History of Greene and Jersey Counties, Illinois : together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of representative men, History of Illinois, Part 66

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Continental Historical
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Illinois > Greene County > History of Greene and Jersey Counties, Illinois : together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of representative men, History of Illinois > Part 66

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).

town. Sept. 18, 1867, he married Maria A. Tack, daughter of John C. and Henrietta (Miller) Tack. Two child- ren have been born to them-Frank and Walter. Mr. Malotte is a member of the G. A. R., and, politically, a sup- porter of the republican party.

James W. Calhoun was born in Ly- man, Grafton county, N. H., Oct. 19, 1824, and came with his parents, Solo- mon and Rhoda Calhoun, to this eounty in 1833. He followed farming, and in 1849 was married to Lueinda Robbins, nee Crowell. He continued to reside on the farm until 1870, when, on ae- count of the fechle health of his wife, he removed to Jerseyville, and has since been clerking most of the time. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun have one child -Emily L., wife of W. Leigh, who re- sides at Jerseyville.

Patrick Dunphy eame to Jerseyville in 1865, and at first worked on a farm for Hugh N. Cross. Hle then estab- lished a grocery business in Jerseyville which he eontinned till 1877, when he engaged in the saloon business. In 1884 he erected his present building, a brick structure, 26x80 feet, and two sto- ries in height. Patrick Dunphy was turned from the army to Jerseyville , born in county Tipperary, Ireland, and engaged in clerking till 1869. He March 9, 1844. In 1862 his father died, and the same year his mother came to America accompanied by three children, four chileren having preceded her. Six of the family are still living. The mother died in Jerseyville in 1871. When Patrick first came to the United States he worked on a farm in Wiscon- sin, after which he was in the employ of the government at Nashville, Tenn., until 1865. In February, 1867, he was married to Mary Dwyer, of Jerseyville, then became the partner of H. V. Voor- hees in the grocery trade, which they carried on about two years. At the ex- piration of that time Mr. Malotte pur- chased his partner's interest and con- tinued the business until his store was destroyed by fire. He then engaged in building and selling residence property and has done much to improve the west part of the city where he has erected tive of the best dwellings in that part of the

550

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

but a native of Ireland. Six children have been born to them, one of whom died in the third year of his age. Those now living are : Annie, John, Maggie, Katie and Nellie. Mr. Dunphy is a democrat in polities and a member of the Catholic church.

Charles Neumeyer was born in Arns- berg, Westphalia, Prussia, Germany, Oct. 5, 1849. He remained in his native country until 1867, there receiving a good education. Ile then came to the United Scates, and first stopped with his uncle, Louis Poettger, a farmer near Jerseyville. In 1869, he came to Jer- seyville and served as bartender for, P. Leresche, which firm he succeeded in business, in 1875, and still continues the same. In Jan., 1872, he was mar- ried to Anna Seehausen, then of Fieldon, Jersey county, but a native of Ger- many. She is a daughter of J. C. See- hausen. Mr. and Mrs. Neumeyer have one daughter-Julia. IIe is a member of the German Lutheran church, of which he is secretary; and a democrat.

William McAdams, Sr., deceased, was born in Middletown, Butler county, O., April 25, 1809, his parents being Thomas and Elizabeth McAdams. Thos. McAdams was a native of Scotland, and when 16 years of age he immigrated to this country and settled in Philadel- phia. In 1798 he was married to Elizabeth Noble, daughter of James and Rebecca Noble, natives of Pennsyl- vania. By this union there were eight children, four sons and four daughters. Mr. MeAdams enlisted in the war of 1812, as a volunteer, and was taken pris- oner at Detroit. His occupation through life, was farming. In 1833 he died and his wife survived him until the spring

of 1836. William, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the common schools of his native state, and on the 6th of Nov., 1831, married Eliza Farris, oldest child of Joseph and Nancy Farris, whose ancestral descent was Scotch and Irish, and who were among the early settlers of Ohio. This union was blessed with nine children, four sons and five daughters, six of whom are still living-William, Jr., of Alton; Mary Jane, wife of John Anten, of Alton; Charles A., a physician at Wich- ita, Kas .; Lewis Y., of Whitehall; Eleanora and Anna. Mr. McAdams be- gan life as a carpenter but soon changed from that to the mercantile business, he followed about 20 years, or until 1850, when he engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which he continued until his sad and sudden death. In the fall of 1857, he immigrated to Illinois, and settled one mile southwest of Jersey- ville, where he remained until the spring of 1864, when he removed to the farm near Otterville, where he ever afterwards resided. He died very suddenly July 23, 1885, being taken away with heart disease. But a day or two before he was pleasantly greet- ing acquaintances in the city. The high social and financial position he enjoyed was due to his amiability, untiring en- ergy and good management. Any eulo- gy is unnecessary as his merits are so well known, his acquaintance being so extensive, and he was respected by the entire community as an upright, honor- able and public-spirited citizen. He left his family in very comfortable cir- cumstances, having 640 acres of valua- ble land, and a large, two story brick residence in Otterville.

HISTORY

GREENE COUNTY,

ILLINOIS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

Lessening each year, under the re- the bright eye, the firm glance, tell that lentless hand of death, the little band of hardy pioneers, who first broke the way for civilization and planted the broad marks of progress upon the virgin prairies and in the primeval forests of Greene county, are fast passing away, and before they have all been gathered to their rest, let us hasten and gather from their lips the tale of by-gone days, when adventurous pioneers, both men and women, leaving the shelter of the old home and parent roof-tree, pushed out into the then domain of the wild beast, and his scarce less wild brother, the savage redman, and here essayed to carve them out a new home, amid the haunts of nature in her wildest mood.

Their bent forms, their furrowed brows and hoary hair, tell of the fierce battle with trial and hardship-the fight for life with penury and want, but

they have conquered, as only a noble band of heroes could conquer, and they seem spared to sanctify the homes that they have founded in this, to them. pristine wilderness. Their deeds de- serve a place in history, that will long survive the monuments of marble that must soon mark the place where they will be at rest. Let us then gather the details from them before they go, that we may honor them as they deserve. And here let us draw the contrast be- tween the then and now. Although settled at a late date as compared with those of the Atlantic seaboard, this parallel seems startling; those who have lived quietly upon their farms where they settled when they first came here, can hardly realize the change, having seen it grow up so gradually. But like the years of man, the country

554

HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

has been steadily growing on. Seventy years ago, these now productive acres, these rich grazing lands and fertile farms, were lying an almost unbroken wilderness of tree and grass, the hunt- ing ground and often the battle field of the red Indian.

The soil was rich and productive, but what sterling nerve and determination was required to make it a suitable habi- tation for man and to reclaim to the uses of civilization its virgin soil; verily, to turn the back on the older homes of our race, and literally carve out a new one in the bosom of the forest, or upon the wind swept prairie, was no light task. No roads, and few if any trails, and the pioneer was often compelled to go 40 or 50 miles to mill, and happy was he if he had grist to grind at all.

Those days, agricultural and domestic implements were scarce and crude at that, and hard, manual labor replaced them to a great extent. Contrast in your minds the difference between the rude appliances of those early days, O, ye pioneers, with the manifold labor- saving machinery of to-day, both in husbandry, and in household affairs. The bar share with the sulky plow-the harvester with the sickle or scythe- the sewing machine with its more humble sister, the sewingneedle, and so on, through all the long list, and then you can realize the change.

Contrast the rude log school house which served its multiform purpose of school, church, and often the only pub- lic building within the radius of a day's journey, with the elegant and commo- dious churches, school houses and pub- lic buildings of the present day.

In those early days, "that tried men's souls," their nerve and backbone, no handy market was there for the lit- tle surplus farm produce, nor conven- ient store, where could be purchased all that needs called for, but a long journey over a lonely, dreary road, often over 50 or 60 miles, before the pioneer could reach a place advanced enough to boast of a buyer and seller of country produce and merchandise, and his only mode of conveyance, the slow, plodding farm team, and rough lumber wagon. Now the iron horse snorts, almost at the very door, and towns and villages dot the land, bring- ing in their train all the conveniences of civilized life, and all the luxuries of the older home he left in by-gone days.

But of the hardy Argonauts of this portion of the state, but few are in the land of the living, but their memories still are kept green in the recollections of the survivors, and from them has been collected the following annals. None have been intentionally omitted, but all diligence has been given to hunt up the minutest items of interest.

555

HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

CHAPTER II.

GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.

Greene county lies in the southern part of the valley of the Illinois river, near the western border of the state. It is bounded on the north by Scott and Morgan counties, on the east by Ma- coupin, on the south by Jersey, and on the west by like and Calhoun, from which it is separated by the Illinois river. It contains 14 full congressional townships and seven fractional ones, or about equivalent to 16 full townships, or 576 square miles of territory. It is well supplied with running streams that me- ander through its fertile acres in count- less number. The more important of these, besides the Illinois river, which washes its western boundary, are Ma- coupin and Apple creeks. Macoupin creek first enters Greene county, from Macoupin, on the cast line of Sect. 4, in T. 9, R. 10, and flows in a southerly di- rection, passing into Jersey county from section 16; here it takes a westward course, and again enters Greene county on the south line of section 18, of the same township and range, and flows with tortuous course toward the west. through T. 9, R. 11 west, near the west- ern boundary of which it inclines its course more to the southwest; from the southwest corner of T. 9, R. 12, it forms the southern boundary of the county. Apple creek has its headwaters near the northeastern part of the county, and flows with pellucid waters in a general

southwesterly course through the town- ships of Athensville, White Hall, Wrights and Walkerville, and forms the boundary line between White Hall and Carrollton. These streams, with their numerous affluents, drain, and at the same time fertilize the land. Fine springs are abundant in the bluff' country along the river, and where the limestone crops out, and water can be reached almost anywhere by wells of not over 40 feet. Several mineral springs have been discovered. Mr. Clapp, in his excellent history of the county, thus speaks of some of them, which we quote by kind permission: "The old precinct of Mineral Springs, in the northern part of the county, re- ceived its name from fountains of this sort which at one time attracted a great deal of attention. They are situated on the west half of the northwest quarter of Sec. 22, T. 12, R. 11, and were dis- covered soon after the first settlement of the county, by a party who were fol- lowing an Indian trail. Shortly after, in 1825, Gov. Reynolds and a gentle- man named Cook, of Springfield, en- tered the land, believing that the presence of the springs would make the property valuable. For many years people, suffering with various diseases, resorted thither from all parts of the adjacent country to obtain the benefit of the waters and, in many cases, re-

556

HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

ceived immediate relief. Sometimes from 200 to 350 would be camped near the springs at one time. In Oct., 1852, the property was purchased by B. G. Hopkins, having previously been owned by Samuel Hopkins, Abraham Easton and others, who built a large hotel the same year. The main building was 40 feet long by about 30 feet wide, with a commodious L in the rear and a wing 40 feet long on either side of the main building, giving a total front of 120 feet. From this time the springs were very popular. Often more persons applied for board than could be accommodated at the hotel, and the neighboring dwell- ings were frequently filled. Later the property came into the possession of B. MeGlothlen, under whose manage- · ment the springs began to lose their popularity. In 1862, while the hotel was occupied by MeGlothlen and owned by C. G. Simonds, it was burned to the ground. The waters of the springs un- doubtedly have a pronounced medicinal effeet. They are described as being 'strongly diuretic, rather more than slightly cathartic and diaphoretic, a good tonic and appetizer.' Dropsy, rheumatism, kidney complaints, dys- pepsia, and sore eyes are prominent among the ailments they have been known to cure. Just northeast of Greenfield are the Greenfield Springs, which are impregnated with iron, mag- nesia, calcium, and other ingredients. For debilitated persons they act as a tonic, and assist nature in its work of rejuvenating the system. Many stories are told of the successful use of the waters, by persons who came a long distance, suffering with rheumatism, white swellings, fever sores, etc. Many

who have visited Saratoga and the Sul- phur Springs, of Virginia, consider the Greenfield Springs their equal in every regard. An effort was at one time made to establish a watering place here but without success. The town is a pleas- ant one, the scenery delightful, the railroad facilities excellent and the en- terprise may yet be revived. Some three or four miles northeast of .Carroll- ton, on land now owned by Malachi Carmody, there is another natural font of healing, and Parham Thaxton well remembers when as many as 50 people habitnally congregated there on Sunday and spent the day in drinking the waters, and in quiet repose, in the im- mediate neighborhood. A similar spring, on the farm of Thos. Luneen, southeast of Carrollton, just beyond the limits of the city, was much resorted to in years past, and at other points they may be found."

In the matter of timber, Greene county is abundantly supplied with all the trees indigenous to this latitude, and in large quantities, there not being a sin- gle township without its liberal supply of well wooded land. Among the most common kinds are the bass, or linden, red maple, sugar maple, honey locust, persimmon, white ash, white and red elm, cottonwood, black and white wal- nut, shellbark hickory, and post, swamp, white, black, red, pin and shingle oaks with their numerous rela- lives, together with all the smaller va- rieties with which the American forests are so lavishly filled.

The surface of the county is gener- ally of a rolling description, but in the western tier of townships, in the neigh- borhood of the river, and the bluffs

557

HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

that line it, it becomes quite broken and hilly ; the valleys of the smaller streams being from 100 feet to 200 feet below the level of the uplands. As the country proceeds eastward it is of a milder, gentler form, rising and falling in airy undulations like some frozen sea. In the western portion of the county, in the bottom land of the Illinois river, are numerous lakes of all sizes, shapes and forms, but none of them worthy of special mention. The bluff lands are well adapted to the cultivation of fruits, as well as wheat and other cereals, and the soil rich and fertile. The prairies, which are small, are covered with the rich, warm, black, alluvial loam, char- acteristic of the prairies of northern and central Illinois, and whose fecundity and fertility is not surpassed by any land in the world. As an agricultural region Greene county takes a front rank in the galaxy of counties that go to make up this noble State, and its excel- lent railroad facilities and proximity to the great rivers, its rieh and varied min- eral resources, point out a proud and prosperous future.

Several lines of railroad cross the county, each having several stations within its borders, and thus bringing the cities, towns and villages of the county into direct communication with the markets of the world. The R. I. & St. L. branch of the C., B. & Q. R. R. enters the county from the north on Sec. 2, T. 12, R. 12, passing about a mile west of the town of Roodhouse, to White Hall, where it crosses the C., A. & St. L. R. R., thence running south- easterly to Greenfield, and from thence southward, passing out on the south line of T. 10, R. 10. Besides the towns named

above there are several other stations within the limits of the county on this line of road. The C., A., & St. L. R. R. enters the county on the north line of Sec. 5, T. 12, R. 11, and passes through the cities of Roodhouse, White Hall, Carrollton, and the villages ot Berdan and Kane. The Kansas City branch of this road, leaves the main line at Roodhouse, and running west, crosses the Illinois river, on its way to the rising young metropolis of the west.

GEOLOGY.

The following account of the geology of Greene county, is taken from the report of Prof. A. H. Worthen, state geologist. No man was more thor- oughly conversant with the subject, or so able to treat of a matter which he has so exhaustively investigated. No his- tory of the county would be complete without it, and no one so qualified to give it as he. He says:

The geological features of this county are by no means so varied as those pre- sented in the adjoining county of Jer- sey, for the reason that the disturbing influences that have elevated the De- vonian and Silurian beds above the surface, in that county, did not extend into this, and consequently we do not find any beds exposed here below the lower carboniferous limestones. The following vertical section of the several formations in the county will illustrate their thickness and relative position:

Quaternary deposits, all-

vium, loess and drift .. 100 to 120 feet.

Coat measures. :50 to 160

St. Louis limestone. 8 to 40

Keokuk limestone 100 to 125

Burlington limestone. 120 to 150

Kinderhook group. 50 to 60

558

HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

ALLUVIUM.

The principal alluvial deposits in this county are those forming the bot- tom lands on the Illinois river, com- prising a belt from three to five miles in width, and extending the whole length of the county from north to south. These lands are exceedingly fertile, and, are amongst the most val- uable and productive farming lands in the county. The greater portion of these bottom lands are prairie, sufli- «ently elevated to be susceptible of culti- vation and exceedingly productive. Adjacent to the river bluffs, they are elevated entirely above high water mark, and are not subject to overflow from the annual river floods. Belts of heavy timber occupy some portions of these bottom lands, and skirt the small streams by which they are intersected.

LOESS.

This formation is usually confined to the vicinity of the river bluffs, which it caps to the depth of from 40 to 60 feet, and gives origin to the bald, grassy knobs, which forms so notable a feature in the topography of the bluff, both on the Illinois and the Mississippi. It is largely composed of beds of marly sand, which sustains a thick growth of wild grass, and occasionally a stunted growth of oak. It is unconformably to the drift elays below it, and presents its greatest thickness at the river bluffs growing thinner toward the highlands of the adjacent region. It has been formed in the quiet waters of the lakes which once occupied the present valleys of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. These marly beds of loess form an ad- mirable sub-soil, being sufficiently por-

ous to allow a thorough drainage; and where they underlie a gently rolling or tolerably level surface, they form a quick, warm and very productive soil.

DRIFT.

Some few sections of drift may be seen in the bluffs of Bear creek, below Blanchard's coal bank, of 40 to 42 feet in thickness. The lower part is com- posed of bluish colored clays, so gener- ally characteristic of this formation. Large boulders of metamorphic rock are not so abundant in the drift of this re- gion as in many other portions of the state; but a few are found of moderate size, composed of greenstone, porphyry and granite, giving unmistakable evi- dence of their northern origin. Speci- mens of drifted copper and galena are, also, occasionally found in the clay and gravel beds of this region, which cover the whole surface of the county, except the valleys of the streams. These have been transported, also, from the north -- the copper from Lake Superior, and the galena from the lead regions of northern Illinois or Wisconsin, and were transported at the same period and by the same agency that brought the bould- ers of metamorphic rock.

COAL MEASURES.

The coal measures of this county comprise about 150 feet in thickness of sandstones, shales, and thin bands of limestone, including three seams of coal, and comprise all the strata from the horizon of coal No. 6 to the base of the measures, as they are developed in this portion of the state. The sub- joined general section, compiled from many local sections in various parts of

HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

559

the county, will show their general thickness and relative position :

Feet.

Compact brown Imestone 2 to

Bituminous shale.

Coal No. 6 ..

Shaly clay and nodular limestone 8 10 4

Shale . .15 to 20

Bituminous shale. 2 to 3

Coal No. 5. 2 to 3

Arenaceous shale and sandstone. 25 to 30

Bituminous shale, passing to coal No. 3 2 to 3 Sandstone and shale. 40 to 50

Coal No. 1. 2 to 3

Nodular steel gray limestone. 4 to 6

Shale and sandstone, conglomerate ... 15 to 20

153

The only outcrop of the Belleville, or No. 6 eoal, that is found in this county, is on the northeast quarter of See. 36, T. 10, R. 10, just on the county line, between Greene and Macoupin, in the bluff of Hodge's ereek. This bank was owned and worked in 1864, by Thomas Rice, and the seam is here very variable in its thickness, ranging from four to seven feet. The upper part of the seam is considerably mixed with sulphuret of iron, and is only fit for steam purposes; but the middle and lower portions afford a good smith's coal. The seam at this locality dips to the eastward; and this may probably be considered as its most westerly outcrop. There are only a few inches of shaly clay separating the seam from the nod- ular argillaceous limestone below, ex- hibiting here the phenomenon of a heavy seam of coal directly enclosed between beds of marine limestone. The nodular limestone below the coal abounds in fossils at this locality, among which a massive coral, the cha- etetes milliporaceous, is most conspicu- ous. This coral is generally hemisper-

ical in form, and often attains a diame- ter of six to 12 inehes. The limestone also contains many univalve shells be- longing to the genera naticopsis, pleuro- tomaria, loxonema, etc.

The limestone which forms the roof of the coal is a compact, bluish-gray rock, which weathers, on exposure, to a rusty-brown color, and contains pro- ductus longispinus, spirifer lineatus, fusulina, and joints of crinoidea.

Below this coal there is another seam that outcrops on the creek in this vicin- ity. It has not yet been worked to any extent; and no good exposure of it is to be seen, but is reported to be about two feet in thiekness. It is, undoubt- edly, the equivalent of coal No. 5, of the general seetion, and the Howlett coal, near Springfield, but is much thin- ner here than the seam above it. Bassett's eoal, on the southwest quarter of Sec. 27, T. 10, R. 11, is about 18 inches in thickness; and the coal is overlaid, first, by three or four feet of bituminous shale, and this by a septarian limestone, or four feet more in thickness. The coal is underlaid by a blue clay shale, from four to six feet thiek, and this, by a brown sandy shale, passing into sand- stone, which outerops down the ereek for a distance of half a mile or more, and shows a thickness altogether, of 25 or 30 feet. This seam probably over- lies the coal at Tulison's, on Wolf river, as well as that on Birch creek; but that point could not be positively determined. It is probable that it rep- resents coal No. 2 of the general sec- tion. The coal in the seam appears to be of good quality; but it is too thin to be profitably mined at the present time. At many points there is a heavy bed of

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.

History of Greene and Jersey Counties, Illinois : together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of representative men, History of Illinois, Part 66

Author: Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Continental Historical Number of Pages: 1150

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Continental Historical
Number of Pages: 1150