History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 28

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 826

USA > Illinois > Clark County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 28
USA > Illinois > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 28

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

About the year 1823 a settlement was commenced at the head of Parker Prairie. Among these early inhabitants were the fam-

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ilies of Parker, Connely, Bean, Newport (a noted Baptist preacher), Biggs, Lee, Duncan, Dawson, Briscoe, Bennett, Redman, Evin" ger and others. On Big Creek there were some new settlers: the Mains, Forsythe, Mc- Clure, and David Reynolds, an aged and re- spected pioneer yet living. But it is unnec- essary to follow the subject farther, as an extended notice of the early settlements and settlers will be given in the respective chap- ters devoted to each township.

The cabins of the early settlers were rude, but secure. They were generally built of large logs and constructed with an eye to safety and defense; for the Indians were nu- merons, and at times threatened hostilities. Mrs. Justin Harlan relates that the cabin constructed by her father, David Hogue, and situated on the present farm of M. C. Dol- son, near York, was a Gibralter of primitive architecture. The logs composing the walls were massive and heavy, and pierced with loop-holes commanding every approa h. The roof was so constructed as to be almost fire- proof, while the door was a ponderous affair of slabs, and secured by fastenings that would have resisted the efforts of a giant. James Gill, then a boy of fourteen, says that in company with seven men he assisted in the construction of a cabin near the present town of York, in 1816, and during its build- ing one of the men killed a deer and hung it in a tree near by. During the night, the loud barking of the dogs, and the snorting and plunging of the horses, aroused the settlers and the dread whisper went around-" In- dians!" They arose in silence -- each man grasped his trusty rifle and manned his allot- ted loop-hole. Skirmishers were thrown out with the utmost caution and strict guard was kept until broad day. No signs of Indians were discovered, and they concluded that it was some wild beast, attracted by the scent

of blood from the slain deer, that had caused the alarm.

The privations endured by the early settlers were such as none but stout hearts would dare to encounter. Nothing but the hopeful in- spiration of manifest destiny urged them to persevere in bringing under the dominion of civilized man what was before them, a howling wilderness. These sturdy sons of toil, pio- neers in the early civilization of Clark County, mostly hailed from the States of New York, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and a few from South Carolina. They were exceptions, to a great degree, of the accepted rule, " that immigrants on settling in a new coun- try, usually travel on the same parallel as that of the home they left."

The fashions were few and simple, com- pared with the gaudy and costly paraphernalia of the present time. Comfort and freedom were always consulted. The principal articles for clothing were of home manufacture, such as linsey-woolsey, jeans, tow-linen, etc. The world was not laid under tribute as now, to furnish the thousand mysteries of a lady's toilet-mysteries that like the ways of Prov- idence, are past finding out, at least by the sterner sex. Powders and lotions, and dan- gerous cosmetics by which the modern belle borrows the transient beauty of the present, and repays with premature homeliness, were unknown to her frontier ancestors, whose cheeks were rosy with the ruddy glow of health-painted by wholesome exercise and labor. Shoes and slippers of kid and morocco,' with high and villainous heels, were not then worn. The beauty and symmetry of the fe- male form was not distorted and misshapen by tight lacing. The brave women of those days knew nothing of ruffles, curls, switches or bustles; had not even dreamed of those fearful and wonderful structures of the pres- ent, called " bonnets." Instead of the organ

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or piano, before which sits the modern miss, torturing selections from the majestic operas(!) they had to handle the distaff and shuttle, accompanying the droning wheel or rattling loom with the simple and plaintive melodies of the olden time, contented with their lin- sey elothing-their roughly made shoes, and a sun-bonnet of coarse linen. Proud and happy was she, and the envy of her less for- tunate sisters, who was the possessor of a cal- ico dress, brought from Cincinnati or far off Orleans. An estimable old lady, now living, informed the writer, that the first shoes, other than of home manufacture, that she ever pos- sessed, were of the heaviest calf-skin; and so careful and jealous was she of them, that many a time she carried her shoes and stock- ings in her hand to within a hundred yards of the place of meeting, to keep from soiling or wearing them out. And this she repeated on her way homeward, even if eseorted by some rustic gallant. The costume of the men was as simple and primitive. The " wamus " was almost universally worn. This was a kind of loose frock, reaching to the waist, open before, with large sleeves and cape, the latter some- times fringed by raveling and attaching a piece of cloth different in hue to the garment. The "wamus " resembled an army overcoat of the present day, with the tail cut off. Breeches and leggings furnished the cover- ing of the thighs and legs. Home-made shoes or moccasins supplied him with foot gear, and the skin of the raccoon made him hat or cap, though not a few of the men dressed in full suits of buckskin.

The pursuits of the early settlers were chiefly agricultural. Fort Harrison and Vin- eennes were their nearest trading points. However, a Pennsylvanian, name 1 John Wise, brought a small assortment of goods to York, in 1818, the first ever in the county. He was the pioneer merchant of Clark, and is yet living in Vincennes. The two first named

were the principal points, where they bartered for the few necessaries which could not be produced or manufactured at home. There were no cooking stoves and ranges, and the thousand culinary apparatuses of to-day were unknown among the early settlers. Bread was generally baked in what was called " Dutch ovens;" though frequently on a board before the fire, and often in the ashes. Among the poorer classes, the " corn dodger " was the only bread. It is related that a wearied traveler stopped at one of these humble cabins to rest and refresh himself and jaded horse. In his saddle-bags he had a few of those old-time, yellow, adamantine indigesti- bles-saleratus biscuit, and by accident dropped one upon the hearth. He was absent a few moments, and upon returning, the eldest boy had covered the wheaten bowlder with live coals, saying to the surrounding tow- heads, " I'll make him stick his head out and crawl," mistaking the biscuit for some new species of terrapin. Tea, coffee and sugar were rarely used, except on the visit of the preacher, or some other equally momentous occasion. The fare was plain, substantial and healthy. The richly flavored, highly sea- soned, dyspepsia-promoting food of to-day, is the invention of a later civilization. There were no friction matches, their place being supplied by the flint and steel. In nearly every family, the chunk, like the sacred fires of the Aztecs, was never allowed to expire. In the genial spring-time, the prudent house- wife, in making her soap, always stirred it " widdershins " that is, from east to west, with the course of the sun. To stir the reverse of this, was to destroy all the cleansing qual- ities of the soap.

The people were quick and ingenious to supply by invention, and with their own hands, the lack of mechanics and artificers. Each settler, as a general rule, built his own house-made his own plows, harrows and har-

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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

ress. The cultivation of the soil was con- ducted after the most approved fashion of primitive times. The plows, with wooden mold-board, turned the sod; the harrow, with wooden teeth, prepared it for planting. The harness was often made of ropes, sometimes with the bark of trees. The collars were of straw. Corn was the principal crop; very little wheat was produced, and was seldom sown on Walnut or Union prairies, or along the river and creek bottoms, for more than a quarter of a century after the formation of the county. For the soul of these sections was thought to be wholly inadapted to its growth. It is only of late years that wheat has become the staple crop on the prairies and bottom lands. The pioneer also made his furniture, and other indispensable articles. And considering his few tools, and the entire absence of all machinery, many of these were models of skill and workmanship. Their carts and wagons, however, were ponderous affairs, made wholly without iron, the wheels often consisting of cuts from six to eight inches in thickness, sawed from the end of a large log. A hole was made in the center for the inserti n of the spindle. Into the axle the huge tongue was inserted. The bed was fastened to the axle, and extended about an equal distance before and aft; the front end was secure l to the tongue. Soft soap was substituted for tar, to facilitate the movement of the vehicle. Dr. Williams, of Casey, relates that when a boy, he onee accompanied his father to a horse-mill, in one of these old-time carts. It was in the winter, and they were delayed about their grinding, and did not get started home until the evening of the second ( av. Darkness overtook th .m, and to render matters worse, their lubricating supply gave out. The lumber ng and creaking of their juggernaut could be heard a mile or more, and soon aroused all the wolves in four town- ships. At first they were timid, and kept

well behind; but as they proceeded, became bolder, and the gloomy woods resounding with their dolorous howls were only equaled by the horrible noise of the wigon. The snarling and growling pack kept elos- ing in, until their fiery eyeballs could be seen, and their panting be heard. His father would drop one occasionally with his rifle, which would temporarily check the pursuit, but it was only after a desperately contested struggle that they escaped being devoured.

That indispensable article. salt, was at first wagoned from Cincinnati to Vincennes, or floated down the Ohio and keel-boated up the Wabash. The more prosperous of a neigh- borhood, who could purchase two or three bushels at a time, soon found it a profitable investment, for they doled it out to their less fortunate neighbors, at largely increased price, and were as careful in the weight and measurement as if each grain were gold. In after years, the Vermillion County salines rendered salt more abundant and less difficult to obtain.

From 1819 to 1823 immigration to Clark County, and in fact to the Wabash Valley, almost ceased, on account of their unhealth- iness. The principal diseases were bilious and intermittent fevers. These fevers took their most malignant character in the bottom lands bordering large streams, especially the Wabash. There, in the rich black loam, formed from the alluvial deposits of the spring floods, and of great depth, vegetation luxuriated in almost tropical profusion. Iin- mense quantities were produced, the decay of which generated vast volumes of miasma. The high bluffs which usually border these teeming lands, covered w.th dense woods, prevented the circulation of the purer air from the uplands, and left all the canses of disease to take their most concentrated forms among the unfortunate settlers of these dis- mal solitudes. Here, at fated periods, these

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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

disorders, or " Wabash chills," as they were termed, found their most numerous victims. Some seasons they became epidemic-a pes- tilence, almost -- prostrating the entire com- munity. The inhabitants of the adjacent prairies were by no means exempt from these plagueful visitations which seemed indige- nous to the soil. From the sluggish sloughs that penetrated these districts arose the dis- ease-burdened malaria, which tainted the air and left its imprint in the sallow complexions and emaciated forms of the people. By rea- son of these ailments the crops frequently suf- fered sadly for want of proper cultivation and care, often entailing suffering and destitution the ensuing winter. Physicians were few, and the victims of those distressing plagues sel- dom received any medical attention or reme- dies. Every family was its own doctor, and roots and herbs supplied, though illy, the place of quinine and the more powerful cures and preventatives of the present. As the coun- try was opened up and reduced to cultiva- tion, and the people became acclimated, these fevers became less prevalent, and lost in some degree their virulence.

According to the first county census taken by Silas Hoskins, of Aurora, in 1820, there were nine hundred and thirty whites and one slave, thus indicating that the blighting curse of human slavery once desecrated Clark County. In this connection a brief mention of a few of the provisions of the " Black Laws," as they were called, enacted by our first Legislature, and which disgraced our statute books for twenty-five years, may not prove uninteresting. There were com- paratively few negroes in our county during the existence of these laws, the highest num- ber being thirty-eight. Under this code, immigrants to the State were allowed to bring their negroes with them; and such of the slaves as were of lawful age to consent, could go before the clerk of the county and

voluntarily sign an indenture to serve their masters for a term of years, and could be held to the performance of their contracts; if they refused, their master could remove them from the State within sixty days. The children of such slaves were taken before an officer and registered, and were bound to serve their masters until thirty-two years of age. Such slaves were called indentured and registered servants, and were annually taxed by the county authorities, the same as horses and cattle. No negro or mulatto could re- side in the State, until he had produced a cer- tificate of freedom, and given bond with se- curity for good behavior, and not to become a county charge. The children of such free negroes were registered. Every person of color, not having a certificate of freedom, was deemed a runaway slave; was taken up, jailed by a justice, advertised and sold for one year by the sheriff; if not claimed in that time, was considered free, though his master might reclaim him any time thereafter. Any slave or servant found ten miles from home, without a pass from his master, was punished with thirty-five lashes. The owner of any dwelling could cause to be given to any ser- vant entering the same, or adjoining grounds, ten stripes upon his bare back. Any person permitting slaves or servants to assemble for dancing, night or day, was fined twenty dol- lars; and it was made the duty of every peace officer to commit such an assemblage to jail, and order each one whipped, not ex- ceeding thirty-nine lashes on the bare back. In all cases where free persons were punish- able with fine, servants were corrected by whipping, at the rate of twenty lashes for every eight dollars' fine. The object of these laws was to prevent free negro immigration, and to discourage runaway slaves from coming to Illinois to become free. But for what pur- pose such rigorous punishments were meted to slaves and servants, for such trifling of-

W. 03 Archer

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HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

fenses, when their paucity of numbers pre- cluded all danger of seditions and insurrec- tions, can only be conjectured.

The most exciting and memorable cam- paign that ever marked the history of the State, occurred in the years 1823-4. It grew out of a proposition of the pro-slavery party, which had a majority in both branches of the Legislature, to call a convention, subject to a vote of the people, to frame a constitution recognizing slavery in Illinois, in utter deli- ance to the ordinance of 1787, by which slavery was prohibited in the Northwest ter- ritory. The campaign began in the spring of 1823, and lasted until August 2, 1824. It was the longest contest ever in the State or county; a contest angry and bitter, and char- acterized by torrents of personal detraction and abuse. The excitement extended even to the ministry. The Baptists and Method- ists were the prevailing denominations, and were, almost to a man, opposed to a conven- tion and slavery. And the old preachers, in outbursts of rude and fiery eloquence, and in language so fierce and caustic as to ill be- come the armor bearers of the lowly Nazarine, fired the hearts of their flocks against the " divine institution," and painted slavery in all its hideousness. Governor Coles was the leader of the anti-slavery movement, and his trenchant reasoning portrayed all the iniquity and deformity of slavery. The anti-slavery party was victorious by a majority of over two thousand, and forever put at rest the question of slavery in Illinois. The vote of Clark was thirty-one votes in favor of a con- vention and slavery, and one hundred and sixteen against.

Colonel William B. Archer was the anti- slavery candidate for the Legislature; his op- ponent, William Lowrie. Colonel Archer was triumphantly elected by a vote of one hundred and thirty-eight to five. Although raised in a slave State, Colonel Archer at an

early age imbibed an unconquerable aversion to human slavery; and during his long and busy life, whether in legislative halls or the private walks of life, he ever advocated the. cause of freedom and free States. And we deem it not inappropriate to give here an ex- tended notice of this remarkable man.

He was the oldest of eight children of Zachariah Archer, three of whom yet survive: Judge Stephen Archer, Hannah Crane and Elizabeth Hogue. His father's family removed from Warren County, Ohio, to Kentucky, and from thence to this county, landing here in a keel boat near what is known as the Block School House, during the memorable Wabash freshet in the year 181. He was tall of stature, spare made and slightly stooped. He had the endurance of an Indian -was insensible to fatigue-a man of iron. His character was rugged, strong and res- olute, and marked with peculiar individuality. He had a sound judgment, a firm confidence and abiding faith in his own convictions of right, and a moral courage to defend them that is rarely met with. In fact, were

"The elements so mixed in him That Nature might stand up And say to all the world, This is a man."

The people recognized his sterling qualities, and he at once took a commanding position in the affairs of the infant settlement. He then commeneed a long, busy and useful ca- reer. He was the first county and circuit clerk.

He was appointed one of the commission- ers of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and laid out the town of Lockport, on the Illinois River. He was engaged on some public im- provement near Chicago, and that city hon- ored him by naming an avenue in his honor, which still bears the name of " Archer Ave- nue." He promptly responded to the call for troops in the Black Hawk War, was made

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captain, and served with distinction. He was again circuit clerk, in 1848. In politics he was a Whig, and a partizan, yet respectful for the opinion of others. He made the mem- orable congressional race against Judge J. C. Allen, which resulted in a tie. He was defeated in the next election.

It is said of him that he was the first man to bring the name of the lamented Lincoln, of whom he was a devoted friend, into public notice. He was a delegate to a convention, at Philadelphia, we believe, and during the deliberations, Colonel Archer proposed the name of Lincoln for Vice President, when a pert member sarcastically asked: "Who is Lincoln? Can he fight?" The Colonel an- swered: "Yes, by Guinea, he can, and so can I."

In private life he was genial and kind, and around his private character cluster many noble virtues. He was married to Eliza Har- lan, and the result of that union was a daughter, who became the wife of the late Woodford Dulaney, of Kentucky. His reli- gious convictions we never knew, but suffice it to say, he was an honest man. He was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity for sixty years. But the absorbing and control- ling idea of his life was for the improvement and development of the county, both town and country. For this he labored-for this he toiled, and for this he gave the best years of his manhood.

He became interested in the construction of the old Wabash Valley Railroad, (the pres- ent Wabash) and entered into the work with all the zeal and energy of his indomitable nature. He gave his time and his money, and just as it seemed that success would crown his efforts, the project was abandoned. He was never destined to see its completion. He did more for Clark County than any man in his day or since. But no recognition, pe- cuniary or otherwise, was ever given him for

his long and valuable services. Possessed at one time of ample means, yet so absorbed was he in his schemes of public improvement, that he was careless as to his private affairs, became involved and lost nearly everything.

Time bent his form, silvered his locks and enfeebled his steps, but it could not conquer his spirit. But at last the end came. Bowed down by the weight of eighty years, and in- firmities incurred by a long life of incessant toil for the general good, on the 9th day of August, 1870, he calmly passed to his final reward, leaving as his only legacy, an untar- nished name, and the enduring monuments of his labor and enterprise in the county.

For a considerable period after the forma- tion of the county, and for years before, there was but little or no good money in circulation. The people were involved in debt, the lands purchased from the United States were unpaid for and likely to be for- feited. Such bank-notes as were in circula- tion had driven out the specie; and as these notes became worthless, one after another, the people were left almost destitute of any circulating medium whatever. The county commerce was insignificant; we exported lit- tle or nothing, except the scanty surplus of produce occasionally shipped to New Or- leans. Hence there was nothing to attract an influx of coin into the country. The great tide of expected immigration from abroad failed to come, and real estate of ev- ery description was unsalable. This state of affairs prevailed all over the State; and to remedy the evil, the Legislature of 182] created a State bank. All branches of indus- try and business flourished for a time, but the bank was founded on false theories of solv- ency and utterly failed of its contemplated objects-in fact almost bankrupted the peo- ple. A considerable period following the decline of the State Bank was called the " harvest of the Shylocks." The legal rate

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of interest was six per cent; but there were no interest limits to special contracts, nor no penalties for usury. Consequently, those having money took advantage of the neces- sities of the people and extorted exorbitant interest rates, often as high as one hundred and fifty per cent being charged.

Game was abundant in the early settle- ment of the county. Deer, turkeys, hares, squirrels, foxes, otters, muskrats, raccoons, opossums, etc., existed in large numbers. A few bears were killed, but they were never numerous. Panthers, catamounts, wolves and wildcats abounded, to the great annoyance of the settlers. Smaller vermin, such as weasels, minks, skunks and polecats were very plentiful; and these, with the owls and hawks, rendered the raising of domestic fowls very difficult. Porcupines were also quite nu- merous. In an early day droves of wild horses roamed over portions of the country west of us (then in Clark County), but there is no ac- count of any ever having been within our present limits. The streams were alive with fish, especially the Wabash. The catfish, muskalonge, bass, perch, sturgeon, spoon- bills, shad, eels, etc., were very plenty. In the early spring the river, creeks, ponds and bayous were covered with geese, ducks, brant and other water-fowl, and on the prai- ries were large numbers of prairie-chickens, gronse and partridges.

In carly times, when the amount of cul- tivated land was very small and live stock had unbounded range, owners were more particular than in later times about their marks and brands. Horses were always branded; other stock was marked. These were their only means of identification, as cattle and hogs were often turned out in the early spring and were likely to be seen no more till cold weather. Sheep were gener- ally kept through the day in iuclosures, and at night in stout high corrals, to prevent their

destruction by the wolves. Some of the early marks were curiosities in their way. Charles Neely's mark was recorded May 26, 1819, the first in the county, and was "A smooth crop off of the left ear and a slit in the same." The mark of Hugh Miller was " An under-bit or half penny out of the un- der side of each ear." That of Joseph Shaw, "A smooth crop off the right ear and an underslope from heel to point of the left ear, bringing the ear to a point, similar to foxing." Cushing Snow's was, " A smooth crop off the left ear and a poplar leaf in the right; that is, a crop off the point, and upper and under bit in the same, which forms a poplar leaf." The penalty, on conviction, for alter- ing or defacing any mark or brand with intent to steal, or prevent identification by the owner, was a public whipping, not exceeding one hundred lashes on the bare back, mpris- onment not exceeding two years, and fine in a sum not less than one half the value of the animal on which the mark was altered or defaced. The severity of the punishment indicates the jealous importance our ances- tors attached to their marks and brands, and their lofty regard for the rights of property.

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History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 28

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 826

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 826