USA > Illinois > Clark County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 31
USA > Illinois > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 31
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106
The county seat was removed to Marshall in
246
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
June, 1838. The present court house was not completed until the following year. The first jail, a log one, stood on the lot on which Mrs. Hannah Patten resides. The first court was held in a frame building, its site marked by the residence of Mrs. Sarah A. Lawrence. Succeeding courts, until the completion of court house, were held in a building on south side of square, near the old Sutton homestead.
The county seat question like Banquo's ghost, " would not down." The corpse laid in its grave but a year or two, until the skeleton was dragged forth, clothed with spe- cious argument and held up to the view of public opinion. The agitation of the question then began. At first it had but few followers or advocates; but these were earnest and tireless and kept the question continually be- fore the people. And as the western portion of the county became more populous, the matter assumed definite shape. Again was the old question of geographical centers dis- cussed, and for some time the contest was warmer and far more bitter if possible, than in the removal from Darwin.
Thus matters stood until the summer of 1848, when petitions were widely circulated and largely signed, mem rializing the Legis- lature, for a re-location of the county seat. That body enacted a law at its next session, again submitting the question to the vote of the people. The campaign was short, sharp and bitter, and on the third Monday in May, 1849, the contesting parties rallied their forces, and the battle was fought with the following re- sult:
Precincts.
For Marshall. Against
Darwin.
.161 20 Clear Creek
99 00 Mill Creek.
34 12
20. 46 York.
29 82 Auburn.
Cumberland .
00 43
Martinsville.
14 126
Richland 47 127
Johnson
8. 65
Melrose 11 89
Livingston 104 28
Marshall 194 2
Total
771 640
640
Marshall's majority 131
Thus ended a memorable campaign, the last of the kind, and one, it is to be hoped which forever settled the county seat location.
In England, about A. D. 821, King Alfred, to prevent the rapines and disorders which prevailed in the realm, instituted a system of territorial division, which was the nearest ap- proach to our Americ in county and precinct system of which history gives any account, and it is not impossible but that it contained the first germs of the same. This was the division of the kingdom into "tithings," an Anglo-Saxon term equivalent to " ten things," or groups of ten. Each tithing was the area inhabited by ten contiguous families, who were "frank pledges," that is, free pledges or surety to the King for each others' good be- havior, and were bound to have any offender within their district arrested and forthcoming. One of the principal inhabitants of the tithing was annually appointed to preside over it, entitled tithingman, or head borough, sup- posed to be the most discreet man within it. And it is within the confines of possibility to suppose, that from "tithingman " through the modifications and gradations of the centuries, and our descent from the parent stock, was evolved our office of county commissioner or township supervisor. As ten families consti- tuted a tithing, so ten tithings constituted a hundred, governed by a high constable or bailiff; and an indefinite number of families.
The shire, or county system, as created by Alfred the Great, changed and modified dur- ing the lapse of centuries, with its parish sub- divisions, corresponding somewhat to the old
247
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
precinet system, were imported from England by the first settlers of Virginia, and firmly engrafted upon the early statutes, where it still clings with unyielding tenacity, and with some modifications, is in full force at the pres- ent day. When Illinois was organized as a Virginia county, the same system was par- tially introduced for its government, which made a strong and lasting impress upon the carly laws. It existed in Illinois intact while she was a Virginia county; through her sev- eral grades of territorial goverment; and as a State, until 1848, when the first departure was made. And in twenty-four counties the system, substantially, is still in force.
From the organization of the county, in 1819, until the year 1849, the management of county affairs was entrusted to a county com- missioners' court, composed of three members, elected by the voters of the county. This court was first created under the legislative act of March 22, 1819, though the law was amended and changed at nearly every session of the Legislature, until the adoption of the Constitution of 1848. The court held four sessions each year, on the first Mondays of March, June, September and December, cor- responding almost exactly with the meetings of our present board of supervisors. It coul sit six days, unless the county business was sooner transacted. The court had exclusive jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to the fiscal affairs of the county, regulating and imposing the county tax. It appointed its own clerk, and could remove him at any time, for sufficient cause, and also had the appoint- ment of county treasurer, grand and petit jurors, together with numerous other duties.
By the State Constitution of 1848, the form of the county commissioners' court was changed. The law provided for the creation of a county court, with original jurisdiction in all probate matters, etc., and the election of a county judge, to hold his office four years.
The law further provided for the election of two justices of the peace, in the county at large, in addition to the number the county was entitled by law, whose jurisdiction was co-extensive with the county, and who should sit with the county judge, as a county court for the transaction of all county business, and in which court the law vested all the powers and authority hitherto exercised by the county commissioners' court. The county judge was the presiding officer, and any two of the court constituted a quorum. The two members of the court, other than the judge, were styled " Associate Justices." This form of county government continued until the adoption of township organization.
The early subdivisions of the county are somewhat vague, as the county embraced so large a scope of country, that like the maps of the ancients the lines ran into unexplored realms. The law of 1819 made it obligatory, on the part of the county commissioners, to elect three justices of the peace to lay off the county into election districts, and upon the commissioners to divide the county into precincts or townships. The commissioners selected Joseph Shaw, George W. Catron and James W. Parker. They met at the house of Charles Neely, at the head of Walnut Prairie, April 19, 1819, and proceeded to lay off the county into election districts according to law:
No. 1. Beginning at the southeast corner of the said county, on the Wabash River, thence up said river to Mill Creek; thence up said creek to the west boundary line of said county, thence south to the southwest corner of said county, thence east with the county line to the place of beginning.
No. 2. Beginning on the Wabash River at the mouth of Mill Creek, thence up said river to the mouth of Kirkendall's Creek (now Big Creek), thence up said creek to the west boundary of said county; thence south to the
248
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
main channel of Mill Creek, thence down said creek with the " mianders " thereof, to the place of beginning.
No. 3. Beginning on the Wabash River at the mouth of Big or Kirkendall's Creek, thence up the said river to the middle of the tenth range of townships to the north bound- ary of township twelve, thence west with the township line between twelve and thirteen, to the county line, thence south to Kirkendall's Creek, thence down said creek with the " mianders " thereof, to the place of begin- ning.
No. 4. Beginning at the middle of the tenth range of townships on the line between twelve and thirteen, thence north to the north boundary line of said county, thence west to the northwest corner of said county, thence south to the township between townships twelve and thirteen, thence east with said township line to the place of beginning. The first was called Union, the second, Dubois, the third, Washington, and the fourth, Wayne. The three first named townships, although greatly reduced in territory, retained their names and a portion of their boundaries, until after the adoption of township organization.
By an act of the Legislature, of 1823, Guy W. Smith, who was a receiver of public lands, at Palestine, was authorized and requested to procure and have placed where the dividing line between the States of Indiana and Illi- nois leaves, the northwest bank of the Wa- bash, forty-six miles due north of Vincennes, at a mulberry post forty links from the water's edge, a hewn stone of at least five feet in length and fifteen inches in diameter, and cause the following inscriptions to be made thereon, namely: on the east " Indiana;" on the west, "Illinois;" on the north; "159 miles and forty-six links to Lake Michigan." He was to receive therefor any sum not ex- ceeding one hundred dollars.
At the June term, 1820, of the commission-
ers' court, a petition was filed by sundry per - sons of the County of Clark and State of Illinois, praying for a new township to be composed partly of Wayne and Washington townships. The court granted the petition and named the township " Pike."
The formation of Edgar County, in 1823, extinguished Wayne township, and part of Pike. The commissioners ordered that Wash- ington township include all the county north of Big Creek. In June, 1824, the boundary was again changed, and the county commis- sioners ordered " that all of this county north of the south line of town eleven (11) north, and all north of Big Creek, be included in Washington Township. In June, 1827, the county was again re-districted as follows:
" Court orders that all that part of this county, lying south of Mill Creek, be called Union Township. Court establish Dubois Township, as heretofore established. Court order that Washington Township include all of this county lying north of Dubois Town- ship, and east of the line between range twelve and thirteen west. Court order that Embarras Township include all of this county lying north of Dubois, and west of the line between range twelve and thirteen west." This line extending north, was the west line of Edgar County. The divisions so remained until in 1829, when there were some slight changes made in their territorial boundaries, but not of sufficient importance to notice here.
The law of elections in that day, required the polls to be open at eight and close at six. Thirty minutes' announcement before the closing of the polls was necessary. The judges, at their option, could postpone closing the polls until twelve o'clock at night. Any elector could vote for president and vice- president anywhere in the State. For State senator and representative, anywhere in the district he was entitled to vote. For county
249
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
officers, at any voting place in the county. If he voted more than once, the penalty was a fine of a hundred dollars, to go to the county wherein the offense was committed. There was no penalty of imprisonment. Think of that law being in force to-day, in some of our large cities, or even in our own county! At the first close and exciting election, the aggregate vote would indicate a population of sixty thousand. No naturaliza- tion papers were required; all that was neces- sary was a six months' residence in the State preceding the election. The judges had the power, for the preservation of order and to protect themselves from insult and abuse, to fine any and all riotous persons, and upon failure to pay, to send them to the county jail not exceeding twenty days. After the clos- ing of the polls, one of the poll books was sealed, and to be delivered to the county clerk within four days after the election, by one of the judges or clerks, to be determined by lot, if they could not otherwise agree. The other poll book was left with one of the judges, and kept open for inspection. Any person offering to vote, whose vote was chal- lenged, merely had to swear or affirm that he had resided in the State six months immedi- ately preceding the election and had not voted at the election. No identifying and corroborating witnesses were required. Any unqualified person voting, was to forfeit not more than fifty, nor less than twenty-five dol- lars. Though if the judges believed him a legal voter, he was not to be fined.
The county remained thus divided until Coles County was organized in the winter of 1830, which extinguished the townships or precinets of Embarras and IIamilton. In March, 1831, the commissioners formed a new precinet in the northwest part of the county, called " Richland." In 1836 a new precinet was added, called "Cumberland." Union precinct had hitherto been divided
into East and West Union precinets. The preeinets or townships in the county were now named East Union, West Union, Dubois, Washington, Richland and Cumberland. In March, 1848, the county was redistrieted by the commissioners into twelve preeincts, named as follows: East Union, or York, Du- bois or Darwin, Clear Creek, Livingston, Marshall, Mill Creek, Auburn, Melrose, Mar- tinsville, Richland, Cumberland and Johnson precincts.
These divisions remained unchanged, with the exception that a new preeinet, called Upper Marshall or Castle Fin, was added, until the adoption of township organization.
The Constitution of 1848, for the first time in the history of the State, contemplated and recognized a departure from the old and time-honored precinet system of eounty gor- ernment, and opened the way for the intro- duetion of the present township mode of gov- ernment. The section relating to the matter is as follows: "The General Assembly shall provide, by a general law, for a township or- ganization, under which any county may or- ganize whenever a majority of the voters of such county, at any general election, shall so determine; and whenever any county shall adopt a township organization, so much of this Constitution as provides for the manage- ment of the fiscal concerns of the said county by the county court, may be dispensed with, and the affairs of said county may be trans- aeted in such manner as the General As- sembly may provide."
In pursuance of the foregoing, the Legis- lature enacted a law, February 17, 1851, pro- viding that the county court, on the petition of fifty legal voters, should canse to be submitted to the voters of said county, at any general election, the question of the adoption or rejection of township organiza- tion. The law further provided that thel county court, at its next session after such,
250
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
adoption, should appoint three residents of the county as commissioners, to divide the county into townships. The commissioners were to divide the county into as many towns as there were Congressional townships therein. Where there were fractional townships, caused by county or State lines, or by streams, such fractions could be added to other townships, or added together. The commissioners were required to make a written report of their proceedings, giving the names and bounds of each town, to the county clerk, on or be- fore the first day of March next succeding the adoption of township organization. Town- ships were to be named in accordance with the expressed wish of their inhabitants, un- less there was contention. In that case, the commissioners were to designate the name.
At the September term, 1854, of the coun- ty court, a petition was presented, signed by the requisite number of legal voters, pray- ing the question of organizing Clark County into townships be submitted to the people, at the November general election following. There was considerable opposition to the new system, but the proposition carried over- whelmingly. The people had tried the pre- cinct system, with its many imperfections, even since the formation of the county, and were ripe and ready for any change that promised better. Many specious arguments were urged in favor of the proposed town- ship organization. By its adoption, it was claimed that every section of the county would have a representative in the board of supervisors to watch and guard its interests. By its adoption, each township was made a body corporate, with full and ample powers to manage and control its own internal affairs. It could dictate and control the 'levy of its own taxes for school, bridge, and the vari- ous other taxes for township purposes. It could condnet its schools after its own fash- ion, and could lay out, alter and vacate its
roads at will. It could choose one from their midst to value and assess their lands and per- sonal property, and one also to collect their taxes. In short it made each,township a min- ature county, investing it with a degree of in- dependence, and with powers not to be derived from, or enjoyed under, the old precinct system.
On the 7th day of November, 1854, the election occurred, with the following results:
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION:
Precincts. For.
Against.
Darwin or Dubois
47
111
Melrose
129
1
Livingston
127
20
Auburn
79
79
Cumberland
,9
00
Mill Creek
20
3
Marshall
184
183
Richland
118
3
Martinsville.
153
56
Union or York
94
15
Castle Fin
34
8
Clear Creek
86
29
Johnson
127
00
Totals
1277
528
And so township organization was adopted.
Township organization is a system of county government having its origin in the New England States; and as the people of those States have migrated westward, it has been carried into most of the Northern and Western States. It is purely a Yankee institution, and is a system whereby the ter- ritory of each county is divided into conven- ient districts, called towns or townships, or as they are styled in the law, quasi corpora- tions.
It is said the first town meeting ever held in New England or America to consider af- fairs of common interest, occurred on March 23, 1621, for the purpose of perfecting mili- tary arrangements against the Indians, at which a governor was elected for the ensu- ing year. And it is noticed, as a coincidence,
251
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
whether from that source or otherwise, that the annual town meetings in the New England States have ever since been held in the spring of the year. New York imitated this example; and in every Northwestern State where the township system exists, the annual town meeting for election of officers, oc- cnrs likewise in the spring, either in March or April.
The township officers are one supervisor, who is ex officio, member of the county board, a town clerk, one assessor and collector each, three commissioners of highways, two jus- tices of the peace and two constables, and as many road overseers as there are road districts in the township. Our system, as adopted and perfected, is borrowed almost entire from the laws of New York. The of- ficers are the same-their duties substan- tially the same. Boards of supervisors, as constituted by the laws of our State, are de- liberative assemblies and their proceedings conducted according to general parliamentary rules.
The county court, at its December term, 1854, following the adoption of township or- ganization, appointed Randolph Lee, Charles H. Welsh and John B. Briscoe commission- ers to lay off the county into townships, as required and provided for in the legislative act, who performed their duty as follows: Wabash, Marshall, Dolson, Parker, West- field, Cumberland, Martinsville, Anderson, Darwin, York, Melrose, Orange and Johnson. The first supervisors elected under township organization were Jolın Pearce, from Ander- son Township; George Conger, Cumberland; James Lockard, Darwin; Wesley Norman, Dolson; James Brooks, Johnson; Nathan Willard, Marshall; Morrison Spenny, Mar- tinsville; James Cowden, Melrose; John Swope, Orange; T. H. Connelly, Parker; An- drew Dunlap, Wabash; Chas. Biggs, West- fieldl; and Jacob Dolson, York.
There was considerable dissatisfaction con- cerning the division of the county into town- ships. The people of York Township, at the September term, 1855, of the board of super- visors, petitioned that so much of York Town- ship as lies north of Mill Creek, be attached to Darwin Township, which resolution was considered and rejected. The citizens of Dar- win Township also presented a petition for a change and alteration of the boundary line of the township, which was also rejected.
The law delegated to boards of supervisors power and authority to create new townships. And so at the September term, 1858, the board created Douglas Township, the four- teenth organized township. At their June term 1859, the board organized a new township, composed of nine sections of land from Dol- son township, three from Martinsville, three from Marshall, and one from Anderson, and called it "Auburn." This is the central township in the county, and was the last formed. It is four miles square, and con- tains sixteen sections of land.
No other change, either in name or bound- ary of any township has been made up to the present time. The names and land areas of the townships as now organized, are as fol- lows:
Anderson Township, 35 sections.
Auburn 66
.16
Casey
36
Darwin
about 34
66
Dolson,
40₺ 66
Douglas 66
18
Johnson
66
36
66
Marshall
33
Martinsville
37}
Melrose
36
Orange
36
Parker
66
36
Wabash
66
יר
Westfield
"
18
ל
York
about 35
Total 519
CHAPTER IV.
CLARK'S FIRST COURTS AND ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE-AN INCIDENT OF FLOG- GING-HOW A SHERIFF ADJOURNED COURT-OFFICERS AND THEIR PAY-WAR HISTORY-EARLY MILITARY FORCES OF THE COUNTY-BLACK HAWK -- MEXICAN WAR-THE REBELLION-PART TAKEN IN IT BY CLARK, ETC., ETC.
IN the early days justice was administered without much show or parade. Courts were mostly held in log houses, or in tavern rooms fitted up temporarily for the occasion. Yet, in these humble halls, as able and emi- nent jurists as ever graced any Bench pre- sided over the courts and dispensed justice with dignity and fairness. Not only were these judges renowned for their legal lore, but were distinguished for their attainments in other fields of learning. Thus the plead- ings and doings in those early courts ap- pear strange and primitive to us, and a verbatim copy of some of the records would furnish considerable amusement to the legal fraternity and generation of the present day. One marked characteristic of early courts, was the pointedness and remarkable brevity of their recorded proceedings. A few words sufficed to explain and record all that was necessary in the most important cases, and a small, three-quire blank book contains all the proceedings of the Clark County Circuit Court for seven years. A record that would scarcely serve to index the cases of one of our modern terms.
The first court ever convened in this county was held at Aurora, Monday, September 20, 1819, Thomas C. Browne, presiding judge. The court lasted but part of one day, and the only business transacted was approving the clerk's, coroner's and sheriff's bonds.
"Thereupon," as the old record sagely re- marks, "the court adjourned until court in course." The litigation was usually of an inconsequential character. The lawsuits were principally small appeal cases, actions of tres- pass, slander, indictments for assault and battery, affrays, riots, selling liquor without license, etc. There was now and then an in- dictment for larceny, murder, and other felonies. There were but wo indictments for murder during the first twelve years of the county's history, and very few for minor felonies. The first killing in the county, of which the court took recognizance, was the murder of Cyrus Sharp by Jacob Blaze, in 1822, near Big Creek, and about one half mile south of the residence of Joseph Cook, Sr.
No negro, mulatto, or Indian could testify against a white person. Any having one fourth negro blood was adjudged a mulatto. The offenses committed were usually petty and trifling, and were punishable by fine and imprisonment in the county jail. The pen- alty for felonies, other than murder and man- slaughter, was flogging, fine and imprison- ment. The death penalty was inflicted by hanging; and, on application, the body of the criminal turned over to the surgeons for dissection. Burglary, robbery and larceny were each punishable by not over one hun- dred lashes on bare back, and fine and im-
253
HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
prisonment. Col. Fieklin relates a story, as having actually happened, of a fellow who was convicted of stealing meat, and was senteneed to receive twenty-five stripes. The sheriff promptly removed the prisoner, and admin- istered the castigation. While undergoing the drubbing, his eounsel had motioned for a new trial, and was arguing the same, when the culprit returned into court, smarting and twisting under the vigorous castigation. IIe soon comprehended the situation, and began sliding toward his attorney, and pulling his coat, said in a loud, hoarse whisper, that all could hear: "Bell, for the Lord's sake don't git another trial, I took the meat, and they've larruped the daylights outer me for it, and if you git another hitch they'll lam me again, and ouch, how it hurts."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.