county,' according to the provisions of the law establishing said county, met at the town of Allenton, in said county of Dane, on Monday, the 20th day of May, A. D., 1839, pursuant to a previous agreement between said commissioners, and after being first duly sworn by Esquire Ketcham, an acting Justice of the Peace, in and for said county, faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties imposed upon us by said law, proceeded to explore said county and to locate the seat of justice thereof, with a view to the present and future population, and having fully examined the same, and being satisfied in the premises, we fixed and located the seat of Justice of said county of Dane, on the West half of the North-east quarter of section twenty-seven, in township thirteen north, range 2, to west of the third principal meridian, in the most eligible place at or near a stake established by us on said half quarter section ; we also took a bond from M. Eastham, proprietor of said land, with good and suf- ficient security conditioned for the conveyance of a public square, of not less than two acres of said land to said eounty, on which to erect a court-house, and also for the payment of three thousand dollars in cash, aceording to the provisions of said law."
In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hand and affixed our seal this 24th day of May, A. D., 1839.
BENJAMIN MITCHELL, SEAL
Signed, JOHN HENRY, SEAL
NEWTON WALKER, SEAL
Filed May 24th, 1839. C. R. MATHENEY, Clerk, (of Sangamon Co.)
While some of the citizens approved of the location, others were dissatisfied. We quote the following from the Springfield Journal of September 20th, 1839 :
" That the county seat was not located in accordance with the im- plied wish of nine-tenths of the citizens, is a proposition which has ne- ver been denied by any person residing therein, but on the contrary, was located in opposition to their wishes. The citizens held a meet- ing, (and there was quite a respectable collection of people before the location was made), expressed a desire to have Allenton or Edinburg selected. There was not a dissenting voice in the meet- ing. Yet the commissioners wholly disregarded this expression of the citizens."
The land on which the location was made was entered in 1835, by Daniel C. Goode, an old pioneer citizen, and by him conveyed on the 23d of May, 1839, to Marvellous Eastham and others for that purpose. The acknowledgment of the deed of conveyance was
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
before Eli Matthews, J. P., May 24th, 1839. The deed is " wit- nessed " by the late Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, who made an affi- davit to that effect, May 30th, 1839, before Thomas C. Brown, one of the Associate Judges of the Supreme Court of Illinois.
Survey of the County seat .- The law provided that the location of the county seat should not be made on private property, unless the owner thereof convey to the county twenty acres of the land, having the court-house square in the centre, or donate in lieu thereof $3,000, to be used in the erection of Public Buildings. The town was surveyed and platted by T. M. Neal, county surveyor of San- gamon county, for a company composed of Dr. Richard F. Barrett, Hon. John Taylor, Marvellous Eastham, and Robert Allen, citizens of Springfield, Illinois. The company agreed to pay the " bonus of $3,000" in pursuance of law, and executed their obligations for said amount. They however failed to pay the money at its maturity. A suit was instituted, and the case even- tually carried to the Supreme Court; and while pending in that court the matter was compromised by the company, they convey- ing to the county the " Public square and 78 town lots in Taylor- ville." This arrangement, it was claimcd, greatly inured to the interests of the proprietors of the town. These lots were afterward sold at merely nominal prices by the county authorities, to persons agreeing to improve them.
Christening the County Seat .- The location of the seat of justice was looked upon by the old settlers as an important event in the history of the county. It was determined to honor the occasion in a suitable manner ; therefore a sumptuous dinner was given to the proprietors at the house of Daniel C. Goode, the former owner of the land. The dinner was supplemented with an ample supply of old Monongahela. Some of the guests, feeling its exhilarating effects, proposed to name the new county seat, and that in so doing it should be in honor of one of the notable guests present. The pro- position was received with hearty eclat. In response to a toast it was named TAYLORVILLE, in honor of Hon. John Taylor, of Springfield, Illinois, one of its proprictors.
CHANGING THE NAME OF THE COUNTY.
The county was first named Dane, in compliment to Nathan Dane of Massachusetts, who had been a member of Congress, and rendered prominent as the author of that celebrated North-western Ordinance, by which that large territory was forever consecrated to freedom. The act was passed by Congress on the 13th of July, 1787. In a speech at Boston, shortly after the nullification times of 1832, Daniel Webster, in referring to Hayne's speaking in an ironical manner of "one Nathan Dane," exclaimed scornfully- " Mr. Hayne calls him 'one Nathan Dane?' I tell you, my fellow-citizens, that Nathan Dane was no Federalist, and, that as author of the North-western Ordinance, his name is as immortal as if it were written on yonder firmament, blazing forever between Orion and Pleiades."
This statement is made, as on it hinged the changing of the name Dane, to that of Christian. It was rumored that Dane was a rank old " Federalist," and effectually used by those seeking the change. The county at that time, as now, was democratic, and the term " Federalist ' was distasteful-often used as a term of opprobrium towards their opponents in those partisan days. The name Dane was suggested and first put in the original petition, asking for the new county, by Wm. S. Frink, a prominent " whig " politician at that period, who took an active part in the formation of the county. This fact gave coloring to the charge. At the time he thought little about the political proclivities of the author of the celebrated ordinance, but selected the name from his known na-
tional reputation ; and from the fact that in the great north-west there was no county by that name, thus avoiding the too fre- quent use of names common in counties and towns in this and other states. Since, however, a county in Wisconsin has been called Dane. Daniel C. Goode, an old settler and uncompromising Jackson dem- ocrat, circulated petitions to have the name changed. In aid of the movement, a mass-meeting of the citizens of the county was held on the open prairie, where the court-house now stands ; Thomas P. Bond addressed the meeting; made the motion, which was adopted, substituting the name Christian for that of Dane. This name was suggested from the fact that many of the inhabitants, at that time, were from Christian county, Kentucky. The change was effected and legalized by an act of the legislature, passed February 1st, 1840. Hon. Thos. J. Nance was the representative of the district in the legislature, and it was through his efforts that the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the bill became a law.
The records and proceedings of the county, for the first year after its organization, appear under the name "Dane." But on the 2d of March. 1840, on the official records of the county court, the change is thus notcd, "Christian (alias Dane) county." Who first conceived the idea of the formation of the county is lost in the labyrinths of the past; prominent in the movement to effect it was Col. Thos. P. Bond, Judge W. S. Frink, Daniel Miller, Gabriel R Jernigan, Jesse Murphy, William S. Ricks, Aaron Mc- Kenzie, A. D. Northcutt, Amos Richardson, William B. Hall ; other petitions were circulated on two different occasions ; the first petition failed to secure all the territory the friends of the move- ment desired. This caused the circulation of another petition asking the annexation of additional territory. Col. Bond was the bearer of the first petition to the legislature. The Act made the third principal meridian the eastern boundary of the newly formed county. It was expected to extend six miles further eastward, as set forth in the first petition, but for some cause was ignored. The act, therefore, as passed, was not satisfactory ; and more especially to the inhabitants residing on the territory border- ing along the east side of the meridian line. Seeing the importance of adding a tier of townships from Shelby county, Judge Frink, Wm. B. Hall, and Aaron Mckenzie circulated petitions in Febru- ary, 1839, over Shelby county. The men in charge of the petition pushed the canvass with a will and determination over the territory of Shelby, securing a majority of the legal voters favoring the annexation project. Jesse Oliver, then county clerk of Shelby county, appended his official certificate to that effect. The prayer of the petitioners was granted, and became a law, granting to the county of Dane, townships eleven, twelve, thirteen, and the south half of fourteen north, range one, cast, of the 3d principal meri- dian. In this valuable acquisition the county sccured an additional area of 80,640 acres of choice land.
FIRST ELECTION FOR COUNTY OFFICERS
Was held on the first Monday of April, 1839. The county was divided into three precincts, north, centre, and south, with voting places at Buckhart Grove, Allenton, and at the house of John Z. Durbin. The judges of election for Buckhart were Jamcs Fletcher, George D. Pierson, and John George; clerks, Samuel Virden and Gustavus A. Kilbourn. For Allenton - Judges were John Estes, Joshua Brents, and Isaac Harris; clerks, Thomas S. Leachman and Jesse Murphy. At Durbin's-Judges were Rich- ard Simpson, Isaac Logsdon, and Thomas Durbin; clerks, William Durbin and Christ. K. Durbin. The residents of Bear creek voted at the John Z. Durbin poll ; and those of the lower South Fork at Allenton, and all the North Fork country at Buckhart Grovc. The
54
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
law provided that the judges of election should meet at Allenton, some three miles north-east of Taylorville, compare the vote, and deliver to each officer elected a certificate to that effect. The judges of election were further required to retain the poll-books, until the county clerk elect had been qualified, when they were to make re- turns of the election to the said county clerk. It was made the duty of the clerk to transmit an abstract of the votes, so returned, to the secretary of state; this was done, and the same mailed at Blue Point, the nearest post-office at that date. Unfortunately this abstract of the vote given, is missing from the files in the Sec- retary of State's office. The population of the county at that date was small, about 1,400; the total number of votes polled was only 160.
FIRST OFFICERS ELECTED
Were E S. Young, Clerk of the County Court; Thomas W. Davis, Probate Justice ; William S. Ricks, Sheriff; Benjamin Williams, Coroner; H. M. Vandeveer, Recorder; John S. Stockton, County Surveyor.
THOMAS P. CHAPMAN, PETER PORTER, GAVIN RALSTON, SR., County Commissioners' Court.
OFFICERS APPOINTED BY THE COUNTY COURT.
Jesse Murphy, Collector of Revenue; Gabriel R. Jernigan, County Treasurer; H. M. Vandeveer, School Commissioner. This was the crowning event in the formation of the new county; the long expectations of friends realized ; and with its newly elected officers, it was prepared to take position in the ranks of its sister counties in the statc.
RECORD OF THE MEETING OF THE FIRST BOARD OF COMMIS- SIONERS.
With this tribunal, more than any other, devolved the duty of setting the county machinery in motion. The three commissioners elected, Thomas P. Chapman, Peter Porter, and Gavin Ralston, Sr., constituted what was styled the County Commissioners' Court. It was made their duty to transact all official business pertaining to the interests of the county, the making of roads, bridges, selection of jurors, and a general supervision of the financial operations of the county.
The first term of this court was held on the 15th of April, 1839, at a small village called Edinburg, located about two miles north- west of Taylorville, on G. W. Valentine's farm. The county seat had not yet been located. There were present at this meeting the three commissioners, E. S. Young, county clerk, and Wm. S. Ricks, sheriff. The court was opened in due form by the proclamation of the sheriff. A herd of deer grazing near by were startled at the anomalous sound, and fled to the wilds of the prairie. The first entry of record reads, "ordered, that county commissioners have met according to appointment for the business of the county of Dane; that the clerk of this court provide suitable blank books for keeping all records of the county." The county was divided into four assessors' districts, and the appointment of as many asses- sors : John S. Stockton was for the first or North Fork district, and for his services rendered charged the county ten dollars; Daniel C. Goode was selected for the second, or central district, receiving for his services ten dollars; Thomas P. Bond was appointed for the third, Bear ercek, or the south part of the county, charging for like services seven dollars ; Aquilla Council was appointed for the fourth, or lower South Fork ; his charge for services rendered was fourteen dollars. Making a total cost of only $41 for assessing the entire county.
COUNTY ROADS.
The value of good roads to a nation or county cannot be over- estimated ; they are evidences of a high civilization. Savages make no roads and build no bridges. It is only at the behest of civilized man that the beautiful arch springs across the stream. A great people are road-builders, and the Eternal City retained sway over her conquered and remote provinces by means of the magnifi- cent highways that radiated from her gates. When the first settlers came into the county, it is needless to say that no roads existed. Along the trail which was first marked out by the footsteps of the buffalo, the wily Indian pursued his aimless wanderings. Much has been done since that distant day in providing roads along which products travel to the place of shipment ; yet much remains to be done. One of the great drawbacks of the county, to-day, is the want of good roads. Business languishes and trade is paralyzed during a portion of the year on account of the execrable condition of the public roads. The people seem almost to have given them- selves up to the belief that from the level nature of the country, and the character of the soil, excellent roads are impossible, unless they are macadamized. Let the roads be improved, and the farm interests-the really important ones to a nation or a community- will grow apace. A better system of road supervision and drainage should be devised.
The County Commissioners, understanding the importance of roads, at their first session formed seven road districts, and appointed supervisors for the same. For the first, Martin Hinkle; second, John G. Fletcher; third, David Simons ; fourth, Allen B. Peabody ; fifth, Wm. B. Hall; sixth, Presley Peek, and seventh, Francis Adams. There were two leading eastern routes passing through the county, one of which was the Springfield, Charleston and Terre Haute stage road. On these the supervisors were directed to ex- pend the road labor. The court then directed its attention to the opening of county roads; one of its regulations was, that every pe- tition or application for a new road should be accompanied with ten dollars to defray expenses in making the location and survey, and every person signing the petition should perform a day's work on the same. In those days people were not hasty in signing petitions. On petition, and ten dollars accompanying it, Eli Matthews, Thos. Young, and William Harvey were appointed commissioners to view and locate a road from Taylorville, in a north-western direc- tion, to Elgan's mill, on the lower South Fork. Another petition and ten dollars were laid before the court, asking for a road from Taylorville to Hillsboro, to cross the South Fork at Simpson's Ford, a short distance below the Clarksdale bridge, taking in Bond's Point and the Ricks' farm, on the head-waters of Bear creek. Thos. S. Leachman, Joshua Brents and Thos. P. Bond were appointed viewers to examine and locate it. These were the first two roads receiving official sanction. James Young, Jesse Murphy and John Z. Durbin were appointed additional supervisors to look after these and other local roads. All road supervisors were ap- pointed by the court, and compelled to serve without compensation, under a penalty of five dollars. Neglect of duty was made an in- dictable offence. Times have changed. Such is not the penalty for non-service at the present.
ELECTION PRECINCTS.
The court, at its first term, divided the county into four justices or election precincts: North, East, West and Central. The North embraced all that territory lying north of a line running from Campbellsburg, due east, to the county line, taking in one tier of sections south of the line dividing townships 14 and 15. It con- tained an area of 107 square miles. Place of voting, at Fargo
55
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Milligan's. The first judges of clection were James Fletcher, Geo. D. Pierson and George Dickerson. The East comprised the terri- tory lying east of a line beginning at the north-west corner of sec- tion 10, township 14-1 west, running thence south, through old Stonington to the county line, containing an area of 195 square miles. Place of voting, Old Stonington. Judges of election were, Elijah Palmer, David Simons and Peter R. Ketcham. The West embraced the territory lying west of a line beginning at the north- west corner of section 7, township 14,-2 and running thence south, on the dividing line between townships 2 and 3, to the county line, containing an area of 207 square miles. Place of voting, at Fran- cis Adams'. Judges of election were, Robert Richardson, Thomas Anderson, of Bear creek, and Franeis Adams. The Central com- prised all that territory lying between the East and West precincts. It contained an area of 207 square miles. Place of voting, the old village of Edinburg. Thomas Young, Jesse Murphy and Isaac Harris were the judges of election.
FIRST BRIDGE.
In 1839, the eourt made the following order :
"Ordered, and it is hereby decreed that $25 be, and is hereby appropriated for the use and purpose of erecting and completing a bridge across the Flat Branch, at the place where the county road from Blue Point to the Brushy Branch crosses said stream, and that the Supervisor of Roads in District No. 5, shall have an order issued on the treasury for said sum, to be expended by said super- visor for the use and purpose above named."
SECOND SESSION.
Assessment of Property .- At a county commissioners' court, begun and held in June, 1839, a tax of seventy cents on every one hun- dred dollars' worth of property, was ordered levied for State and county purposes. Amongst the property specified as taxable, were slaves and indentured negroes or mulatto servants, watches and their appendages, and all other personal property, except " the law- ful fire-arms of each individual." This tax when it was collected amounted to $760.41}. But little of the land was then taxable, as they were exempt for five years after entry. This very much re- duced the revenue of the county.
ELECTION FOR JUSTICES AND CONSTABLES.
The first election for justices and constables, two in each of the four precincts, with one additional in the Central, was held at the regular annual election, August 5th, 1839. This election came off only four months after the organization of the county, and, as the abstraet of the votes cast at the April election is lost, this one will give the reader a very fair idea of the voting force in the county on its organization. As cach voter had the privilege of casting two votes for the two justices to be elected in each precinct, it will re- duce the apparent vote of the county nearly one-half. There were thirteen candidates for the offices of justice of the peace, nine of whom were elected. The following is an abstract of the votes given at the election held in Dane county, August 5th, 1839:
For Justices of the Peace.
PRECINCT. NAME. VOTE.
Wm. M. Thomas, 39
Taylorville, - Eli Matthews, 49
(or Central.)
Richard Simpson, 43
A. A. Hesser 12
Stonington.
David Simons 25
PRECINCT. NAME.
VOTE.
A. D. Northcutt. . 47
North Fork.
James Baker . 11
Geo. D. Pierson 17
Aquilla Council . 55
Presley Peck . 55
Samuel D. Slater 23
Jesse Elgan. . 23
Thomas P. Bond . 17
For Constables there were fourteen candidates to be voted for and only eight to be elected, two for cach precinct.
PRECINCT.
NAME.
VOTE.
James R. Lucas. 46
Taylorville,
John W. Young. 29
(or Central.)
John P. Nelson . 31
Wm. L. Hammer 25
Stonington,
Nicholas Sanders 12
Frederick Fitch . 12
James M. Fletcher 47
North Fork.
Thoz. E. V. Farris 33
Ira Stockton . 21
Amos Richardson 55
John L. Cagle 37
South Fork.
Jackson Wilson 33
John Martin 25
Alfred Currie . 21
" STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Dane County," S
"I, Ezekiel S. Young, Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of Dane County, having taken to my assist- ance Richard Simpson and Peter R. Ketcham, Justices of the Peace of said county, and proceed to open the poll books of the above Election, and we hereby certify the foregoing to be a true and cor- reet abstract of the votes polled, Aug. 5, 1839."
E. S. YOUNG, Clerk Co. Com. Ct. Signed - RICHARD SIMPSON, J. P. PETER R. KETCHAM, J. P.
Richard Simpson and Peter R. Ketcham were old justices hold- ing over, clected before the organization of the county, and whilst the territory was under the jurisdiction of other counties. The county clerk makes a further certificate in transmitting officially the votes to the secretary of state at Springfield.
" STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Dane County," \ ' I, Ezekiel S. Young, Clerk of the County Court in and for said county, do hereby certify the foregoing to be a true and correct abstract of the poll books of said Election, now on file in my office.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of said county, at Edinburg, this 30th day of August, 1839. E. S. YOUNG, Clerk Co. Ct. Dane County. SEAL
The county elerk's certificate appended above shows that Edin- burg was the temporary county seat at that date. As a matter of interest, an abstract of votes cast at several subsequent eleetions, as well as the persons voted for is given. It exhibits the strength of the parties in popular eleetions forty years ago. The annual eleetions then were held in the month of August, instead of Novem- ber, as at present. The sovereigns voted viva voce, and not by ballot.
Peter R. Ketcham 23
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