USA > Illinois > De Witt County > History of De Witt county, Illinois. With illustrations descriptive of the scenery, and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 20
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The issuing of such orders, with no andited vouchers to back them, is a violation of law, and the treasurer, who honors them, is liable on his bond for the full amount. Another resolution, following at the heels of the preceding one, is worse-an absolute wrong, as the supervisors vote themselves a larger compensatiou than the law contemplates, to wit. ; 82.00 per diem, 81.50 a day for expenses, and 10 cents per mile, mileage, one trip. Robert Walker voted-nay.
The railroad fight came up again, on December 27th, 1871. The following resolution, introduced by De Land, was passed :
Resolved, by the board of the supervisors of De Witt county, that W. Gambrel, Robert Walker, and Benjamin Howard be appointed a committee to employ proper counsel to inquire as to the legality of the bonds of De Witt county, given to the Gilman, Clinton and Springfield Railroad company, and if by their de- cision they are found to be illegal, resist the collection of the tax as now extended on the various collectors' books.
Lorenzo D. Hovey had been elected county treasurer and col- lector, and collected a part of that railroad tax during the year.
Fourteenth Board .- 1872 to 1873.
David Kelley, of Santa Anna, chairman ; Robert Walker, Harp; Moses Predmore, Nixon ; Henry Bennett, Creek ; Benja- min Howard, Tunbridge; William Bishop, Clintonia; E. B. Harrold, Wapella; William Gambrel, Barnett ; W. H. Oglevie, Waynesville; W. M. Moore, Texas; J. A. Lemert, Wilson ; D. A. Rosencrans, De Witt; and Peter Brickey, of Butledge.
The committee appointed in December, 1871, made report in August, 1872. The report, not recorded, nor on file, was received, and the committee disharged. The tax fight continued, being based principally on the omission of the treasurer's signature on the bonds issued.
By a resolution of the board the salary of the circuit clerk and sheriff, was fixed at 81,500 per annum, and $1,000 each for deputy hire.
This board seemed to have had an, inclination to enter into general legislating, as shown hereby :
" Be it resolved by the supervisors of De Witt county, that the extending of common law jurisdiction to county courts, and the present mode of selecting jurors is both expensive and unue- cessary, and is derogatory to the best interest of the tax-payers of this county, and should be repealed." Another :
" Be it resolved, by the board of supervisors of De Witt county, that the present registry law is useless and burdensome, and a tax on the people without any benefit whatever resulting there- from, and that both experience and economy, as well as justice and right, demand its immediate repeal."-Still another :
" Resolved, second, that it is our opinion the present require- ments of the common school law in reference to the qualifica- tions of teachers, is an unjust discrimination in favor of certain state institutions and injurious to the masses of the people, and that equity and good conscience demand its immediate repeal."
" Resolved, third, that in our opinion the county superintendent is a mere man of straw, and that the office should be abolished, and a county board of examiners elected or appointed instead thereof, to be paid by the applicants for teaching."
Fifteenth Board .- 1873 to 1874.
David Kelley, of Santa Anna, chairman; John Randolph, Tunbridge ; S. E. Arnold, Creek ; Charles Klipzig, Nixon ; Wil- liam Gambrel, Barnett; Lewis Campbell, Clintonia; Robert Walker, Harp; Jacob Swigart, De Witt; James P. Strange, Waynesville ; E. B Harrold, Wapella; Joshua Lemert, Wilson ; Peter Brickey, Rutledge; and W. MI. Phares, of Texas.
First meeting was held in September ; the salary of the county clerk was fixed at $1,200.00, and $1,000 for deputy hire; salary of county judge at 8400 per annum.
William Gambrel resigned, and was succeeded by Z. D. Can- trall-appointed.
The county employed E. H. Palmer, and Weldon, Benjamin, as attorneys in the railroad bond suits.
On the 2nd of February, 1874, the following resolutions-not stated by whom introduced, was passed, to wit. :
Whereas, the county finance is in a " mixed " and unsatisfac- tory condition in consequence of our couuty officials not carrying out the provisions of the laws now in force in regard to records ; and whereas, in order to get our finances in a more safe and " intelligible " condition, and for the purpose of having our laws fully carried out,-therefore be it resolved by the board of supervisors of De Witt county in session, that the treasurer of
,
HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
De Witt county is hereby instructed to carry out sections 30 and 31, chapters 27, page 149. Gross' Statotes of Illinois ; also section 25 of chapter 25, page 156 of the above statutes."
The following resolution may account in part for the "mixed " condition of "our " finance; it was passed on the 3rd of Febu- ary, 1874.
" Resolved, by the board of supervisors of De Witt county, that a committee of two be appointed by the chair, to search records and reports, and make a full investigation of the acts and doings of THIS BOARD and its committees in relation to the purchasing of and paying for the poor farm, the amount paid, and how paid ; also, the purchasing of stock and farm implements, and fitting up the poor farm for the first year, also naming the expenses of each year, and report to this board at its next meeting."
Walker and Randolph were appointed as members of this committee.
Sixteenth Board .- 1874 to 1875.
David Kelley, of Santa Anna, chairman ; Amos Dick, Waynes- ville; Charles Klipzig. Nixon; J. M. Hendrix, Creek ; Z. Can- trall, Baroett ; E. B. Harrold, Wapella; Robert Walker, Harp; J. H. Randolph, Tonbridge; Lewis Campbell, Clintonia; James Wilson, Wilson ; Jacob Swigart, De Witt; W. M. Phares, Texas ; and James Vandeventer, of Rutledge.
The committee of investigation, Messrs Walker and Randolph, submitted their report, at the first meeting of the board in April, 1874.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PURCHASE OF POOR-FARM.
To the Board of Supervisors of De Witt county :- Your commit- tee appointed to investigate the acts of this hoard and its com- mittees in purchasing, fitting up, and putting in practicable operation the poor-farm, also its necessary expenses, would re- port, that we find on page 640 Supervisors' record, a resolution appointing a committee of three to purchase a farm, and put in operation as a poor-farm, and instructing the county clerk to issue coun'y orders to pay all indebtedness incurred thereby. Your committee cannot learn from the records that any bonds were issued. James De Land, Benjamin Howard, and John Bosserman, were appointed that committee. From other sources your committee learned that bonds to the amount of 85,000 were issued and sold to Shepard & Co., of Chicago, but that after- wards it was discovered that the county had no authority to issue such bonds. And on page 472 of supervisiors' record, we find a resolution directing De Land to correspond with Shepard & Co., and have the bonds paid in some other way. On same page committee on poor-farm reported. Report was approved and ordered filed, and the committee directed to complete their work. Your committee could not find said report among the files, nor ascertain or learn its contents. On page 473, we find a resolution directing the county clerk to issue connty orders to cover all indebtedness incurred in purchasing and fitting up the poor-farm. Your committee, by examining the stubs on the order book, found the following orders have been issued :
J. De Land, to pay on land $1,600 00
Millard and others, work on buildings. 1,690 12
Bishop, McGill & Co., J. R Hall, farm. 258 28
E. H. Palmer and J. R. Hall, mules. 230 00
Kirk, for work on poor-honse 100 00
J. M. Green 17 50
B. Mills
530 00
Thomas Kelley, for money paid Shepard. 5,152 77
TOTAL ... $8,578 67
(The committee's addition is incorrect, should be $9,578.67 )
$4,000 of the above amount were paid on the farm, and the balance, 84,576 67 should be $5,578.67) seems to have been spent in building the house, buying teams, stock, farming tools, household furniture, seeds, feed and provisions for the first year. What part was spent in building your committee have not the means of knowing. The farm contains two hundred acres, and the contract price 89,500. Four thousand of that amount appears to have been paid out of the above orders, the balance was to be paid in two notes, which were made by B. Mills, and secured by deed of trust on the farm; one of the above notes was for 82,500, and was paid by L. D Hovey, county treasurer, in May, 1872, and the other is for $3,000, due in May, 1874. The per- sonal property is inventoried to be worth $3,663. Your com- mittee find the record of running expenses during the first two years so imperfect, that they cannot state what the expenses were."
This report was received, but failed to give satisfaction or to quiet the minds of the people It cannot now be stated, whether the error of 81,000, pointed out above, was discovered at the time. The fact is that the poor-farm, improvements and stock included, had cost the county fifteen thousand and seventy-eight dollars and sixty-seven cents.
The board, after accepting the above report, passed the follow- ing resolution, to wit :
" Be it resolved by the board of supervisors of De Witt county, that there be a committee of three appointed to investigate the acts and doings of the committee empowered to porchase a poor- farm, and that said investigating committee have power to sum- mon any person or persons whom they believe to know anything in regard to the facts pertaining to the same, and especially the purchasing committee, and such evidence shall be taken in writ- ing, and report the same to the board of supervisors at their next meeting-the evidence shall be taken under oath."
Wilson, Hendrix and Cantrall were made members of this committee.
The last payment on the poor-farm was made July 27, 1874.
The committee of investigation of purchase of poor-farm re- ported on said day as follows :
To the board of supervisors of De Witt county-Your com- mittee appointed to investigate the acts and doings of the com- mittee appointed by said board to purchase and put in practical operation a poor-farm, would submit the following :
That we find, upon the sworn statement of James De Land, that the amount of money received by said De Land from the county did not exceed the amount paid out by him in the pur- chase and fitting up of said farm, and upon the sworn statement of said De Land and John Bosserman, that there was a detailed report made by them of their acts and doings as said committee, and submitted to the board, received by them and placed on file, and the committee discharged ; that the deposition of B. Mills corroborates the evidence of said De Land and Bosserman so far as the purchase of the farm was concerned. Your committee recommend that the depositions of said De Land, Bosserman, and Mills, be placed on file.
The poor-farm troubles ended for the time with this report. the contents of which are neither new nor interesting. The re- port made by Walker and Randolph was decidedly more ac- curate and to the point.
Seventeenth Board-1875 to 1876.
Lewis Campbell, of Clintonia, chairman. J. H. Randolph, Tunbridge; W. M. Phares, Texas; J. C. Coulter, Nixon ; Z. D.
1
78
HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Cantrall, Barnett; Robert Walker, Harp; John Marsh, De Witt ; Amos Dick, Waynesville; Jacob Partier, Wapella ; C. S. Cain, Wilson; W. O. Gray, Rutledge; Levi Rathburn, Santa Anna ; and Benjamin Miller, Creek.
As stated heretofore, the authorities of the county had caused a special railroad- tax to be levied and extended in 1871 and 1872. Pending the collection of this tax, the board undertook to repudiate the debt, thus leaving the amounts meanwhile col- lected in the hands of L. 1). Hovey, treasurer. The railroad levy had amounted to 839,888.48, of which 87,642 09 had been collected, and had remained unaccounted for ; this appears from a report made to the board at their August term, 1876.
The ex-treasurer failed to account for those amounts, and, when suit was brought, June, 1877, he had left the state.
Eighteenth Board-1876 to 1877.
James De Land, of Clintonia, chairman. J. H. Randolph, Tunbridge; John Hendrix, Creek; W. M. Phares, Texas ; Robert Walker, Harp ; John Marsh, De Witt; James Wilson, Wilson ; Levi Rathburn, Santa Auna ; C. S Lisenby, Nixon ; .J. E. Bradley, Barnett ; Amos Dick, Waynesville ; Jacob Parlier, Wapella; W. O. Gray, of Rutledge.
The suits about those railroad bonds had been decided against the county. Iu September, 1876, the hoard consented to bear Hon. Milton Hay, of Springfield, who would make some proposi- tion in regard to the payment of those bonds. The records do not contain any account of the nature of this proposition. A committee had meanwhile beeu appointedl to ascertain the prob- able cost of an appeal of the case to the Supreme Court of the United States, and now reported, that $570 were needed to bring the case before that court. On the 11th of October, 1876, the board elected a committee of three to negotiate with the bond- holders, with a view of effecting a compromi-e.
This committee, consisting of J. H. Randolph, James Wilson, and W. O. Gray, entered into consultations and deliberations with the attorneys of the bond-holders, and on the 29th of De- cember, 1876, submitted the following articles of agreement to the board, to wit :
Whereas, the Etna Life Insurance Company, the Ridgely Na- tional Bank, Ammasso Stone, and the Society of Savings, are the holders and owners of bonds issued by the county of De Witt in aid of the Gilman, Clinton, and Springfield Railroad, in the aggregate amounting to one hundred and sixty-four thousand dollars, and upon which said bonds there are over-due coupons for five annual installments of interest, ending with the coupons due the 1st of July, A. D. 1876, amountiug to eighty-two thousand dollars, and upon which over-due coupons there have also accrued a considerable amount of interest ; And whereas suits have been pending in which the validity of said indebtedness has been questioned, by reason of said bonds not having been counter- signed by the county treasurer, both by the tax-payers of said county of De Witt and the board of supervisors of said county, which said suits have been terminated adversely to the said tax- payers and county of De Witt ; And whereas the holders of said bonds are pressing the county by suits and otherwise for the payment of said over-due interest, as well as of all accrued in- terest thereon ; and the said bond-holders are desirous of quieting all questions as to the validity and sufficiency of said bonds upon the one hand, and said board of supervisors are desirous upon the other hand of obtaining ease and time for the payment of said over-due interest. Now, therefore, it is agreed by and be- tween the said board of supervisors and the said bond-creditors
of said county, that the said board of supervisors will, by an order or a resolution of said board at its next meeting, direct the county treasurer of said county of De Witt to couotersign the aforesaid bonds as held by said creditors, as the same may be presented to him for that purpose; and said board of super- visors do further agree, that said over-due interest, as evidenced by the said five over-due coupons, and all interest accrued thereon, shall be paid by the said county in five annual install- ments of one-fifth thereof in each installment ; the first of said installments to be paid by the first day of July, A. D. 1878, the levy in the year 1877 to provide for the same, and thence suc- cessively until all are paid, subject to a deduction, however, to be made of four years of accrued interest, or interest to accrue upon said over-due interest ; that is to say, that said annual in- stallments or coupons over-due, shall be taken up and paid each in its order six years from maturity thereof, with two years' in- terest on each of said coupons or installments. The true intent and meaning of this being, that said county shall have a rebate of interest accrued and to accrue, equal to the sum of nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty dollars ($19,680). And the said creditors agree on their part to accept payment of said over- due coupons in manner aforesaid, and with the deduction of in- terest thereon, to be made as afuresaid; and that they will desist in the mean time from all legal proceedings to enforce the col- lection and payment of said over-due interest, and upon pay- ment as aforesaid will surrender said coupons to said county.
And said creditors do further agree, that if the board of super- visors of said e unty of De Witt shall be lawfully authorized by a vote of the legal voters of said county to fund the said over- due interest into bonds bearing interest at the rate uf ten per cent. per annum, the interest payable annually, and the principal maturing at either sixteen or twenty years, so as that said bonds may be executed and delivered by the 1st day of July next, that they will accept said bonds at par for said overdue coupons, so arranging and adjusting the coupons for interest thereon as to give to said county the advantage of the same reduction as con- templated by the arrangement first recited herein, or the said county may, at its election, dispose of said bonds, paying to said creditors the par value thereof, and if such election be made, said county shall have the same advantage of reduction to the extent aforesaid, that is to say, the said creditors will accept the face of said coupons less the sum of three thousand two hundred and eighty dollars in full discharge thereof, provided said money is paid by the first day of July, A. D. 1877.
It is further agreed, that the judgments upon a portion of said coupons rendered in favor of the Society for Savings and the Etna Life Insurance Company, shall be subject to the foregoing agreement, aud that said judgments shall be satisfied upon the payment of the coupons embraced therein, as though judgment had not been rendered thereon, the county to pay the costs in said suits. And it is further agreed, that the suit of Lisenby and others vs. Melvin and others, in the Logan Circuit Court, may be dismissed at the cost of the county, and that defendants shall waive all damages by reason of the injunction therein.
Signed : HAY, GREEN & LITTLE, Attorneys, for and in behalf of creditors.
J. H. RANDOLPH, J. A. WILSON, Committee,'
W. O. GRAY,
on behalf of the Board of Supervisors of De Witt county, Ill .; This 2d of November, 1876.
79
HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The board, by a vote of six, to wit, Randolph, Phares, Hen- drix, Marsh, Wilson, and Rathburn, against five, to wit, Lisenhy, Bradley, De Land, Walker, and Parlier, passed a resolution to compromise the bond question on the basis of the articles of agreement submitted. (Amos Dick and W. O. Gray did not vote ; they had probably " paired " off. Mr. Gray had previously signed the articles as member of the committee, and would cer- tainly have voted in the affirmative.)
The bonds represented by the parties above mentioned amounted to $164,000, drawing ten per cent. annual interest; the accrued interest remaining unpaid amounted, July 1st, 1876, to the enor- mous sum of $82,000.
In June, 1877, the board ordered suit to be brought against L. D. Hovey, former Treasurer, found in default.
Nineteenth Board-1877 to 1878.
J. H. Randolph, of Tunbridge, Chairman ; Thomas Cornwell, of Texas; George Scott, of Creek ; C. S Lisenby, of Nixon ; N. M. Barnett, of Barnett ; James De Land, of Clintonia ; Charles Willmore, of Harp; D. H. Rosencrans, of De Witt; Matthew Hammett, of Waynesville ; Jacob Parlier, of Wapella; Thomas Cain, of Wilson ; Daniel Fuller, of Rutledge, and L. Rathburn, of Santa Anna.
It will be observed that only two of the six members voting for a compromise had been re-elected, while three of the five voting in the negative were returned. Neither Gray nor Dick, of the " pair off," was re-elected.
Twentieth Board-1878 to 1879.
WV. O. Gray, of Rutledge, Chairman ; Edward Well, of Texas ; J. D. Graham, of Creek ; C. S. Lisenby, of Nixon ; N. M. Bar- nett, of Barnett ; John Wrightwick, of Clintonia ; Charles Will- more, of Harp; John Marsh, of De Witt; Mathew Ilammett, of Waynesville; T. W. Cain, of Wilson; L. Rachton, of Santa Anna ; Jacob Parlier, of Wapella, and J. R. Turner, of Tun- bridge.
For the first time since 1850 a financial statement of the county is made a matter of record. It was submitted by the County Treasurer on the fourth day of December, 1878, and though brief, it has a pleasing appearance, i. e., the cash-box of the county was well stocked.
Financial Statement of De Witt County, Illinois, December 1st, 1877, to November 30th, 1878.
DR.
Dec. I, 1877. To am't received from W. Gambrel, ex-Treasurer, $12,104 44 To Nov. 30, 1878. To am't of revenue of 1877 collected in 1878, 32,637 43 To excess of earnings of officers over their
compensations,. 2 249 86
To fines, etc.
221 46
$47,213 19
Credit :
Current expenses of the County for which county
orders or juror certificates were issued during the year, $16,969 14
Witness fees paid direct, .. 254 75
Collector's commissions, 769 64
Over-due coupons of railroad bonds paid,. 17,808 00 $35,801 53
1
1878, Dec. 1. Cash in Treasury,
$11,411 66
In March, 1879, steps were taken to refund the county debt in six per cent. bonds, the holders of $155,000 of old county bonds having agreed to surrender them for cash. A petition praying for a vote on this question was presented on the 2d of March,
and an election ordered to be held on the first Tuesday of April next. A called meeting of the board was held on the 31st of March and the above order in reference to holding such elec- tion was rescinded.
Twenty-first Board-1879 to 1880.
W. (). Gray, of Rutledge, Chairman ; J R. Turner, of Tun- bridge; A. E. Newman, of Texas; John D Graham, of Creek ; John N. Manlove, of Nixon ; Lyman Barnett, of Barnett ; James De Land, of Clintonia; Charles Willmore, of Harp; Jacob Swigart, of De Witt; Matthew Hammett, of Waynesville ; Jacob Parlier, of Wapella ; Nicholas Foley, of Wilson, and Levi Rath- burn, of Santa Anna.
Board met on the 22d of April. Upon motion of James De Land, the chairman appointed a committee of one in each town- ship to collect the remains of deceased Union soldiers buried in private or village cemeteries.
The revenue derived from the surplus fees earned in the various county offices had fallen far short of expectation, and the board, in their desire to increase the resources of the county, passed the following preamble and resolutions :
" Whereas, there is a large amount of fees io the Circuit Court of De Witt County uncollected ; and whereas, by the negligence and delay io collecting said fees the county sustains great losses, therefore be it Resolved by the Board of Supervisors of De Witt County, that we hereby sell said fees to W. Z. Dewey, for one-half of the actual amount of said fees which he may be able to collect ; and it is hereby expressly agreed that the county shall be at no expense in or about the collection of said fees, and that he make a full and complete report, whenever required by said board, of the amounts collected and not collected, with reasons for their non-collection ; and that he leave said money in the hands of the proper officers of said county, to wit: the Circuit Clerk, the County Clerk, and the Sheriff. Time for col- Jecting fees to commence immediately, and to cover the time from Decem- ber, 1872, to December 1878."
On the 3d of September, a report in reference to the poor farm was placed on file. We introduce it here because of its general make-up. It is somewhat bucolic, the reader imagines, to sniff the balmy air of that bright September day ; the luscious melon and the tempting peach, fat cattle lazily ruminating, ap- pear before his mental visiou, etc., etc. 'We were shown " says the report, after mentioning the pleasures of the festive board, " through all the buildings by the Superintendent ( W. M. Moore, Esq.), and then walked over the farm, through the cornfields, finding them well tended, and burdened with a heavy crop," etc., etc .; "and we desire to say to the people of the county, that the farm buildings and stock are a credit to the county ; the hogs, 157 in number are unsurpassed in quality, and the teams, tools, and machines are in good order. The management of the farm, as well as the care of inmates, is faultless, and reflects credit upon the superintendent and lady, to whom the board cheerfully accord the same, without a dissenting voice. The apartments for the poor are clean, airy, and comfortable, as well as their clothing and food ('airy ' clothes may be all right in summer, but 'airy' food is rather 'thiu '); their discipline is good,-all iu keeping with the times in which we live."
Bright as this picture is, it appeared still more so when com- pared with the gloom caused by other public affairs. A strong suspicion had gained ground that the accounts of Circuit Clerk Harrison were crooked. Resolutions to investigate multiplied, and ended in the appointment of James De Land as committee of one to investigate. W. Z. Dewey reported, about that time, that he had collected $486.25 of old fees, and drew his compen-
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