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 8

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 8

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).

Feet.

Gray shale exposed west of Brigh-

ton .. . 10

Compaet brownish limestone. 6

Brown ealeareous shale. 3

Green and blue argillaceons shale. . 8 to

Coal No. 6. 2}{to

Shaley clay. 11§

Caleareous shale. 6

Clay shale. S to

Limestone and bituminous shale. . 3

Coal No, 5. 3 to

Shaley fine clay. 1

Nodular argillaeeous limestone. . .

Gray shale. . 30

B.tuminous shale. 4

Sandstone and sbale. 40 to 50

Coal No. 1 .2 to 3

Clay shale.

Nodular dark-blue limestone, in

local outcrops. . . 3 to 5

Shale and sandstone 10 to 20

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

The upper beds of this section, in- cluding the two upper coal seams, can be seen in one locality near the town of Brighton. The coal beds in the state of Illinois are numbered from one to twelve, commencing with the lower seam, which is known as No. 1. In the rocks, in immediate connection with each one of these coal seams, are cer- tain fossils that are peculiar to them, generally in the shale, limestone or sandstone that form the roof over the coal. By these fossils, with which any one can with a little study become fa- miliar, the position and proper horizon of each coal vein is ascertained.

The two coal veins, near Brighton, on the eastern side of the county, are known by the associating fossils as Nos. 5 and 6, in the series of veins in the great coal fields in the state. These are the best workable beds in Illinois, being the greatest in thickness, and furnishing the most valuable coal.

These two coal beds both crop out along the eastern portion of the country, and are separated by 20 to 30 feet of shales. They are both underlaid by a calcareous clay shale, passing into lime- stone. The lower bed is overlaid by a brown limestone, which sometimes forms the roof immediately over the coal, or is separated from it by a thin bed of bituminous shale. The coal bed No. 5 furnishes most of the coal mined in the county, as it does in the state. It, no doubt, underlies the greater part of townships 7 and 8, in range 10, and may be found still further west, but so near its outcropping edges its presence is un- certain.

Coal beds Nos. 2, 3 and 4 of the series, seem to be wanting in Jersey county; at

least we have failed to find any evidence of their presence. There is, however, a third coal seam exposed on the Piasa creek, east of Delhi. This coal seam has been opened at various localities along the banks of the creek, and is reached by a shaft on the farm of Silas Bates. The coal varies in thickness from two to three feet, and is overlaid by a few inches of bituminous shale, which passes upward into a brown clay shale. It is underlaid by four or five feet of fire- clay and about 10 feet of sandy shale and sandstone, which lies directly upon the St. Louis limestone. There is no coal seam below this one, and it is prob- ably the lowest of the series, and equiv- alent to No. 1. It is not so good a coal as Nos. 5 and 6.

In sinking a well for the city of Jer- seyville, a few feet of micacious sand- stone was passed through, which, in all probability, belongs to the coal meas- ures. The rocks exposed in the streams north of Jerseyville belong below the coal measures. The irregular borders of the formation, without doubt, run in an northeast direction from that city. There is plenty of coal in Jersey county for the use of the inhabitants. Its easy access, on account of its nearness to the surface, and consequently small outlay for sinking shafts, should make it very cheap to the consumer.

CHESTER LIMESTONE.

Passing below the coal measures, we come directly upon the lower, or sub- carboniferous rocks. In several places about the head branches of Otter creek are exposed thin outliers of the Chester group, which is not more than 15 feet thick. On a branch of Otter creek, near

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

Beatty's Mound, there is a stratum of white sandstone three or four feet thick; below this, several feet of thin-bedded sandstone is seen, which rests on the St. Louis limestone. This sandstone. which, however, is really a silicious limestone, contains many beautiful fos- sils, among which are Retzia vera and Athyris ambigua, familiar forms in the Chester group. At Cooper's quarries, three miles southwest of Jerseyville, the same beds are partly changed into a brown, ferruginous, shaly sandstone, in which are curious nodules of good iron ore. In this formation are found some beautiful pentremites, with a triangular base, and of an undetermined species.

ST. LOUIS LIMESTONE.

This formation seems generally to be the underlying work along the outerop- ping edges of the coal measures. It has considerable development through the central portion of the county, and its maximum thickness probably reaches from a hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. This rock, from its central position, is more generally used than any other rock in the county for building purposes. It has its greater develop- ment on the Piasa, and thins out in the northern part of the county, until it is not more than about thirty feet thick north of Jerseyville. There are many good quarries on the Piasa, and the abutments of the railroad bridge across that stream are built of this rock, from quarries in its vicinity. It out-crops on the farm of James Lamb, and there are excellent quarries both south and west of Beaty's Mound on Otter creek, and at Cooper's quarry, three miles southwest of Jerseyville. It is the underlying

roek beneath the city of Jerseyville, and is sometimes reached in digging deep wells in that locality. In the lower part of this formation in Jersey county there is a bluish, dove colored hydraulic limestone, which is as soft in some places as to have the appearance of a bed of blue clay. It out-crops on the Piasa near its mouth, where there is a manufactory for making cement. It is simply burned in a kiln to deprive it of water, and then ground into flour. It makes an excellent cement, and when mixed by water with two-thirds of its bulk of clean sand, will soon harden into a body having the consistency and hardness of rock.

The bed worked at the hydraulic mills is eight feet in thickness. Over- lying the hydraulic limestone is a brown- ish magnesian limestone, in which are found Orthis dubia, spirifer lateralis, and a beautiful little pentremite peculiar to this formation. This hydraulic lime- stone seems to be present wherever the St. Louis limestone is found in the county. Beds of it are exposed near Beaty's Mound, and it underlies the city of Jerseyville, where we have seen it brought up from the bottom of wells that were less than a hundred feet in depth. The western limits of the St. Louis group in Jersey county, would form an irregular line running from the Mississippi about midway between the mouth of the Piasa and the town of Elsah, north, one mile west of Beaty's Mound, thence to Macoupin creek. Five miles above Grafton the St. Louis lime- stone is found, forming a part of the river bluff. It is not, however, in its original position, but seems to have been thrown down by the dislocation of

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

the strata caused by the upheaval of the Cap au Grey axis, which crosses the Illinois river a short distance above. These rocks at Dinsmore's lime kiln resemble the upper beds at Alton, and makeexcellent lime. This bed of rocks will, at some future day, be a great source of revenue to the people of the county.

KEOKUK LIMESTONE.

This group underlies the St. Louis limestone, and has a thickness in this county of about 150 feet. It is gener- ally thin bedded, seldom affording strata more than a foot in thiekness. Almost the entire thickness of these rocks can be seen in the Mississippi bluffs above the mouth of Piasa creek. Fine exposures are also to be seen on Otter ereek and its affluents, between Jerseyville and Graf- ton. The rocks on Otter creek at the iron bridge, for a half a mile above and a mile below, belong to this group; it is also exposed on the Maeoupin, north- west of Jerseyville. The rocks of this group are not near as valuable as the St. Louis limestone, being shaly, thin bed- ded, easily broken, and liable to erumble on exposure. It was formerly used to some extent in walling cellars and wells, for which purpose, as well as for found- ation walls, it answers very well.

One peculiarity of this group of rocks, is its beds of geodes, which occur in the shaly limestone strata, sometimes so thiekly disposed as to press against one another. Many of them are hollow spheres of quartz or chalcedony, with their interior cavity lined with beauti- ful crystal of quartz, caleite, dolomite, gypsum, aragonite, pyrites, pearl spar, silicate of alumina, and many other minerals in a crystalline form. It is

said that there is no formation in the state that presents such attractive and interesting specimens of crystallized minerals, as are to be found in the geode beds of the Keokuk limestone.

On some of the hranches of Otter creek after a severe rain storm, hun- dreds of these geodes can be seen lying loose in the bed of the stream. The Keokuk rocks are noted for their fossils, and the beds of this formation in this county are rich with the remains of an- cient life. Fossil shells, eorals, enerin- ites and bryozoans of many beautiful and varied forms are abundant. Among the fossil shells, the most common are Spirifer Keokuk, S. euspidatus, Pro- ductus puntatus and Platyceras equilet- era. Of the corals, the most abundant are Zaphrentes Dalii, Sphenopolerium, obtusum. Of the bryozoans, the curious screw shaped Archimedes Owenana is most common. A familiar acquaintance with the specific of the above named fossils, will enable anyone to identify the Keokuk rocks wherever they may be observed. Forty-eight species of fossil fish have been determined from this group, and are figured in the state reports. The temple at Nauvoo was built of this stone.

BURLINGTON LIMESTONE.

This group of rocks lies below the Keokuk limestone, from which it is separated in this county by cherty lay- ers of considerable thickness, and which form beds of passage from one limestone formation to another. On the farm of Mr. Wm. MeAdams, on Otter creek, a good section of this chert bed, some 20 feet in thickness, can be seen with the overlying Keokuk beds,

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

and beneath it the fossiliferous beds of the Burlington limestone. It is an excel- lent locality for the student of geology to see a plain line of demareation sepa- , rating two periods.

The Burlington strata below the chert is a heavy bedded, light grey erinoidal limestone, largely composed of the re- mains of crinoidea, interspersed with shells and corals that must have grown in remarkable abundanee in that ancient quiet sea. In the formation of the ehert bed these conditions seem to have been changed the exuberance of life is wanting the few fossils in the chert bed plainly showing the terrible struggle during an age of convulsions, for existence. The shaly beds of the Keokuk group, above the chert, show plainly that dif- ferent conditions were ushered; the con- vulsions ceased, the storms gradually subsided, new forms of life, strange and beautiful, came slowly in the new seas, and the wonderful process of creation was continued.

The cleavage of the Burlington lime- stone is generally through the joints of the crinoidea, which gives the fresh- ly-broken surface a crystalline appear- ance. The thickness of this group in the county is about 200 feet. The for- mation of these roeks seems to have been subjeet, at different times, to dis- turbing influences of the elements, al- ternating with periods of tranquility, and cherty bands are interspersed through the formation, causing much of the strata to be easily broken into sharp, angular fragments, and is useless for building purposes. There is, however, some good building roek in this forma- tion in the county.

At Elsah, the river bluff is entirely

composed of this limestone, and is, in one place. 190 to 200 feet high. The for- mation is exposed at the head of the hollow through which the road leads out from Grafton to Jerseyville. It is also seen where the Jerseyville and Grafton road crosses the south branch of Otter creek. Fine exposures of rock in the ravines west of Otterville, on the poor farm and in the bluffs and ravines near Fieldon. Among the fossils, those generally seen are Euomphalus latus, Spirifer Grimesi, Orthis Michelini, with Actino crinus turbanatus, and many beautiful and singular crinoids.

The Burlington rocks forming the bluffs on the Mississippi river in this county, form perpendicular eliffs nearly 200 feet high. These being eapped by 40 or 50 feet of loess, makes the entire elevation from 225 to 250 feet high. From the river they present a pic- turesque and beautiful appearance, the whole formation being weathered and worn into straight columns and but- tresses that, at a distance, have the ap- pearance of being the ruins of some old feudal castle, with towers and bastions and buttressed walls.

KINDERHOOK LIMESTONE.

This formation forms the basis of the lower carboniferous limestone series in this county, and rests directly on shales belonging to the Devonian epoch. Be- tween Elsah and Grafton, where this group is exposed in the bluff, it seems to be about 100 feet in thickness. It consists of thin-bedded, ash-colored, impure, earthy limestone, with an oc- casional heavy layer of dolomitic lime- stone. At Grafton, up the hollow in which the road runs to the north, the

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

formation is represented by 50 feet or more of gray, impure limestone, some- times magnesian, with marly partings between the beds. These beds contain nodules of crystallized carbonate of limestone, with a silicious crust, re- sembling geodes in appearance, but hav- ing no cavity within. At Grafton, in the Kinderhook, which overlies the up- per quarries, there is a heavy-bedded, bluish, compact limestone, called by Prof. Swallow, in Missouri, lithographic limestone, from its general resemblance to the celebrated German stone used in lithography. The Missouri lithographic limestone, in all probability, occupies the same horizon as these compact beds of the Kinderhook in this county. This rock breaks with a smooth, conchoidal fracture, and from its compactness and fine texture would, no doubt, receive a high polish. Fossils are found in this group, but not in such abundance as in the Keokuk and Burlington.

BLACK SLATE.

The Devonian system is not very ex- tensively developed in Jersey county, the whole extent probably not exceeding 40 or 50 feet. It is divided into two groups, the first of which is known by tke name of black slate. This group comprises a series of dark-blue, green or chocolate-colored shales, which pass locally into a black bituminous shale, from which it derives its name, which was given to it by early investigators of western geology. In the deep hollow going north from Grafton, this forma- tion can be seen on the eastern slope, of a deep blue color, and somewhat re- sembles the hydraulie limestone of the St. Louis, but is without its constitu-

ents, being a shale. In this same hol- low the black slate changes its local color from blue to a greenish, brownish hued shale. In Graham's hollow, five miles northwest of Grafton, this forma -. tion is a black shale, highly bituminous. On Otter creek, near the bluffs, in the lateral branches, we find exposures of this formation. These black shales have a resemblance in color to coal, and at a distance has very much the appearance of an outcropping seam of fine bituminous coal. This has lead many people to believe that coal existed in this locality, and mueh search has been made, and money and time expended uselessly. This forma- tion occupies the horizon of the great oil producing zone of Ohio and Penn- sylvania, but the bituminous beds of this county are not thick enough to promise any considerable yield of oil. The exposures of this formation extend in this county only from Grafton to the mouth of Otter creek, the lines of the outcropping group becoming shorter and narrower as we approach the center of the upheaval.

HAMILTON LIMESTONE.

This group also belongs to the Devo- nian, and together with the black slate comprises all the deposits of that sys- tem in the county. It may be proper to state here, that the scareity of fossils from the black slate makes it question- able whether it belongs to the Lower carboniferous series, or to the Devo- nian. There seems to be a plain line between the black slate and the Hamil- ton group; indeed, the line of demar- cation is more plainly observable than between the black slate and the Kinder-

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

hook. There is found a Lingula in the black slate that is identical with the Lingula found in the Devonian in other states, and its stratagraphieal position would seem to place it in the Devonian.

The Hamilton limestone furnishes many fossils characteristic of the De- vonian system. A thin strata of the group exposed in Graham's hollow, a few miles north west of Grafton, is liter- ally made of the fossil inhabitants of that old Devonian sea. Some of these fossils are very perfect. Slabs of this fossiliferous strata make beautiful cabi- net specimens. In some of the deep ravines, near the mouth of Otter creek, many of these fossils are weathered out, and can be picked up among the debris. In this locality corals are seen in re- markable profusion; there being at one time, possibly, a coral reef in the shal- low Devonian ocean. The fossil most characteristic of the Devonian rocks of Jersey and Calhoun counties is a coral of the genus Heliophyllum, of these is one or more of the undescribed species. These Heliophyllums are called by some of the local collectors, "petrified cows horns," and in fact they greatly resemble a short, thick, curved cow's horn. The Hamilton in this locality is almost merged into a sandstone, is quite soft, and the fossils are easily weath- ered out, making the vicinity a most excellent one for collecting cabinet spe- cimens. The Hamilton is exposed in a narrow belt in the ravines and creeks between Grafton and the mouth of Otter ereek. It is not more than 10 or 15 feet in thickness in the county. In Gra- ham's hollow, a few miles from Grafton, this formation is saturated with petro- leum. Upon taking a portion of the

rock, freshly broken from the bed, it has the smell of coal oil, and the petro- leum can be seen filling the cavities in the rock. At two or three points in this locality borings have been made through black slate, Hamilton limestone, and some distance into the Niagara rocks below, in search of oil, but no paying quantities were discovered. These rocks are, however, in the same horizon as the petroleum districts of Pennsylva- nia and Ohio. The unmistakable pres- ence of petroleum in the upheaval and outcropping edges of this system, in its limited exposure in the county, is sigui- ficant at least. All the rocks of the county have a strong inclination down- ward toward the northeast, on account of the upheaval mentioned at the begin- ning of this chapter. If these rocks were tapped by boring on the eastern side of the county, where the rocks lie conformable and in a horizontal posi- tion, who knows but that coal oil may be found in quantities?

NIAGARA LIMESTONE.

Underlying the Devonian system of rocks in Jersey county is the Niagara group of the Upper Silurian system. This group of rocks is important, from the great value of its material as a building stone. This formation is well exposed in the deep hollows and ray- ines, from the mouth of Otter creek to the town of Grafton, where it forms the principal part of the bluff on the Missis- sippi.

A mile below Grafton it disappears beneath the bed of the river, and we believe is seen no more in Southern Il- linois. It has.a thickness in this county of about 120 or 125 feet, and is a

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

buff-colored dolomitic limestone, in regular beds, which vary in thickness from four inches to three feet. At Grafton the group is very evenly bed- ded, and dimension rock, almost any required size, can be easily obtained from the quarries, which are situated directly on the bank of the Mississippi river, with the very best shipping fa- cilities. The rock has a firm, even texture, euts easily when freshly quar- ried, and can be readily worked into forms for ornamental purposes. It hardens on exposure, and is remarkably free from chert or deleterious material. Beautiful fossils are found in the quar- ries at Grafton, the most abundant of which is a trilobite, Calymene Bluman bachii, and a large multivalve shell, Orthoceras Annulatum. There are six or seven species of these eurious erus- taceans, known as trilobites, some of them very large. There are also sev- eral species of orthoceras, with bivalve shells, cronoids and corals. These fos- sils, especially the trilobites, are found in great perfection, apparently in exact positions as when living; in some in- stanees a mark is left behind them, ap- parently the track of their travels, the whole indicating a sudden death. The crevices and apertures, caused by the shrinkage in the strata in this forma- tion, often contain the most beautiful stalactites, or a beautiful enerustation of stalagmite on the floors and sides of the caverns. Fine crystals of caleyte are frequently met with. This forma- tion contains the most valuable build- ing stone to be found in the state, and are a source of wealth to the owners of the quarries. Some of the finest build- ings erected in St. Louis had their wall

made from stone taken from the Grafton quarries, among them the Lindell and Southern hotels.

CINCINNATI LIMESTONE.

This group of the Lower Silurian system is represented in the county by 40 or 50 feet of agillaceous shales. It appears to be mainly a soft, bluish elay shale, that weathers on exposure about where it outerops, to a pure elay, that apparently might be suitable for a pot- ter's clay. This elay has somewhat the appearance of some of the fire clays of the coal measures, but has not the same consisteney. It is filled with innumer- able small, laneet shaped crystals of gypsum or phosphate of lime. Many of the crystals are double; some are half an inch in length, perfectly trans- parent, and exactly resemble the point of a physician's lanee. Many of the crystals are found adhering together, forming curiously complicated groups. Great numbers of these crystals are seen wherever we have seen these elay shales weathering out in the county. No analysis of the crystals or the clay has ever been made to our knowledge. They may prove to be of commercial value. The outerop extends from Ma- son's landing, or Upper Grafton, where the blue clay is exposed at the base of the old quarry baek of the mill, to within a short distance of Coon creek. Although this formation furnishes char- aeteristic fossils in adjoining counties, we have found but few in Jersey, enough however to know it occupies the same horizon.

TRENTON LIMESTONE.

This group of the Lower Silurian roeks

HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY.

has a limited outerop in the county. It is well exposed on the farm of S. P. Dinsmore, and extends in a northeast direction less than a mile, and is mostly confined to section 9, T. 6, R. 13. 40 to 50 feet of this formation is to be seen in this locality. The rock is thin-bed- ded, compact, and of a light-gray or white eolor, splitting casily, with un- even cleavage. It has been quarried and burned for lime, of which it makes a good quality, but not equal to that

made from the St. Louis limestone. It is filled with the peculiar and charac- teristie fossils of the Lower Silurian age. Among those most familiar are Orthis testudinaria, Spirifer lynx, Strophome- na alternata, S. deltoidea, two or three species of Pleurotomaria, Orthoceratites, and a large specie of Receptaculites, or " sunflower coral," with remains of tri- lobites and crinoidea.

The Trenton is the oldest formation of which Jersey county can boast.

CHAPTER IV.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

To the reader of local history, this chapter is of general interest, but to the pioneer himself it is more. Here he has himself, and friends and neighbors, as in days past they first sought out the western wilds and fought for existence in the wilderness. See him, as he takes the book in hand, slowly, critically pore- ing over every word, recalling in his mind the pictures of a vanished past at the mention of some well-known name. or smiling as recollection brings back some ludicrous adventure in the early days of his settlement. His old associ- ations, the trials and tribulations inci- dent to a new country, the battles against hunger and cold while settlers were seattered thinly over a large ex-

panse of country. All these rise up be- fore him as he reads. Even now, in memory, he hears the wind moan round the humble cottage that first sheltered him, and hears the wolves howl as they did in days of yore. The picture of the past rises up vividly before him, and he once more rejoices in the pride of youth. Now the thought comes over him that by and through his efforts he has helped to make this wilderness blossom as the rose, and emerge from a state of na- ture into a well developed and thrifty land, and views with satisfaction the growing towns and villages .and fertile farms that dot the landscape over. But, perhaps the brow will cloud and the eye dim as memory's mystic voice recalls

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 8

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