USA > Illinois > Greene County > History of Greene county, Illinois: its past and present > Part 20
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On the southeast quarter of section 36, township 11, range 12, about four miles northeast of Carrollton, a coal seam has been opened on the west fork of Whitaker's Creek, which, with the associated rocks, forms the following section :
L
Brown Sandy Shale
Bituminous Shale ..
IO lo 12 feet. 2 .. Coal
Coal Measures.
1124
Shaly Coal, passing downward into a sandy Conglomerate 10 to 15 44
Band of Iron Ore_ Hydraulic Limestone 4 to
11/2 "
Keokuk Limestone 15 to 20 6
The beds above the bands of iron ore in this section belong to the Coal Measures, and those below to the Lower Carboniferous limestone. It will be observed, in this section, that the St. Louis limestone, upon which the Coal Measures usually rest in this county, is not represented, unless it be by the bed of hydraulic limestone. The Keokuk limestone is well marked, representing the usual characteristics that distinguish it at other localities. The iron ore above the hydraulic limestone is an earthy-brown hematite of good quality. This coal seam is only about
228
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
eighteen inches in thickness. This coal has been opened on the east fork of Whitaker's Creek; and also on Bear's Creek, on Mrs. Blanchard's place, about a mile and a half above the mouth of the creek .. Blanch- ard's coal bank is on the northwest quarter of section 14, township 11, range 11. The coal varies in thickness from two to three feet, and is overlaid by bituminous shale, and massive sandstone. This seam appeared to be the same as Nettle's coal, on Birch Creek. A mile and a half below Blanchard's, the St. Louis limestone is to be seen on the bluffs of the creek; but the intervening beds between the coal and the limestone are not exposed. In sinking the well for the steam mill in Carrollton, a thin seam of coal, about six inches thick, was passed through at a depth of about seventy feet below the surface. Although the Coal Measures underlie nearly all of the eastern half of the county, they com- prise only the horizon of the lower coal seam, over a considerable portion of this area; and, along the extreme western borders of the coal field, even this is too thin at many localities to be worked to advantage, and the eastern range of townships must be mainly relied on for a supply of coal. The measures in this county comprise the whole range of the pro- ductive Coal Measures, as they are developed in this portion of the State ; but the two principal coals, Nos. 5 and 6, only extend a little over the eastern line of the county, and consequently underlie but a very small area in this county, while the lower part of the measures, which underlie all the eastern portion of the county, only have two of the four lower seams developed, and these range in thickness from eighteen to thirty- six inches. The seam at Nettle's mine, on Brush Creek, and at Blanch- ard's, on Bear Creek, are probably the same as the Exeter coal, in Scott County, and Tulison's bank, two miles northeast of White Hall, may be referred to the same horizon. Burrow's coal probably holds a higher position, and perhaps represents either No. 2 or 3 of the general section of the Coal Measures in central and northern Illinois.
St. Louis Limestone .- This formation is quite variable in this county, both as regards its thickness and its lithological characters. On Link's Branch, south of Carrollton, and about a half mile east of the State road from Carrollton to Jerseyville, a fine quarry has been opened in this lime- stone on the lands of Mr. Joseph Stohr, and leased by Mr. Michael Shal- lue. The thickness of the rock at these quarries is about fifteen feet; and the lower ten is a heavy-bedded magnesian limestone, some of the layers being from two to three feet thick. The prevailing colors are light yellowish-gray and brown; and these colors often replace each other in the same stratum. The rock is even-textured, free from chert or other siliceous material, and dresses easily ; and these quarries afford most of the cut stone used at Carrollton. The lowest strata at these quarries appears to be hydraulic limestone, and is about eighteen inches thick. At the crossing of the State road, a half mile further up the creek, the rock is not so even-textured, some of the strata being too hard to dress readily, and others too soft to stand exposure to the atmosphere. The whole thickness of the beds exposed, from the State road to Stohr's quarries, may be estimated from twenty-five to thirty feet. In the upper part of this group, near the State road, there is also another stratum of what appeared to be a hydraulic limestone, about two feet thick. On the road from Carrollton to Turpin's mill, this limestone is found out-
229
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
cropping in the beds of the small creeks that empty into the Macoupin. Turpin's mill is on section 16, township 9, range 11, and the St. Louis limestone is found well exposed on a small branch about a quarter of a mile west of the mill. The lower part of the bed, as it appears at this locality, is a brown arenaceous limestone, while the upper is of a gray and mottled color, and sufficiently pure to be burned for lime, though not a very good material for that purpose. The entire thickness of the beds exposed here is only about fifteen feet. At Thompson 's mill, on the northeast quarter of section 10, township 11, range 11, there is an exposure of about twelve feet of this formation. The up- per four feet is a brown magnesian limestone, and the lower eight feet, an earthy, grayish-brown hydraulic limestone, exactly resembling in appearance the hydraulic layers of this formation at other localities. This is the thickest bed of this kind of rock found in the county ; and, if it should prove on trial to be as good a hydraulic rock as its appearance would indicate, it will become valuable for the manufacture of cement. It is no doubt the equivalent of the hydraulic limestone noticed at the coal mine on the west fork of Whitaker's Creek, and is here nearly twice as thick as at that locality. Fossils are quite scarce in this formation, at nearly every locality examined in this county. Some interesting forms of Bryozoa were obtained at the quarries on Link's Branch, and a fine spec- imen of Conularia, probably C. Verneuiliana, is in the possession of Dr. Farley, of Jerseyville, that was found at this locality.
Keokuk Limestone .- This formation, with the overlying St. Louis limestone, occupies a belt immediately beyond the western borders of the Coal Measures, and intervening between them and the Burlington lime- stone in the vicinity of the river bluffs. This belt is from three to four miles in width ; and the Keokuk limestone, which forms the greatest portion of it, outcrops on the tributaries of Macoupin and Apple Creeks, and on the last named creek itself, a half mile below the bridge, on the main road from Carrollton to White Hall. On the small creek a half mile south of White Hall, the upper part of the Keokuk limestone is found outcropping for a distance of a mile and a half or more on either side of the creek. The rock is here a thin-bedded, cherty, gray limestone, with thin partings of calcareo - argillaceous shale. It seldom affords strata more than six inches thick, and is therefore not a desirable building stone, except for light walls. It affords some characteristic fossils at this locality, among which are Archimedes Owenana, Platyceras equi- latera, Agaricocrinus Americanus, Productus punctatus, Spirifer cus- pidatus, and S. Keokuk. The fossils of this formation are not so numer- ous or so well preserved at the localities examined in this county, as they are in the same beds in Jersey County. On the west fork of Whitaker's Creek, these same beds are exposed, between the coal bank and the mouth of the creek, and afford the same varieties of fossils obtained in the vicinity of White Hall. On Apple Creek, a short distance below the bridge on the Carrollton and White Hall road, the lower beds of this limestone are exposed, affording layers from twelve to eighteen inches thick. No point was found in the county where the whole of this formation could be seen in a single section; and, for a general description of its characteristic features, as well as the determination of its thickness, it is necessary to rely upon the results of local examinations of such portions of the forma-
230
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
tion as could be found exposed in different parts of the county. Its thickness has been estimated approximately, at one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five feet ; but it may be somewhat greater even than that.
Burlington Limestone .- The outcrop of this formation is confined to the western part of the county. It forms the main portion of the river bluffs throughout the whole extent of the county, from north to south, and extends eastward from the bluffs, forming a belt from three to four miles in width. At the south line of the county, where Macoupin Creek intersects the river bluffs, the lower part of this limestone, about seventy feet in thickness, forms the upper part of the bluff, and is underlaid by fifty-four feet of the ash-colored shaly limestones of the Kinderhook group. From this point to the north line of the county, this limestone is seen in a continuous exposure, except where intersected by the valleys of the small streams ; and it often presents mural cliffs of limestone along the face of the bluffs, from seventy-five to a hundred feet in height.
At James J. Eldred's place the limestone measures a hundred feet in thickness, above the road at the foot of the bluff, and is capped by a mound of Loess sixty feet high ; and the bluffs very generally cul- minate in this vicinity in bald knobs, covered only with grass, giving a very picturesque outline to the landscape. The limestone at Eldred's place is a light-gray crinoidal rock, in quite regular beds, with compar- atively but little cherty material, and forms an excellent building stone, which is extensively used not only at this locality, but by wealthy farmers occupying the bottom lands at the foot of these bluffs throughout the county, for dwellings and barns, and also for fences. About half a mile below the county line, between Greene and Scott, the limestone bluffs are about one hundred feet high, and are capped with forty feet of Loess. At this point there is a bench of brown limestone, projecting a few feet beyond the face of the bluff, and only a few feet above the base, that is covered with rude figures, cut upon the surface of the limestone by some of the aboriginal inhabitants of this country. Among these figures are the outlines of a human foot, and also that of a bear, several that were evidently designed to represent the tracks of birds, and others that do not appear to represent any natural object, but seem rather designed to record, in hieroglyphics, some historic or mythological events. These figures were cut upon the surface of the stone with some hard instrument, to the depth of perhaps one sixteenth of an inch. The surface of the stone on which they were engraved, has been worn almost as smooth as glass, probably by the tread of human feet. The bluffs of the Illinois and the adjacent bottoms appear to have been favorite re- sorts of some of the primeval races ; and their rude antiquities, con- sisting of stone axes and knives, discs, flint arrow-heads, and an instru- ment resembling a mason's plummet, made apparently from the compact iron ore of the Iron Mountain in Missouri, are quite common to the counties of Greene, Jersey and Calhoun. Fossils are not very numerous in the Burlington limestone, at the localities examined in this county, but the following species were obtained : Spirifer Grimesi, S. Forbesii, Athyris incrassata, A. lamellosa, Productus punctatus, and Actino- crinus concinnus.
Kinderhook Group .- The upper half of this formation, including a
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
thickness of about fifty feet, may be seen at the point when the Macou- pin intersects the river bluffs. So far as could be seen, it consisted of ash-colored shales and shaly limestone, and afforded no fossils at this locality. Above this point, its outcrop along the bluff is hidden by the talus from the overlying beds.
ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.
Coal .- About one-third of the entire surface of the county is under- laid by the Coal Measures ; and they include the horizon of three or four coal-seams, though but two of these appear to be mined at the present time to any considerable extent. The upper one is the No. 6, or Belle- ville seam, which is only found along the east line of the county on Hodges' Creek. It underlies a very limited area in this county ; and the exposures above named are probably nearly or quite on the western limit of its outcrop. Its line of outcrop indicates that it might be found on Apple Creek, in the vicinity of Athens. It is far the thickest and most valuable seam of coal that is developed in this part of the State, though at points further north the coal immediately below it (No. 5) is equally well developed, and attains an average thickness of about six feet. The lower two seams are comparatively thin, and nowhere exceed about three feet where they have been examined in this county.
No. 6 varies in thickness in this county from four to seven feet ; while the lower seams, of which there are three, vary in thickness from one and a half to three feet. The two lower seams will probably be found to underlie nearly all the eastern portion of the county ; and they will afford an abundant supply of coal for home consumption. The seam that out- crops on Birch Creek is probably the same as that on Tulison's land near White Hall; and it may be mined at almost any point in the eastern part of the county, at a depth varying from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet below the surface. Where it is desirable to mine it at a point where it does not outcrop at the surface, a boring should be first made to ascertain the thickness of the coal and its depth below the surface ; and, when these points are determined, an exact calculation can be made of the ex- pense of opening the mine, and the amount of coal it will afford to a given area. The expense of boring ought not to exceed two dollars a foot for the first one hundred and fifty feet. On Wolf Run and Birch Creek, where the lower seam is exposed, it will average two feet and a half in thickness, and will yield two and a half million tons of coal to the square mile. It is the same as the Exeter coal, in Scott county ; and the coal it affords is better than the average quality, being quite as free from sulphuret of iron, in this county, as the No. 6, or Belleville coal. The seam at Bassett's, on the southwest quarter of section 27, township 10, range 11, appears to be of a local character, and can not be relied on as a productive bed, over a large area of surface.
Clays .- The best clay for the potter's use, and for fire-brick, is the bed under the coal seam on Wolf Run. At some points the clay is from eight to ten feet thick, and outcrops at the surface, at many localities, from one and a half to three miles from White Hall. The thickness of this bed, and its proximity to the railroad, make this one of the most valuable deposits of potter's clay known in the State ; and the near prox- imity of excellent coal, which may often be mined in the same drift with
232
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
the clay, makes this one of the most desirable points for the manufacture of fire-brick or pottery, on a large scale, that can be found in the State. At Blanchard's mine no exposure of the clay under the coal is to be seen, and on Birch Creek the coal seam is underlaid by limestone, below which the beds were not seen ; but in the vicinity of Winchester, and at some other localities in Scott County, the limestone below this coal is under- laid by a thick bed of nearly white clay, almost exactly like that east of White Hall ; and it is quite probable a similar clay may be found under- lying the limestone on Birch Creek.
Hydraulic Limestone .- The St. Louis limestone affords some layers that seem to possess hydraulic properties, at several localities in this county, though they are generally rather too thin to be of much value at the present time. The thickest bed seen in the county is at Thompson's mill, on Apple Creek, where it is about eight feet in thickness. This locality would afford a sufficient amount of material to justify the erec- tion of a cement mill at this point, should the rock prove, on trial, to be as well adapted to this purpose as its appearance would indicate.
Iron Ore .- On the west fork of Whitaker's Creek, there is a seam of iron ore, underlying the coal at that locality, about eighteen inches in thickness. The ore is a hematite of a dark, brick-red color, and appears to be of a good quality. Coal and limestone, for reducing it to metallic iron, are abundant in the vicinity of the ore.
Limestone for Lime .- The best material for this purpose that has been met with in this county, is that afforded by the light-gray, semi- crystalline beds of the Burlington limestone, along the river bluffs. Some of these are a nearly pure carbonate of lime, and are not surpassed for this purpose by any limestone in the county. The lower part of the Keokuk limestone, as it appears below the bridge on Apple Creek, will afford a very good limestone for this purpose ; but the St. Louis group, which usually affords the purest limestone of all, affords no material adapted to this purpose at any of the localities examined in this county.
Building Stone. - All the principal limestone formations in this county afford good building stone for ordinary purposes ; and some of them afford a superior article, suitable for cut-stone work and ornamental architecture. The most abundant supply, as well as the finest material of this kind, will be furnished by the Burlington limestone, which out- crops in the vicinity of the river bluffs. The rock is tolerably even-bed- ded, in strata varying from six inches to two feet in thickness, and can be very easily and cheaply quarried, so that it is now used, not only for all the ordinary purposes for which building stone is required, but also for fencing the farms along the foot of the bluffs. Several elegant farm-houses have already been built in this county from this material ; and, as the wealth of the country increases, something like a correct taste in architecture will obtain among the people, and a desire for more substantial and elegant buildings will be the result. This will give increased value to our supplies of fine building stone ; and quarries that are now reckoned of little value to the owners will eventually become sources of wealth to an extent that can not at present be realized.
The St. Louis limestone will perhaps rank next in value for supply- ing the wants of the citizens of this county with good building stone. The quarries on Link's Branch, near Carrollton, are capable of supplying
233
HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
the wants of that town, and the surrounding country. The rock obtained at this locality, is a yellowish gray, or brown, magnesian limestone, soft enough to be cut with facility, when freshly quarried, and make a fine building stone, either for cut-work or for heavy walls. Some of the beds are thick enough to furnish dimension-stone of a large size. This bed will furnish a good material for heavy walls, at every locality where we saw it exposed in this county. The Keokuk limestone will also furnish a very good building stone, wherever the lower part of the bed is found exposed. This portion of the bed affords layers of light, bluish-gray, compact, limestone, from six inches to a foot in thickness, that may be used for all the ordinary purposes for which material of this kind is required. In the upper part of the bed the layers are thin and cherty.
The sandstone overlying the coal-seam on Birch Creek, has all the characteristics of a reliable building stone. It is a massive micaceous sandstone, containing considerable ferruginous matter, withstands atmos- pheric influences well, and forms a bold mural wall along the bluffs of the creek, from fifteen to twenty feet in hight. It will furnish an abundant supply of building stone for this part of the county. On Bear Creek, the sandstone is more unevenly bedded, and somewhat unevenly textured, some portions of it showing a disposition to crumble on exposure to the atmosphere. If quarried for building stone, when it presents this appear- ance, it should be selected with care ; and the soft portions of the rock should be rejected. In a word, this county has an abundant supply of building stone, not only for the use of the inhabitants within its borders, but also a large surplus for the supply of other portions of the State.
INTRODUCTORY HISTORY.
Probably not the least interesting portion of the history of Greene County would be that which pertains to the lives and fortunes, the civil- ization and the language of that wonderful race which peopled these prairies, and dwelt in the bluffs of the Illinois, so long ago that no trace is left, save the few time-worn relics, found in caves and scattered all over the great West. In their manner of living and the knowledge of mechanical arts, they were as much superior to the Indians as the period of their existence was more remote. Abundant evidence that a portion of this mysterious people once made Greene County their home is readily obtained, but their origin, their history, and their identity are wrapt in doubt seemingly impenetrable.
So far as history knows, the original human inhabitants. of the re- gion, now called Greene County, Illinois, were the American Indians. Over these fragrant prairies the Kickapoos and Pottawotamies hunted and fought, with no dream that Europeans would ever drive them from their heritage. The French were the first white people who made explorations here. Very soon after the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, before the colonization of Virginia, subjects of France had made explorations and a permanent settlement in Canada. Thence the zeal of the French Jesuits lead them to push westward and southward, until, about 1660, they reached the northern part of Illinois, by way of the lakes. One of the most noted
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
of these religious enthusiasts was Jacques Marquette, who, with Louis Joliet and five other Frenchmen, made extensive explorations in this State. In 1673, these men floated down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi, and thence were borne by the Father of Waters, as far south as the latitude of Memphis. Here they turned the stem of their boat against the stream and began to row northward. Just above where Alton is now situated, they left the Mississippi and thrust their bark into the untried waters of the Illinois. Up this stream they slowly rowed, taking careful note of the country, its animals and productions. They made frequent landings, both for the purposes of exploration and to preach to the Indians, whose curiosity was aroused by the appearance of the strangers. It is very likely that these were the first white men who ever beheld any portion of the territory now known as Greene County. So much were they struck with the beauty and richness of the country through which they passed, and so glowing was their report of their travels, that, for some years, their description was regarded, in France, as a fable or a dream, rather than an account of realities. About six years later another Frenchman, Hennepin, floated down the river, and was followed, in 1682, by LaSalle. These explorers claimed the whole country for France, and, at this time, Greene County was a dependency of the French Crown and a part of that vast undetermined region known as Louisiana. Frenchmen also came into the State by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, and thus reached it, from both the north and south, at nearly the same time. In the north, settlements were made at Peoria and in the south, on the American Bottom at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Fort Chartres, Prairie du Rocher and other points, of which the latter was nearest Greene County.
Meantime the English had made settlements in Virginia, Massachu- setts, and at various points between, and the King of England claimed, by virtue of these all the country west as far as the Pacific. Soon after the year 1700, the English began to penetrate into this wilderness, and it became evident that a conflict between their claims and those of the French, to this Garden of the World, was inevitable. But it was not the richness of the soil that attracted these earliest pioneers. The conversion of the savages and the profits of barter with them, were the two motives which drew hither the advance guard of European civiliza- tion. Trading posts were established at various points, but no land was broken, no grain harvested. The French, in the character of missionaries, were most successful in winning the affections of the Indians, and hence profited by their assistance during the war which followed. The struggle was a long and bitter one, but the battle of Quebec, in 1759, finally decided that America should be controlled by English, not French, influences.
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