USA > Illinois > Monroe County > Columbia > History of Columbia and Columbia precinct, Monroe County, Illinois, 1859-1959 and centennial celebration, Columbia, Illinois, July 3-4-5, 1959 > Part 2
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Lands in cultivation were assessed at $2.00 per acre; "improved" at $1.50; wild lands at $1.00. Forty acre head rights were sold at from $30 to $200; militia rights (100 acres) brought from $6 to $14. The so-called "improve- ment" rights were 50c per acre.
SHADRACH BOND'S PRE-EMPTION LAW
Columbia precinct has another, though rather indi- rect claim to fame, in that Shadrach Bond, the first Gov- ernor of Illinois, spent much time in Columbia with his uncle, another Shadrach Bond who lived in Moredock pre- cinct close to Columbia precinct.
Shadrach, the younger, served as the first delegate from Illinois to sit in Congress. He was elected in 1812. During his term of office he secured the enactment of the first pre-emption law ever put upon the statute books in the United States. This law will be better understood if we recall the practices of frontier life.
It often happened that the surveyed land was not placed on the market for a number of years. The settler usually selected his land and made improvements with the expectation that he would buy the land when it came upon the market. Unprincipled men would watch and often step ahead of the settler at the land office and buy the improved land at government prices. This often resulted in violence and bloodshed. Bond's pre-emption law recognized the settler's equity in the improvements and prevented any one else from buying the land without the consent of the one who had improved it.
This Act of 1813 brought the public land into the mar- ket. Immigrants poured in and the land rush was on. Many Columbia titles and abstracts reflect this Act, and also the huge parcels of land belonging to John Edgar of Kaskaskia.
EARLY SETTLERS
A number of improvement claims lie scattered over Columbia precinct indicating permanent settlements prior to 1788. Claim 22S was improved by Jacob Stillman; Claim 2058 by Thomas Winn; 501 Joseph Lacoutour; 408 Robert Watt; 505 Francis Bellew; 487 James Piggott; 520 White- side Station. These claims, with the exception of the
Whiteside claim, lie in the northern part of Columbia precinct and embrace the Mississippi Bluffs throughout their point of extent. Southeast of these and less than a half mile south of Fountain creek, lies Claim 607, im- proved by Jacob Groats; south of Claim 571 Leonard Harness; Claim 543, Charles Gill. The Whiteside claim is in the eastern part southeast of Columbia.
SETTLERS PRIOR TO 1820
Among settlers best known to Columbia historians were the three Wilson brothers: Otho, Edward and Wil- liam. The Wilsons were originally from Maryland. They moved to Kentucky and in 1800 came to Columbia. Otho married Elizabeth Biggs and settled a mile and a half northwest of Columbia. They farmed. Their children were Zeborah, Nancy, Edward, William and Sarah. Otho served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War. Edward married Catherine Ryan and moved to St. Clair county. William married Matilda Wallace, and settled on Section 9, three-fourths of a mile northwest of Columbia. They were farmers. His children were John H., Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Deborah, Louis M. and George. William Biggs was another prominent settler, here before the advent of the Wilsons. He kept a tavern a half mile north of Columbia on the old Kaskaskia Trail, "near a spring of lasting water." This was one of the first stopping places of the stage coach between St. Louis and Kaskaskia and existed as early as 1800. George Ramsey came from Virginia in 1803. In 1805 he married Nancy Chance and settled near Fish Lake in the Bottom. In 1816 he bought land one and a half miles north of Columbia from Joseph Ogle. Ben- jamin Ogle owned the adjoining land. The Ogles were from Virginia and were very old settlers. James Bradshaw from Kentucky settled on the southeast quarter of section 35 in 1814. His children were Mabel, Mary, John and Syl- vester. Jacob Neff, one of the few German immigrants in this group came in 1814 and settled in section 25 Town- ship 1 South Range 11 West. He was a plain, industrious farmer and had a family of four daughters and two sons, who moved to Missouri. Mr. Neff stayed on the farm here until his death at an advanced age. Thomas Porter a "sporting man" and lover of horse racing, settled at Fish Lake in 1814 in Columbia Precinct. Joseph Beaird was a prominent and influential business man and farmer. He settled in Section 24, Township 1 south Range 10 west in 1817 and kept ten or twelve slaves. Thomas Nelson in 1817 settled in the northwest quarter of Section 26. He built a cabin and lived there until 1830. He had six sons, all six feet tall. Richard Acklas settled at Fish Lake in 1817. Samuel Hill of Virginia an influential man, large land owner with a number of slaves settled on Section 4 in 1818. Leonard Carr, a German, lived near the creek that now bears his name. John Divers of Baltimore, Mary- land came and settled one mile west of Columbia. He was a successful and wealthy farmer, and was also in the milling business. He died in 1849. His son, George Divers, served as mayor of Columbia for several terms. William Morgan, his wife and child came from Kentucky in 1849. James Shepherd came in 1826 and settled in Section 25. John Ryan married Susan Gall and settled in Section 25. Dr. Hammond Shoemaker came from New Orleans in 1833 and settled in Section 25. He was educated as a physi- cian in Philadelphia. Rev. Nolan, father of Dr. James No- lan, a prominent and influential citizen of Columbia, was among the first preachers.
Palmier cemetery, the oldest burial place in the pre- cinct, was laid out on the Ogle estate about 1783. Many Revolutionary, War of 1812 and Mexican War heroes were buried there.
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Other settlers prior to 1820, not previously mentioned were: Willlam Phelps, George Lunceford, Robert Kidd, Daniel McCann, Stephen Ferry, Nicholas Smith, Henry O'Harra, Absolam Bradshaw, Nancy Payne, nce Wilson. Jacob Clark, Jacob Judy, John Johnson, Adelaid Perry, David Yates, P. Rockblave, James Whitley, William Trum- bull, David Waddle, Benjamin Rodgers, David and Ed Cox, John Prim, John Violeny, constable of Eagle precinct, James Nowlin, John Tolin.
Settlers after 1820, but not including the German set- tlers: James Hudson, Robert Coleman (flrst Grist mill, ox- power 1828), John E. Christy, Dr. William Goforth (old pills he was called), Samuel McRoberts, Nighton B. Wall, Joshua Parker (first blacksmith), J. B. Smith and Stewart (first merchants in an old building near Coleman's grist mill, 1828), Lafayette Warnock, John McKee, Thomas Fin- ley, Stephen Gardner, John Scott Morgan, Henry Wader- man, John Ralls, Thomas Morgan.
THE COMING OF THE GERMANS
The Germans came to Columbia about 1833-35. Many of them came by boat from New Orleans to St. Louis nnd eventually to Columbia. Some came overland in covered wagons from the east coast, stopped here and looked for land. When the Germans arrived, large parcels of land were in the hands of the English, Irish, Scotch and Welsh settlers, who came from Virginia, South Carolina, Mary- land and Kentucky with George Rogers Clark. A few Ger- mans had found their way previously to this territory, and their glowing accounts of the wonderful country they had discovered stimulated the relatives and friends of the first settlers to follow to the new country.
From 1835 to 1840 a flood of Germans came to Co- lumbla and surrounding territory. Some of these were Jacob and Christian Beck, the Beckerles, John Bohlman, Jacob Bersche, J. P. Ebel, Jacob Rau, Thomas Koenigs- mark, Joseph Platz, Valentine Janson, the Petris, Mos- bachers, Weckers, Frierdichs, Weilbachers, Huchs, John Rey, John Miller, Paul Mueller, Peter and Jacob Schlem- mer, John Valentine, Daniel Klein, Johan Heinrich Tocnjes. Land was cheap, the climate right to grow good crops, and those who had been politically and religiously op- pressed, could not wait to get to this new country where liberty was theirs to breathe.
By their Industry and thrift and methodical work. they changed the character of Columbia from a pioneer settlement to the Columbia today. The English, Irish and Scotch settlers hired the Germans to farm their large estates. Since the pioneers had acres and acres of land. but not too much money, they paid the German farmers with land, until, ultimately most of the land belonged to the Germans.
OLD HOUSES
The Germans were good farmers and good business men. They bullt substantial homes of brick, modeled after the homes they knew in the old country. They were good, law-abiding citizens. Because they had been oppressed In the old country they wanted everyone to be free, so prac- tically all opposed slavery and were more than willing to fight to oppose slavery. Practically every able-bodied man in Monroe county was In uniform during the Civil War. Women and children worked in the fields to take their men's places while they were away at war.
The combination of the two types of settlers in Co- lumbin produced an Interesting citizenry. The Wilson family of Scotch-Irish descent, the McKee Inmily (origi- nally spelled Mackie) from the Inverness region of the Scotch Highlands, the Warnock famlly descended from one of the first families of Edinburgh, who migrated to South
Carolina. They were wealthy planters there. The Ramseys came from Virginia, the Divers from Maryland, the Mor- gans from Kentucky, the Biggs from England, the Miles from Wales, the Ditch family, the Shooks and Bonds were from influential English families.
These pioneers were people of Intelligence and breed- ing. Their homes were pretentious. They lived a life of comparative ease, by the standards of the times. The happy-go-lucky, volatile, hot-tempered, courageous Irish; the canny Scot; the brooding Welsh; and the well-dis- ciplined English mitigated and lightened the more phleg- matic dispositions of the Germans. The Germans believed that work was of utmost importance, and that play came only after work was done. Mingling with the pioncer citi- zens we see some of the German people patterning their lives somewhat after the Southern planter who lived next door. The planters took on some of the characteristics of the thrifty, hardworking Germans.
Clashes of the two personalities were in plenty-bloody ones, but the years have mellowed both and they nre blended Into a harmonious whole, which is as it should be, in this melting pot which is America.
Between the 1840's and the 1860's the people who came to Columbia, both in town and in the Bottom, are the ancestors of those who live here. To name a few of them: Henckler, Gilmore, Litzenberger, Kuehner, Pfeffer, Payne, Huth, Schmidt, Brand, Riebeling, Wenkel, Steppig, Stumpf. Gummersheimer, Brefdecker, Ritter, Weinel, Vogt, Frier- dich, Niemeier, Kunz, Lotz, Schneider, Ferkel, Weisenborn, Bergmann, Grosse, Stoll, Rueck, Rohm, Meyer, Schrader, Angerer, Kemp, Fischer, Gundlach, Reis, Rauch, Weil- bacher, Beekmann, Ludwig, Landgraf, Eckert, Metter, Reichert, Kremmel, Van Luik, Volkert, Schuchardt, Richert, Steffenauer, Roessler, Kupferschmidt, Arnin, Bauman, Weisenstein, Durrer, Wink, Diehl, Wierschem, Van Guest, Tunze, Eschmann, Wilde, Van Closter, Schueler, Fiege, Dreher, Mitwelde, Miller, Brucker, Taake, Grob, Haberlah, Giffhorn, Harmacek, Stemler, Heise, Carle, Grueninger, Faust, Schorb, Blittersdorf, Schroeder, Doerr, Theobald, Lepp, Habermehl, Brellinger, Oexner, Daab, Harres, Phelps, Hick, Dollar, Heiligstedt, Reichenbach, Schoening, Her- mann, Dotzauer, Juengling, Schiemer, Kraus, Schaefer, Koch, Mueller, Schuler, Mundinger, Rehg, Kossina, Menner, Petri, Scheuermann, Dankenbring, Sander, Lehr, Rose, Oer- ter, Briegel, Rapp.
THE FIRST YEARS OF THE COLUMBIA SETTLERS
The first years of Columbia settlers were busy ones. They broke the sod for crops, cleared the ground for cabins, built cabins, fought Indians. With all this drudgery which preceded the beginnings of civilization they had little time for anything but mere survival. There were Jog cabins in Columbia as early as 1815. In 1820 the original town of Columbin was laid out on the land of Louis Nolan. The survey and plat was made by a White- side, but it was never recorded Town boundaries were designated and the municipality was first incorporated as a "Town" by a special Act of the Thirty-First General Assembly of the State of Illinois, approved on the 19th day of February A. D. 1859, by Governor William H. Bissoll.
The first election of said Town of Columbia was held at the house of Ernst Mund, In 1859, at which "all white fiee mnle inhabitants over the age of 21 years" were entitled to vote. Only a bona fide freeholder who had paid n state and county tax could hold the office of Trustee.
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THE A. F. WEINEL HOME IN COLUMBIA
THE HENRY PAYNE HOME
Oldest Log Cabin still in use in Columbia Precinct
HOME OWNED BY GEORGE DIVERS
THE JAMES WARNOCK HOUSE
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The first Officers for the Town of Columbia, elected in 1859, were: President, Stewart Mckee: Trustees, John Gundlach, John Jost, John Ferkel; Clerk, Armin Borne- mann; Treasurer, John Ferkel; Constable, Ilenry Scheuer- mann; Street Commissioner, Jacob Beck.
Minutes of the first meeting, March 10, 1859, 10 A. M. Stewart McKee, Lafayette Warnock, John Gundlach, John Ferkel and John Jost, legally elected and duly qualified and sworn as Trustees of the Town of Columbia, met on the tenth day of March, 1859 at 10 o'clock A. M. and proceeded to organize as a body incorporate under the style and name of the President and Board of Trustees of the Town of Columbia. At the motion of John Gundlach, Stewart Mckee was elected President. At the motion of John Gundlach, Armin Bornemann was appointed by the Board as clerk and ordered the same to be sworn. At the motion of Lafayette Warnock, John Ferkel was appointed Treasurer of the Town. The motion of Lafayette Warnock to appoint a street commissioner was postponed till the next meeting. At a motion of Lafayette Warnock, the president was authorized to appoint a committee of three for the purpose of making by-laws. The President ap- pointed Lafayette Warnock, John Gundlach and John Jost. They read the Town Charter which was signed by Wm. R. Morrison speaker of the House of Representatives, John Wood. Speaker of the Senate, and was approved by Gov- ernor William H. Bissell, and registered with the Secretary of State, O. M. Hatsch.
Warnock moved the President appoint a committee for superintending the work of the surveyor by surveying the limits of the Town. The President appointed John Gund- lach and John Ferkel. It was decided to charge a license for an auctioneer, 'pedlar,' a beer house, a grocery, a nine or ten pin alley or shuffle board, a theatre or other ex- hibition such as a circus or caravan, provided that for mu- sicales or concerts, or exhibitions of painting and statuary, given or made by citizens of this town and Thespian per- formances for benevolent purposes no license be required. However, anyone playing a hand organ or other musical Instruments about the streets to entertain must have a license. All persons keeping a grocery or house of entertainment whereln spirituous, vinous or mixed liquors or any fluid containing alcohol are sold in less quantity than one gallon shall be required to have a license.
Hugo Ropiquet was appointed surveyor, and John Jost was appointed to carry the flag for the surveyor. At the motion of Lafayette Warnock the Board adjourned until the next regular meeting at the office of A. Bornemann.
At the meeting held March 26, 1859 it was decided that every able-bodied man between the ages of 21 and 50 be required to labor on streets and alleys four days every year, with reasonable diligence, for ten hours a day or get no credit, or he could pay 75c a day in lieu of his labor. He worked under the supervision of the street in- spector. Next they decided to rent a town hall from a Mr. Ebel for $3.10 a month, and also to get bids to ma- cadamize Main street.
The first licenses Issued were as follows: John Ferkel for keeping a grocery for 6 months Henry Siemens for keeping a grocery for 6 months Ernst Grosse for keeping a grocery for 6 months Wm. Henze and Stoehr beer house L .. Kaffenberger beer house
Wilson and Weinel Store 1 1 year Beaird and Gardner Store I 1 year Reid and Calrns Store 1 1 year
Henze and Stoehr Store I 1 year Christian Breidecker Store I 1 year Henry Siemens Ten pin alley
Ernst Mund Ten pin alley Billlards and pitchinhole also licensed.
This unusual Ordinance was passed: Every male per- son of the age of 21 and upward who shall neglect or re- fuse to join in the posse of the constable or any other officer by neglect or refusing to ald and assist arresting persons against whom they may have issued any civil or criminal process or who may have escaped after having been arrested shall be fined not exceeding $25.
The Trustees had authority to make pavements or sidewalks-"provided always, that the lot in front of any sidewalk should be taxed to at least one-half the ex- penses of sald sidewalk", and the town could sell any property subject to redemption when the tax levled upon it was not paid. The charter further provided that the "County court of Monroe County shall not be authorized to levy a license on the aforesaid houses of public enter- tainment, taverns, beer houses, groceries and stores with- in the limits of said Town of Columbia,-Provided said town shall support and maintain her own paupers".
The Board ordered a desk to be made by Fred Litzen- berger in which to keep records. It was made of solid walnut and is now in the City Library as beautiful as it was when made. The next order of business was to pro- vide ways and means for road building. Streets there were none worthy of the name, and the condition of the roads can be described by a story they used to tell. It may not be quite true, but reflects thelr feeling about streets and roads.
A man on his way to St. Louis saw in the Bottom a hat on top of the ground. The man got off his horse to pick up the hat, and found a man under it. The man un- der the hat said "I am safe, but under me is a wagon and four horses mired in the mud, and I think they are in a bad fix."
Things must have jogged along pretty comfortably for nothing of great import was recorded from the minutes of the town board from which this part of the history is taken until on July 1, 1861 a bill of Charles Henckler was allowed for revision of the town charter which was passed on Feb. 19, 1859. Some minor provisions were corrected. On July of 1561 the board appointed a committee to "make a circulation of a building" 16×20 feet, two stories high to be made of "wrock" and brick, lower story feet over the ground to be 11% feet thick; upper stor brick, 9 inches thick. This was apparently a plan for a town hall, but no further mention of it was made until ti board in 1875 met to consider the building of a calahoo- or a "calabooze" and market house. Fred Koch estimate the cost of the "calabooze" at $1150 and calaboose an market house at $2237.50. They decided to build a cala boose and town hall and let the bid to Berg and Fisch. for $1075, building to be of stone and to be finished November 1, 1877.
February 6, 1865, John Gundlach was appointed to to Springfield on account of having amended the ton charter. Ile was allowed $15 for his expenses.
At the last meeting in 1866 the only thing of inter was that Christian Niemeler oppposed letting dogs loose in Columbia. lle lost his point and pups had ! freedom of the town.
On October 7, 1867, August F Weinel, then cut surveyor, was paid $400 for surveying and platting town, $200 In cash.
From 1863 to 1876 the proceedings had largely 1 with the building of streets, roads and bridges.
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Strangely enough there was no mention of any kind of the Civil War either in Board proceedings or other data. One mention, only, there was. A committee called on the widows of Civil War veterans to see if they were in need of aid. They were not and that seemed to close the matter.
At the April 1866 meeting the Board asked for bids to macadamize Main street a distance of a quarter of a mile, road to be 16 feet wide, 13 inches deep in center and 7 inches at the sides.
In 1875 when A. F. Weinel was president, a mention was made of paupers. Columbia cared for its own paupers. Also in 1875 P. W. Miller and Henry Riebeling were com- missioned to build a gun carriage for a cannon. This cannon and gun carriage figured prominently in Colum- bia Fourth of July celebrations.
In November 1876 they decided to build a pavement from Main street to the school house, (this was the year the new school was built). Sidewalks built at that time were plank walks.
In July of 1877 there was threatened litigation over the failure of the Cairo and St. Louis Railway Company ta build a depot here as required by law. The town threaten- ed to sue but arbitrated the matter with the result the railroad paid half and the city half. Fred Koch got the contract-$460 the cost.
On February 12, 1879 Columbia had its first street lighting project. The new coal oil lights were lit for the first time by the Town Marshal, Henry Riebeling. They were lit at dark and extinguished at dawn, such duties performed by the Town Marshal. These lights were in square lantern effect, such as are now used to light patios and gardens.
CENSUS IN 1879
The year 1879 and the pace begins to quicken, fore- telling more improvements for the little community. On October 4, 1875 a census disclosed:
Males under 6 years 110
Females under 6 years 124
Males between 6 and 21 254
Females between 6 and 21 246
Males 21 to 50 238
Females 21 to 50 225
Males over 50 101
Females over 50 95
Total
1393
Total Males 694 Total Females 699
An order of business in 1879 made many happy. There would be no further road labor for males, even though they filled and graded and macadamized the road to the Catholic cemetery that year.
In 1881 the City dads built a fence around the city park and commissioned Henry Reichenbach to buy one dozen chairs for the town hall. Half of these chairs, cap- tain's chairs of oak, are still in the City Hall. The mar- shal was also permitted to wear a star as a symbol of his office, and Chris Niemeier gave a police whistle to said marshal, "which was thankfully received." The marshal's salary was $15 a month plus $10 for caring for street lighting.
In 1882 Peter Frierdich and Sons built a switch to the St. Louis and Cairo Railroad 150 yards long, 8 feet wide on North Second, and made a culvert at Peter Small's. In 1885 Henry Huch the miller, wanted to build one along Whiteside street to the railroad but his re- quest was denied.
In 1884 practically the only thing of note was, that if a citizen could not pay his fine, he could be chucked in the calaboose-notice, not "calabooze".
In 1866 the town bought a Howe 10 ton triple beam scale for $170 and appointed a weighmaster, J. A. Brei- decker, he to get 50% of the proceeds. Prices for weigh- ing were: two-horse wagon 15c; for gross and tare live stock 10c a head and 5c thereafter.
In 1877 and thereafter saw a trend toward providing employment for citizens. At John Pfeffer's request the city decided to dig for coal. At an election 207 were for digging for coal and 5 against. Peter Reis, Charles Brei- decker and L. E. Seyfarrdt asked for an appropriation, which was granted. The state geologist was contacted to locate a site. By October they decided to go to at least 550 feet in an attempt to locate a vein. The venture apparently died a-borning, but some coal was dug, for Turner records showed they purchased coal from the com- pany.
A town ordinance in 1888 provided that a passenger train could go no faster through the corporate limits of Columbia than 15 miles an hour and a freight train but 5 miles an hour; and if a person could not pay a fine, the city ordered the culprit retained with ball and chain if necessary at faithful labor upon the streets, alleys and public grounds for at least eight hours per day until the fine was paid off, allowing 50c for each day's work, board free, but at night the culprit was popped in the calaboose. There were rock piles all over town for the un- fortunate sinner to work at.
In 1888 an attempt was made to change Columbia from a town to a village. The citizens voted the change down by a vote of 68 for and 94 against.
In this year, 1888, John B. Schmidt, George Divers, A. B. Vogt, J. R. Walker and William Gundlach contacted St. Louis manufacturers to locate in Columbia, with little suc- cess for there is no mention of anyone coming to Colum- bia for that purpose. Later there was a mass meeting at the Turner Hall to try to raise $15,000 for a factory, but this too was unsuccessful.
In 1890 the Board allowed Henry Huch to build a switch to the mill for which he deeded to the town that part of North Second street, beginning at Mr. Rose's cor- ner and extending to the corner of Daniel Klein's prop- erty; and also the street beginning at the Masonic Hall on Main street to North Second street.
In 1891 the town bought two sets of balls and chains and one set of handcuffs for which they paid $17.00 (The balls and chains have not been used lately, but they are still at the City Hall).
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