USA > Illinois > Greene County > History of Greene county, Illinois: its past and present > Part 23
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"JOHN McLEAN,
" Speaker of the House of Representatives.
" Approved by the
"Council of Revision
" 20th Jan'y, 1821.
" JAMES LEMEN, JR., " Speaker of the Senate,
"SHADRACH BOND."
It will be seen that the limits of Greene County were made to include the territory now known as Greene and Jersey Counties, while to this was temporarily attached what afterward became Macoupin, Scott, and Morgan Counties. The county was named in honor of General Nathaniel Greene, the Revolutionary hero.
Meanwhile, as soon as the discussion concerning the organization of a county was initiated, quick-witted land owners began to lay plans for securing the county seat on or near their property. Prominent among the locations spoken of for the seat of government was Mount Pleasant, the first town laid out in the county.
Mr. W. A. Tunnell, in an article in the Carrollton Press, published in 1860, says of the natural beauties of the place: "It was located on a beautiful mound in the midst of as fine a country as ever occupied a place on the map of the globe, in the prairie, just where a cool, shady grove or point of timber had found its way up the east side, nearly to its summit. From this elevated spot the eye delighted to range over the surrounding prairie to the north, the west, and the south, where the sides of the mound sloped gracefully down to the horizon, or to the dark groves of tall trees waving in the soft breeze, and enlivened by the twittering notes of the countless merry little birds. The deep, cool shade afforded a delicious retreat to the wearied huntsman as he reposed on the moss- covered logs beneath their dark green foliage. These gentle slopes shone in the bright sunshine, beneath a clear, blue sky, like some enchanted spot, clothed in all the gaudy colors of the rainbow. It is probable that the sun in all his wanderings has seldom shone on a lovelier spot of earth since the day on which the flaming sword was placed at the gates of Eden. This mound, at present deprived of every vestige of its primitive beauty except its elevation, is situated perhaps a mile and a half west, and a mile south from Carrollton. The public lands of this district, if my informa- tion is correct, were offered for sale in the month of January, 1820 .* This desirable spot, of which we have been speaking, had attracted the atten- tion of more than one person who had an eye for the beautiful in nature, and when the settlers all met at Edwardsville to purchase their lands more than one felt a sensation of uneasiness growing out of apprehen- sions that some more fortunate person than himself would become the purchaser of the mound. The principal contestants, however, were John Evans and Robert Hobson, the former an immigrant from Ireland, and the latter from England, both reported to be men of wealth. A compro- mise was, however, effected between the two, by which Mr. Hobson paid
* 1821 is the correct date.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Mr. Evans fifty dollars, and became the purchaser of the property with- out an opposing bid. He immediately marked out a town on the spot, and called it 'Mount Pleasant,' erected a dwelling and store house, opened a stock of goods suitable to the demands of the country, offered inducements to others to make their homes in the new town, and in gen- eral, manifested a commendable degree of energy, enterprise, and busi- ness talent. The first persons who accepted the invitation to settle in the place were Ansel Hubbard, a blacksmith ; Elijah Woodman, also a blacksmith ; and Oliver Bangs, whose occupation I have forgotten. When Greene County was about being organized, the people and friends of Mount Pleasant made a strong effort to procure the county seat at that place, which, however, failed, as I have previously stated. Mr. Hobson died about that time, and the little place that had shown such fair prom- ise of becoming a respectable inland town, fell into a decline from which it never recovered."
Another point which was deemed by some an eligible site for the seat of justice was a wooded mound on what is now called the " Boston Farm," a mile or more southeast of the Court House. It was urged in its favor that it was nearer the centre of county than its competitors, but the fact that it was covered with timber was deemed an insuperable objection.
But the man who held in his hands the key to the situation was Thomas Carlin.
Thomas Carlin was born near Shelbyville, Ky., in 1786. His parents were genuine Kentuckians, and their son was brought up to love adventure and inured to all the hardships of a backwoodsman's life. In 1803 the family removed to Missouri, and the next year the young man's father died. Mr. Carlin served as a Ranger during the war, and was among the first to settle in Greene County, north of the Macoupin Creek, his improvements being made just south of the present site of Carrollton. His mother, a very worthy woman, his stepfather, Mr. Savage, and his two brothers, James and William Carlin, came with him. The latter was the father of General William Passamore Carlin, of the United States Army, and of Thomas J. Carlin, ex-Circuit Clerk of Greene County. All these gentlemen have held important official positions in the county. In 1814 Thos. Carlin owned a ferry across the Mississippi River, near where Edwardsville Junction is now situated, and while living there he married Miss Rebecca Huitt, sister of John W. Huitt, spoken of else- where. Mr. Carlin was a man of medium height, not heavily built, but possessed of a pair of powerful shoulders. His hair and full beard were sandy and his cheery face was always florid and full of blood. He was a man of iron nerve, much natural shrewdness and skill in dealing with his fellow men, admired and regarded as a friend by every one. He was from the first, and for many years, perhaps the most popular man in the region, and was universally regarded as a natural leader. His honesty is spoken of as beyond reproach, and when he was Register of Lands, at Quincy, his square dealing with the government was repeatedly remarked. While he held this office he frequently drove a team of two heavy horses before a wagon-load of gold and silver (the proceeds of the land sales) through the lonely regions between Quincy and Carrollton, often in the night, entirely alone and unattended. He did not know what fear meant.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
He was elected first Sheriff of the county, held various other local offices, was chosen State Senator, and finally, in 1838, was called to the Guber- natorial chair. He died February 14, 1852, at his home in Carrollton, on the land which he had entered more than thirty years before. In a struggle with such a man for the location of the county seat, Robert Hobson suffered from every disadvantage. He had money, but in every other regard his cause was very weak. He was an immigrant fresh from England, and that was sufficient to win for him the dislike of all native Americans. The war with England had ended but a few years before, and hatred for Britain and the British still rankled in the hearts of all the sons of Revolutionary fathers. The situation of Mount Pleasant was a beautiful one, but had its site been doubly enchanting, and had it possessed every advantage over the rival location, Thomas Carlin's per- sonal popularity would have carried everything before it. Few natives would have courted a struggle with him, but a foreigner, and particularly an Englishman, could hope for nothing but defeat. But besides this it was urged against Mount Pleasant that, although its site was beautiful, the mound on which it was proposed to build the town was far too small to furnish eligible building lots for the capital of a great county. More- over, Mount Pleasant was some distance west of a direct road from Alton to Jacksonville, and from the centre of the county. Few then, except the circle of personal friends with which Mr. Hobson was surrounded, had any doubt what would be the decision of the Commissioners, ap- pointed by the Legislature to locate the seat of justice.
The first movement that was made toward perfecting the organiza- tion of the county was the meeting of the Commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to select a place for the county seat. These gentle- men assembled at the residence of Isaac Pruitt, one of the most substan- tial members of the settlement. He had entered land a few miles west of Carrollton, and built a cabin very near the present position of the. David Black residence. Thence, after some preliminaries, they rode- to the land of Thomas Carlin.
The commission was a representative body. Thomas Rattan had been a pioneer all his life, and was an excellent business man and money maker. He was reared on Rattan's prairie, in Madison County, whither- his parents had came among the earliest settlers. Here he entered land,. but soon left it, and for some time owned and managed a ferry at Carlisle, where he was very successful in a financial point of view. Subsequently he sold his land in Madison County, and made a settlement in Greene County, north of Apple Creek, as has been previously mentioned. Here- Cyrus Tolman and Chas. Gregory, afterward opulent farmers, were in his employ. Mr. Rattan, soon after the organization of the county, moved to Carrollton and kept the first hotel there. He was short and heavy, but a thorough man of business. John Allen was from Kentucky, and was a. cousin of Zachariah Allen, mentioned elsewhere. John Greene was a brother of William Greene, and father of Singleton F. Greene, afterward sheriff of the county, and the oldest native of Greene County now living. He was tall and spare. John Huitt, Sr., was the father of John W. Huitt, and had followed his son to this county. He was a Georgian, and an upright man of good mind. Thomas Carlin was also one of the commissioners, but as he was interested in the result he refused to act in,
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
the matter. After some consultation, it became evident that the com- missioners were unanimous in their opinion that the Court House should be built on the land of Mr. Carlin. They were standing near the east side of the present square when they reached that decision. Whereupon John Allen paced fifty yards to the west, drove a stake, and said, "Here let the Court House be built." And so it was decided. The town was immediately laid out, and named in honor of Charles Carroll, of Carroll- ton, Maryland.
Up to the time that the decision of the Commissioners was made known not a house was built at Carrollton. Thomas Carlin's residence was ' about half a mile south of the Square, Michael Headrick lived a mile or more west, and others lived at similar distances. Immediately after their conclusion was made known houses began to be put up. Thomas Rattan appears to be entitled to the honor of completing the first build- ing in the new town. It was a log structure and stood at the northwest corner of the Square on the lot now occupied by W. P. Marmon's block. The second building was Jacob Fry's residence. John W. Skidmore very soon erected a building east of the Square. The first brick building put up in the new town stood on the east side of the Square just north of the alley. The first frame house in Carrollton is said to have been a dwelling house, erected on the east side of the Square by Cyrus Tolman and Charles Gregory. The town was surveyed in the Autumn of 1821 by Gershom Flagg, of Madison County, father of Hon. W. C. Flagg, the eminent agriculturist.
February 6, 1821, an act of the legislature was approved, providing : " That on the first Monday of April next an election shall be opened and held at the places designated for holding the courts of the several coun- ties formed during the present session of the General Assembly, at which time there shall be elected in each of the new counties, one Sheriff, one Coroner, and three County Commissioners."
The next evidence of the practical organization of the county was a session of the Circuit Court. The county was attached to the First. Judicial circuit, and on the 26th day of April, 1821, the first term of the court was held by John Reynolds, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and who afterward became Governor. No suits were on the docket, and nothing was transacted except to organize a grand jury, who retired and afterwards brought in two indictments for misdemeanors. The officers of the court were Samuel Lee, the clerk, and Thomas Carlin, sheriff. The following named persons were sworn as grand jurors, viz .: John Finley (foreman), Martin Wood, Thomas Gilleland, Nathaniel Wass, Cyrus Tolman, Isaac Pruitt, James McFadden, John Morfoot, Walter McFarland, Hugh Jackson, Jacob Fry, Charles Gregory, Willis Webb, William Costly, Christian Link, John Costley, William Webb and Phillip Fry. Of that number Colonel Fry alone survives. The descendants of many of them are names to be found among the most respectable citizens of the county. The court met in a small building on the west side of the Square. As there was no jury-room the grand jury met on the prairie for consultation and discussion. Gen. Jacob Fry acted as constable.
For the first ten years afterward, the court was presided over in the order here stated, by John Reynolds, Joseph Phillips, Thomas Reynolds, (afterward Governor of the State of Missouri,) John York Sawyer, and
C
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Samuel D. Lockwood. Stephen T. Logan succeeded Judge Lockwood, in 1835; William Brown succeeded Judge Logan in 1836; Jesse B. Thomas succeeded Judge Brown in 1837, and William Thomas succeeded Judge Jesse B. Thomas in 1838. Afterward by a reorganization of the judiciary of the State by the Legislature of 1841, Judge Thomas and the other circuit judges were legislated out of office, and circuit court duties were assigned to the Judges of the Supreme Court. Judge Lockwood returned to the circuit, and continued to hold courts until the first elec- tion for circuit judges, under the constitution of 1848, when David M. Woodson was elected to the office, in September of that year. Judge Woodson's services in this capacity were so eminently satisfactory that he was re-elected twice, serving for eighteen consecutive years and declin- ing a re-election in 1865. Charles D. Hodges was chosen his successor, and six years later Cyrus Epler was elected to the position, which he still holds. The General Assembly of 1877 passed a law providing for reducing the number of circuits in the State one half and electing a new judge in each circuit. At the election in the Seventh Judicial circuit, August 6th, for the choice of the additional judge, Albert G. Burr was selected. The terms of all the circuit judges expire June, 1879.
Accordingly an election was held at the time designated, the polls being in Thomas Rattan's building, on the northeast corner of the Square. Thomas Carlin was chosen Sheriff, Jacob Wagoner, Coroner, and Sey- mour Kellogg, John Allen and Jehu Brown, County Commissioners.
On the first day of May the County Commissioners held their first meeting in the building of Thomas Rattan. The full board was pres- ent, Seymour Kellogg, from the Mauvaisterre settlement, Jehu Brown, from the southern part of the county, and John Allen, from the center.
Seymour Kellogg was an Eastern man and had been a Colonel in the war of 1812. In the Summer of 1818, with his brother Elisha Kel- logg and Ambrose Collins, he had started for the famous Sangamo country. They came by wagons to the Ohio River. Here they embarked on flatboats and floated down the noble stream as far as Shawneetown, where they disembarked and pushed on to Carmi. As it was late in the season, they remained here during the Winter, and the next Summer pro- ceeded to Edwardsville, then a prominent western town. Mr. Collins was taken sick and was unable to go farther. His son Charles, however, proceeded with the Kelloggs. They passed the Wood River settlements, crossed the Macoupin, forded Apple Creek, and continued their northern course beyond the frontier until they finally reached the head of the Mauvaisterre Creek. Here they settled in the Fall of 1819, and thus be- came the pioneers of Morgan County, although they belonged for several years to Greene County, and hence it was that Seymour Kellogg was one of the first Commissioners of Greene County. They built rail-pen cabins, which were afterward burned down by a prairie fire. Seymour Kellogg was a well-educated man and was universally respected by those who knew him.
Jehu Brown was a Tennessean. He was a spare man of medium height, and and seems to have been looked up to by every one as a man of distinguished probity and ability. His descendants still live west of Jerseyville, in what was formerly a part of Greene County.
John Allen was generally known as " 'Squire Allen; " he was a son
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
of Thomas Allen, proprietor of one of the first mills ever built in the county, and was conceded by every one to be an upright and honorable man, just in all his dealings and perfectly reliable in every sense of the word. He was conservative in politics, and few men have ever passed through the fiery ordeal of a heated canvass more smoothly, and with as little offense to opponents as 'Squire Allen. He filled many important offices ; was a member of each of the Houses of the General Assembly of the State, where he served for many years receiving the general approbation of his constituents. He died about the year 1842.
The following is a copy of the record of the first meeting of the Commissioners' Court of Greene County :
" Be it remembered that the County of Greene having been estab- lished by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, and John Allen, Jehu Brown and Seymour Kellogg, having been duly elected County Commissioners for said county, and having taken the several oaths required by law before Samuel Lee, Jr., Clerk of the Circuit Court of said county, Wherefore, a special term of the County Commissioners' Court for the County of Greene is begun, and held at Carrollton, the seat of justice for said county, on the first day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one.
Present,
JOHN ALLEN, JEHU BROWN, SEYMOUR KELLOGG,
Commissioners.
"Samuel Lee, Jr., being appointed Clerk of the Court, took, in open court, an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and of the State of Illinois, and the following oath of office to-wit: ' I, Samuel Lee, Jr., being apppointed Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of the County of Greene, do solemnly swear that I will truly and faithfully enter and record all the orders, judgments, and proceedings of the said Court, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties of my said office according to the best of my ability and understanding, according to law;' and also took the oath required by an act entitled ' An act to suppress dueling.'
" And thereupon the said Lee delivered to the Court his bond, with Jacob Linder and Thomas Rattan his securities for the faithful perform- ance of the duties of his office, which bond is approved of by the Court.
" On application of John Wilkins, it is ordered that license be granted him to keep a tavern at his place of residence, on the Piasa Creek, in said county, upon his entering into bond with Samuel White, his security, in the sum of one hundred dollars, conditioned as the law directs, and paying a tax of five dollars for the use of the county and the Clerk's fees. (Bond entered into and tax paid the Clerk in Court.)
" On application of Thomas Rattan, ordered that license be granted him to keep a tavern in the town of Carrollton, upon entering into bond, as the law directs, with Alfred S. Harbin, his security, in the sum of one hundred dollars, and paying a tax of seven dollars for the use of county and Clerk's fees.
" It is ordered by the Court that the following rates for tavern keepers of the county be and the same are hereby allowed and estab- lished, to wit :
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
For each meal of victuals .25
For lodging in a bed per night. .1212
For keeping a horse with corn or oats and hay or fodder per night, or twelve hours_
.3712
For keeping a horse without hay or fodder per night, or twelve hours. .1834
For each feed for a horse .1212
For French brandy or wine per half pint .50
For gin or rum per half pint. .25 For apple brandy, peach brandy, cherry bounce or cordial per 1/2 pint. .1834
For whisky per 1/2 pint. .1212
" The Commissioners who were appointed by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois to fix the permanent seat of justice for Greene County, returned into Court their report together with the deed in said report mentioned, which were received and approved of by the Court, whereupon it is ordered that the said deed be filed and that the said report be spread upon the records of this Court, and which is in the words and figures following to wit: Be it known that we, Thomas Car- lin, Thomas Rattan, John Allen, John Green, and John Huitt, sr., Com- missioners appointed to fix the permanent seat of justice for Greene County, by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, en- titled ' An act establishing the County of Greene,' have met at the house of Isaac Pruitt, as required in said act, and after examining the most eligible situation in said county, giving due weight and atten- tion to the considerations set forth and required in said act as to the present and future population, situation, geography, etc., of the county, are of the opinion that a point eighty-eight poles south from the northeast corner of section No. twenty-two, in township No. ten north in range No. twelve, west of the third principal meridian, is the most suitable place for the said seat of justice, and accor- dingly and in pursuance of said act, have fixed the permanent seat of jus- tice for the said County of Greene, at the point or place above described, the same being on the line between section No. twenty-two and section No. twenty-three. Thomas Carlin, the owner of the said land whereon the said seat of justice is fixed, having executed a deed to the County Com- missioners of the County, as required in said act, for twenty-two acres and three-fourths of an acre of land, which is bounded as follows, to-wit : Beginning eighty-eight poles south of the north-east corner of section No. twenty-two above described, thence running east ten poles, thence north ten poles, thence west ninety poles, thence south forty-three poles, thence east eighty poles, to the line between sections twenty-two and twenty-three, thence north twenty-three poles, thence east ten poles, thence north to the first corner mentioned after the place of begin- ning, and have given to the said seat of justice the name of Carrollton. All of which is respectfully submitted to the County Commissioners of said county at their next term. Given our hands this 20th day of Feb- ruary, in the year 1821.
JOHN ALLEN, THOMAS RATTAN, THOMAS CARLIN, JOHN GREEN, JOHN HUITT.
" Ordered that the Clerk be authorized to procure two official seals, one for the Circuit Court and one for the County Commissioners' Court of Greene County.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
" Ordered that the twenty lots owned by the county in the town of Carrollton be offered for sale on the 12th day of June next, at a credit of six and twelve months. And it is further ordered that a notice of such sale be inserted in the Edwardsville Spectator for four weeks suc- cessively.
"Ordered that the Clerk be authorized to procure one quire of blanks for the use of the Court.
" Ordered that Seymour Kellogg be recommended to the Governor of this State as a suitable person to fill the office of Justice of the Peace.
"Ordered that the Court be adjourned until Court in course." JOHN ALLEN, JEHU BROWN, SEYMOUR KELLOGG.
John Wilkins, who was licensed to keep a tavern on the Piasa was very well known in Jersey County, even at a recent date. His house was situated about one mile south of Delhi. He was the father-in-law of Perley Silloway, one of the early Sheriffs of Jersey County.
The regular June term of the Commissioners' Court was held June 4th, all the Commissioners being present. The county was, at this time, divided into nine military, or as they were called, company districts, and elections were ordered in each district for military officers.
The following were appointed to superintend the election :
In District 1-John D. Gillham, John Waddle, Samuel Kinkaid.
District 2-Gorham Patterson, William Adair, Nathaniel Rowden.
District 3-John Greene, Walker Daniels, Harrison Higgins.
District 4-Joel Meacham, James Caldwell, Absalom Clark.
District 5-John Dunn, Young Wood, Philip Fry.
District 6-James McNeary, Alvin Coe, William Potts.
District 7-Samuel Scott, Benjamin Buchanan, Peter Shepard.
District 8-Moses Nash, Thomas Arnet, Elisha Kellogg.
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