History of Fulton county, Illinois, Part 16

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Peoria : C.C. Chapman & co.
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Illinois > Fulton County > History of Fulton county, Illinois > Part 16

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arrived in the county he found besides Mr. Davison a man by the name of Statler. This individual was living in a rude boat floating on the bosom of Spoon river about where Waterford is now situated. He shortly afterwards left the country, and nothing more is known of him. At this time, it must be remembered, this county was a part of Pike county, but it did not long so remain.

A saw-mill was erected by a St. Louis firm, Craig & Savage, on Otter creek, in Kerton township, in 1818. This firm had sawed a a part of their first log when a sudden rise in the stream carried their mill away, and the site was abandoned. This perhaps was the first enterprise undertaken in the Military Tract.

Ossian M. Ross .- John Eveland had scarcely got snugly settled in his new home on the banks of Spoon river ere Ossian M. Ross and-family came in to be his neighbors, and to wield a greater influ- ence in molding and forming the history of the county perhaps than any other family that ever resided in it. Ossian M. Ross was born in New York State Aug. 16, 1790, and was united in marriage with Miss Mary Winans in Waterloo, N. Y., July 7, 1811. Mrs. Ross was born April 1, 1793, in Morris county, N. J. Mr. Ross was a soldier in the war of 1812, and came to this section to secure the land given him by Government for services rendered as a soldier. In 1820 Mr. Ross with his family came to Alton, Ill., and in the spring of the following year (1821), with his family and a few men employed by him to make improvements, sailed up the Illinois river to Otter creek in a keel-boat. It was his intention to locate upon the southeast quarter of section 29, Isabel township. Ho with three companions came up from AAlton the year previous (1820), ex- plored this country, and selected this place because there was a good mill-seat there. It was his intention to erect a water-mill on this stream at that point ; but after traveling up Otter creek for some distance in their cumbersome keel-boat they came to a large trec fallen across the stream, which made a barrier that could not be passed over or around. These sturdy pioneers, however, were not easily turned from their course. They made preparations to saw the log into pieces and remove it. This scheme was frustrat- ed, however, and the whole course of Mr. Ross' plans changed. A heavy rain fell during the night, and in the morning the log they intended sawing was six to eight inches under water and therefore out of reach of workmen. He ran his boat stern foremost back down Otter creek to the Illinois, and up that stream to Spoon river. He entered this stream and started up its swift swollen waters for Mr. Eveland's, intending to go on to where he owned three quarter- sections of land. They experienced the greatest difficulty in ascend- ing this turbulent stream, made so by reeent heavy rains. It consumed several days of constant hard labor to reach Eveland's. At places men were put upon the bank and with ropes dragged the boat along. This was slow motive power and known as cordelling. Then they would get hold of the overhanging limbs of trees and

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pull the boat along in that way. They finally reached Eveland's, in whose cabin the party was welcomed. There they remained un- til his teams and stock arrived. These were brought across the country. Mr. Ross with his teams then started for his own land, where Lewistown now is. Men were sent ahead to cut down trees and clear a road. On arriving at the end of the journey Mr. Ross jubilantly exclaimed to his family, " We are now on our own land." His daughter, Mrs. Steel, of Canton, who was then a little girl, quickly spoke up, "Why, pa, have we come all this distance just for this?" Nothing but a vast wilderness was spread out before them and the little girl expected to find something wonderfully fine, else they would not have endured all the hardships that had befallen them on their long journey. There have been many hearts made sad by the disappointment received on their arrival into this county during its first settlement when, after traveling for weeks through an al- most unbroken country, the husband and father would stop his jaded team under the boughs of a large tree many miles from the nearest white inhabitant and say, "Our journey's end is reached. This is our home. Alight." Surely, as it did to little Miss Ross, it must have seemed to the wife and little ones that they had come a long way to make their home in the wilderness among the wild beasts.

In twenty-four hours after arrival Mr. Ross had a shelter made for his family. It consisted of poles set in the ground tent fashion and other poles laid across these and covered with bark. Harvey L. Ross, his son, says he distinctly remembers helping carry bark to cover this shanty. Mr. Ross immediately set about building a log cabin, which was located where Major Newton Walker's residence now stands. He was so well pleased with the location of his land that he determined to lay off a town, which he did, and secured for it the county-seat for the county of Fulton when it was organized.

Among those who came with Mr. Ross were Mr. Nimon and wife. He was a blacksmith and lived here a long time. Mr. Ross also brought with him a shoemaker by the name of Swetling. He and Nimon died many years ago, and were buried in the eastern part of Lewistown near where the old Presbyterian church stood, which was the first burying ground in the county.

Fenner Brothers .- Hon. L. W. Ross tells us that when they came to the county there were two brothers, Roswell and Reuben, by the name of Fenner, living at Eveland's. We find frequent mention made of these pioneers in the earliest records of the county. They were both unmarried men when they came to the county, but did not long remain so. A few years afterwards one of them was ar- rested .for whipping his wife. Judge Stephen Phelps, of Lewis- town, defended him, and declared that according to law and the scriptures a man had a right to chastise his wife.

The Sergeants and Barnes .- Theodore Sergeant, his brother, Charles Sergeant, David W. Barnes and William Blanchard, vet- crans of the war of 1812, at their discharge determined to come

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west. From Detroit, Mich., they went to Fort Wayne, whence they journeyed in a canoe to Vincennes, thence to St. Louis. From there they came up the Illinois in a keel-boat, manned by a fishing crew, and commanded by a man named Warner. They landed at Ft. Clark, now Peoria, in the spring of 1819. Crossing the river to what is known as the bottom lands they found a cleared spot, and with such tools as they could arrange from wood put in a patch of corn and potatoes. This land is now embodied in Fond du Lac township, Tazewell county. Looking farther down they found an old French field of about ten aeres, upon which they erected a rude habitation. This was the first settlement between Ft. Clark and vicinity and Chicago, and theirs was the first dwelling erected.

These daring explorers were looking up the "bounty land" Con- gress had given them, which was in the Military Tract. Learning the location of his land Sergeant soon made a trip to Fulton county to look at it. He found it to be located in the breaks on Big creek, several miles south of Canton. This was not a desirable location. He reported to his companions, however, that there were fine lands, good timber and plenty of water a few miles north of his land, and advised them to come and settle there. Accordingly, in 1821, Charles and Theodore and D. W. Barnes came to Fulton county and made a temporary settlement near the mouth of Spoon river. In 1830 Blanchard moved to Woodford county, where he yet resides.

Theodore and Charles Sergeant, John Pixley and Henry Andrews lived with D. W. Barnes at Ft. Clark ( now Peoria). The latter, a brother-in-law of Barnes, had lost both his parents while living at Ft. Clark. Pixley had served in the war of 1812, and was a brave, daring man. One day a stalwart Indian in boasting of his bravery, of having killed men, women and children, said he had once taken a little child by the heels and beat its brains out on the corner of a cabin. He boasted thus to Pixley and others and told how the little creature raised its hands, quivering. This the brutal savage thought showed bravery. There were two hundred Indians around and but eight white men; but this did not deter the plucky Pixley from giving the Indian a good whipping. He had bought a rawhide, at St. Louis, and when the Indian finished his story he took the rawhide down from between the clapboards of the roof of their cabin, and lit upon the Indian and threshed him till the blood spurted from his mouth. He flogged him most severely, and so fearless and reso- lute was he that not an Indian raised an objection.

While Mr. Barnes and his companions lived at Ft. Clark the In- dians threatened to kill the whites during a certain moon. The In- dians then reckoned time by moons. If they owed a debt it was dne at a certain moon. The Indians being offended determined to kill the whites. There were but eight or ten men, mostly young soldiers of the war of 1812, to protect the women and children. The moon arrived and a slaughter was expected. The women and

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children were put in Barnes' eabin and the latch string pulled in, while the men with their trusty rifles stood outside. They sent word for the Indians to come on, but their courage subsided before the superior courage of the whites.

Barnes with his family came on to Lewistown and became the neighbor of O. M. Ross. While living at this place Mr. Barnes hauled a load of salt from the mouth of Spoon river, where the river craft had frozen up, to Ft. Clark. This was a perfectly wild country and of course no roads. He made this trip, which con- sumed several days, and in remuneration received one bushel of salt. This was a most precious article at that time, and indeed for many years afterwards.

While residing at Lewistown the Indians would steal his pota- toes and everything else they could get their hands upon. One night while an Indian was stealing his potatoes he was attacked by their watch dog, which tore from his blanket a small piece. This was a clue for Mr. Barnes to use in finding the thief. He took the piece and went among the Indians, and finally found a red man with a blanket that had in it a hole the size and shape of the piece he had. This brave he concluded was the thief, which he proved to be.

Mr. Barnes soon left Lewistown and located two and a half miles north of the present city of Canton. He traded 80 acres of land he owned in the upper part of Lewistown for the 160 acres he located upon in Canton township. He made this trade because he was get- ting crowded at Lewistown and all was a vast wilderness at Canton. Mr. Henry Andrews remembers very distinctly this move. He was a small boy and ran along in the Indian trail behind the wagon, and got so far behind at one time that he became very much frightened lest he be left. He also remembers very distinctly the time two In- dians came to their cabin shortly after they had settled in their new home, to stay all night. They were traveling toward Chicago, and it being in the fall of the year the weather was cool and they did not like to sleep out in the cold if they could get a cabin to rest in. Barnes' cabin contained only one room, yet they permitted the two red men to stay with them. They alighted from their ponies, gave Mrs. Barnes, the chomokoman's wife as they called her, a quar- ter of a deer and passed into the house. They set their guns up in the corner, hung up their bullet pouch, tomahawk, and scalping knives, and lay down before the large fire-place. They ent off a large piece of venison, put it on a stiek and fixed it before the fire. During the night they would occasionally turn it, thus cooking it thoroughly. This they intended should last them several days. We fear there are few of the present day who would permit two tramps to sleep in the same room they do even withont all the implements of death at hand, as these Indians had. They might have arisen and murdered the entire household, and many days, perhaps months have elapsed before any other white man would have known of it.

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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY.

Those pioneers were fearless and had much more confidence in their red neighbors than we are wont to believe.

Mr. Barnes lived on the very frontier. His was the last cabin travelers passed on the road to Ft. Clark and the first they met go- ing south. It was therefore a stopping place for travelers going both ways. Judge Stephen Phelps, who was living at Lewistown, was traveling toward Chicago. With him were his wife and daughter. They stopped for the night at Barnes' cabin. The cabin was small and the night warm, and Miss Emily Phelps, the daughter, took her blanket out doors and spread it under the boughs of a tree and passed the night alone in the forest. There are but few of the young ladies of to-day who would not shrink from making their bed in such a spot.

When Mr. Barnes left Lewistown he also left the only blacksmith · shop in this whole region of country. Mr. Henry Andrews tells us he remembers Mr. Barnes shouldering up the plowshare of his large prairie breaking plow and going with it, on foot, to Lewistown to the blacksmith shop.

It may seem strange, but the very earliest settlers suffered from want of meat. The Indians had driven game almost entirely away and the wild hog had not yet appeared. Mr. Andrews tells us that a lady at Lewistown ( they were known as neighbors then, although fifteen miles away ) sent to one of their neighbors at Canton one- half of a brant. Meat was then a great luxury, and this piece of fowl Mr. Andrews says seemed to be worth an ox. It, though so small, was divided among the settlers at Canton. He also tells us he went to a neighbor's on a visit at one time and the only food set before him, or the family, was boiled potatoes and salt, and this latter article was very searce. He also says that during the first settlement of this county men wore moccasins and buckskin pants and shirts and coonskin caps almost altogether. If they had a cot- ton or woolen shirt it was worn only on important occasions. When Eliza Andrews, a sister of Henry Andrews, died, they had no lumber out of which to make a coffin, but dng a receptacle for the body ont of a log.

During the great Galena-lead-mines excitement in 1827 Mr. Barnes went to Galena. He did not remain long but returned to his home near Canton.

Sergeant's Wedding .- Barnes was the only married man in the party (from Fort Clark) and Sergeant lived with Barnes un- til his marriage, Nov. 5, 1824, when he was nited with Miss Mary Brown. This was one of the earliest weddings of the county, and the following interesting description of it was fur- nished Mr. Swan by Henry Andrews, a member of the wedding party :

" This wedding was a great event in the Barnes neigh- borhood. It occurred at the cabin of Daniel Brown, the father of the bride. All the neighbors were invited, and probably all were

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assembled in the cabin ; still, though small, it was not nearly full. The bride was gorgeously appareled in a checked linsey homespun dress, a three-cornered handkerchief about her neck, and her feet encased in moccasins. The groom also wore moccasins, and a full suit of new linsey, colored with butternut bark. The guests were dressed much the same and were seated upon puncheon benches around the sides of the cabin. Captain Barnes, at that time County Commissioner, performed the marriage ceremony with due and be- coming dignity. At the conclusion of the ceremony all the gentle- men present saluted the bride. When this ceremony was com- pleted, old Mr. Brown produced a 'noggin' of whisky and a bran-new tin enp-then considered a very aristocratie drinking-ves- sel-and passed the customary beverage to all present. All drank from the eup, filling it from the 'noggin' when empty, and passing it from hand to hand until again empty. The liquor soon began to make the guests merry, and jokes and songs were considered to be in order. George Matthews, a gay old bachelor, was considered a fine ballad-singer, and sang a song that would scarcely be considered appropriate on a festive occasion at this day. Mr. Andrews gives from memory two verses of the ballad :

" There's the silly old man Of a hundred and twenty, Who pines on his riches, Though stores he has plenty.

" He'll exchange all his riches, His lands and his rents, For a worm-eaten coffin, A hundred years hence.

" This song was vigorously applauded, and was followed by sev- eral others of the same sort. The party dispersed about eleven o'clock."

Sergeant would have been united in marriage sooner than he was, and then would have been the first man married in the county "had the old lady been willin'." He made a proposal for the hand of the lady for whom it is claimed the honor of being the first woman married in the county. We take his story of his proposal from Swan's Canton History :

" I had made up my mind that I ought to have a housekeeper, and accordingly had my eve out for one. Somehow I heard that there was an old lady living down toward the mouth of Spoon riv- er by the name of Wentworth, who had some gals that wanted to marry ; so I concluded I would go down and sce about it. I did so, and on arriving there at once made my business known to old Mrs. Wentworth. The old lady looked me over, with the air of a judge of the article she wanted, and began her catechism by asking me what I followed, my age, and where I was from. I told her that I was twenty-nine years old, had been five years a soldier, and thought I could manage a wife; that I was from Barnes' settlement, was

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opening a farm, and wanted a gal to help me pull through the start. The old lady shook her head and informed me that I would not suit . her gals, as she had made up her mind that they should all marry store-keepers. I told her, if that was the case I reekoned her gals would not suit me, as I wanted one that would pull with me on the start. Sergeant returned to Canton from this unsuccessful wooing, and reported the result to the few young men in that part of the county. They at once determined to get even with the family whose notions were so aristocratic. There was an occasional peddler, named Clark, who came through the county on horseback, carrying needles, thread and other small wares in a sack, dividing his stock into equal proportions and balancing it over his saddle. This Clark was the first peddler who visited the county. Clark was not a man of much force of character, and it was determined to send him after the Wentworth girls. He readily acceded to the proposition, and soon visited Mrs. W. In reply to her interrogations, Clark in- formed the old lady that he resided in Peoria, and sold goods for a livelihood. This filled the old lady's bill, and she at onee gave her daughter to Clark in marriage; and Sergeant thinks theirs was the first wedding celebrated in the county. It took place a few weeks prior to Sergeant's wedding.

"George S. McConnell, however, relates an incident connected with the first court held in the county, and the spring or early sum- mer of the same year, which establishes the fact that Clark's could not have been the first wedding, as at that court a couple were di- vorced, the woman being a sister of the Tottens, and the same night the divorced woman was married to one of the jurors, by the name of Williams, who had tried the cause."

" When my commission comes."-The following certificate whether true or not is certainly rich. It was published in a history of Illi- nois as early as 1837, and the author of that claims to have copied it from a history of Peoria county. It therefore is nothing new, and might be accredited owing to its age if for nothing else. The Jus- tice of the Peace, O. M. R., we suppose was none other than Ossian M. Ross, the well-known founder of Lewistown. We give it with the writer's comments as copied in the old history of 1837, from the History of Peoria county :

"Examining a land title the other day which involved a question of legitimacy, I stumbled upon the following marriage certificate, which is decidedly too good to be lost, and is literally bona fide. The marriage, of which this is the only legal evidence, took place in Cop- peras precinct ( now in Fulton county ), in the infancy of the county, or rather in primitive times, and the magistrate ought to be immor- talized, whether he gets his commission or not :"

STATE OF ILLINOIS, Peoria County

To all the World Greeting :- Know ve, that John Smith and Poly Myers is hereby entitled to go together and do as old folks does anywhere inside of

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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY.

Copperas precinct, and when my commision comes I am to marry 'em good, and date 'em back to kiver accidents.

O. M. R ---- , Justice Peace. [ 1. s. ]

Other Settlers. - In 1822 James and Charles Gardner, with a com- panion, left Sangamon county for Fulton. The party crossed the Illinois river at Peoria, where they found three settlers, John L. Bogardus, Capt. Eads and Aquila Moffatt. They journeyed on and met no other white person until they arrived at Lewistown. They explored the county and found a suitable location on section 34, Isabel township, where they sowed some garden and apple seed. They then returned to Sangamon after their families. They were ferried over the Illinois at Havana by John Eveland. In the spring of 1823 Messrs. Gardner, assisted by a Mr. Higgins, built a flat-boat on the Sangamon river in which they moved to their new homes. During the summer of 1823 the flat-boat was taken for a ferryboat at Havana, and old Mr. Scoville was the first ferryman.

Charles Gardner returned to Sangamon county about twenty years ago and there died. JJames died here a few years ago. Their par- ents, who came with them when they first moved to this county, passed the remainder of their lives here.

Besides these pioneers there were others who came in shortly after- wards. Among these were Robert Reeves, who settled on Reeves' Prairie, Deerfield township, in 1823. William Totten located on Totten's Prairie, Cass township, the same year, and about the same time came Roswell Tyrrell and John Totten, who settled upon the samo section. Thomas Cameron came the following year ( 1824 ). Joshua Moore settled in Joshua township, from whom it received its name, in 1824. He was closely followed in that township by Levi D. Ellis, who in 1823 moved to Ellisville township and was its first settler. Reading Putman settled on section 2, Putman town- ship, in 1828, and Stephen Chase settled in the southern part of the township the same year.

The First Mail Carriers .- Harvey L. Ross, a son of Ossian M. Ross, and now a resident of Macomb, Ill., at the age of 15 years was employed to carry the mail from Springfield to Monmouth, a distance of one hundred and thirty-five miles, making a trip each weck. He would often have to swim streams three or four times each day with the mail-bag strapped across his shoulders. At that time (1832) there was no direct road from Knoxville to Monmouth, a distance of twenty miles, and not a single house between the two points. His only guide along the route was points of timber. He tells us that he still has a vivid recollection of the imminent danger he found himself in one stormy night in January, when in the vi- cinity of the present city of Galesburg he heard a pack of hungry wolves set up a tremendous howling a few rods behind him. It may be imagined that the young hero, in that vast wilderness on a mid-winter night with wild and savage beasts howling on every hand, lost no time in reaching the end of his journey. The only

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postoffices along the route were Springfield, Sangamon Town, New Salem, Havana, Lewistown, Canton, Farmington, Knoxville and Monmouth. Abraham Lincoln, our martyr President, was then postmaster of New Salem, receiving his appointment on the recom- mendation of Ossian M. Ross, who was one of the oldest postmas- ter- in the country, and the only postmaster at that time within the boundaries of the present Mason county. After Harvey L. Ross had carried the mail over that long, dangerous and desolate route for a considerable time, his father let out a part of the route to Ma- lon Winans, an unele of Mr. Ross'. Mr. Winans, who lived at Lewistown, was given that part of the line from Lewistown to Mon- mouth. Winans had a son that he intended to put upon the route, but concluded to go over it himself first that he might make all necessary arrangements for stopping-places. But his first trip was his last, for in attempting to swim Spoon river with the mail-bag strapped to his back he was drowned. This was in 1834 and was the first death to occur in Truro township, Knox county. His body was afterwards found in a drift of wood one-half mile below the crossing. A coffin was made by the settlers by splitting a log lengthwise and hollowing it out, using one part as the body of the coffin and the other part the lid. By these kind but strange hands a grave was dug upon the bank of the river beneath the boughs of a young hickory tree and the body of Mr. Winans placed therein. Upon the trunk of the tree the letters "P. W." were cut and are vis- ible to this day. They made a mistake in the initial of his given name, in making it "P" instead of "M."

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History of Fulton county, Illinois, Part 16

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Peoria : C.C. Chapman & co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Peoria : C.C. Chapman & co.
Number of Pages: 1096