USA > Illinois > Greene County > History of Greene county, Illinois: its past and present > Part 29
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It was another manifestation of the same spirit that originated the movement which brought about the division of the county. Jerseyville was a new town, and those interested in her prosperity thought that nothing would do more to give an upward impulse to the price of lots than the location of a court house in that village. If a new county were formed from the southern half of Greene County, Jerseyville would be- come the county seat, and hence rapidly grow. It is also said that some points north of Carrollton favored the movement in the hope that the county seat of Greene County might thereby be moved. To these argu- ments was added the more substantial and cogent reason that the county was too large for convenience or effective organization. An effort was made to divide the county in 1836, but although the bill passed the Gen- eral Assembly, it was rejected by the people. In 1838 it was again brought up, and an act dividing the county was passed by the legislature and submitted to the people. The northern and southern portions of the county voted for the division, but the central distriet was opposed to the measure. The vote taken August 5, 1839, stood as follows :
For erection of Jersey County. I239
Against erection of Jersey County 714
Majority for 525
During the year 1837, Nathaniel Graves, a prominent citizen of Pike County, committed a deliberate murder. He was arrested and brought before the Circuit Court in that county. The case was brought by change of venue from that county to Greene County, where the trial took place before Judge Jesse B. Thomas, in June, 1838. The case was one of the most important that had engaged the attention of the court for many years, and Stephen A. Douglas, Thomas H. Benton, and other dis- tinguished advocates were employed upon it. Every device known to law was employed to clear the prisoner, but without avail, and he was sentenced to be hanged on Wednesday, October 3, 1838. The prisoner was remanded to jail, and to all appearances devoted himself to making preparations for death. The jail then in use by the county was the plain
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
structure now used by the city of Carrollton for a city prison, and it was considered quite secure. The time wore on until the Sunday before the day appointed for the execution. Graves was visited by his brother and other friends, and appeared resigned to death. At night he divided what money he had among the guards, saying he would have no more use for it. The next morning Graves and a young man named Thurston, who had been serving out a jail sentence, were gone ; a small hole had been dug through the floor under the wall and so out. But it was very small, and many who saw it felt confident that no man ever crawled through it. It was quite generally suspected that money was used with some one to assist him to escape. Graves was never recaptured, and so effected a most remarkable escape from the gallows. Thurston afterward returned, and related the adventures of himself and Graves in making their escape from the county ; but he would never tell by what means they made their exit from the jail. Graves was afterward heard of in Mississippi, where he is believed to have died but a few years ago.
In 1837, or 1838, Amos H. Squires was appointed treasurer of the county. He had occupied positions of trust before, and was regarded by every one as one of the most upright and substantial men of the county. Two or three years after his appointment, having about $3,000 in his hands, he absconded, and for a year or more could not be found. At last he was apprehended for trial, and in the April term, 1844, the county brought an action for debt against him and his bondsmen, Alfred Hin- ton, John W. Scott, Wylie Wilder, William Rainey, and Young Wood. The suit was successful, and the county obtained a verdict of $3,038.48. A new trial was granted, and the case was taken to Jersey County. The final result was that by means of some technicality, Squires escaped pun- ishment, and the county pocketed the loss.
THE MEXICAN WAR.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, Greene County promptly answered the call for volunteers. Monday, June 22, the Carrollton Guards, composed of eighty-one men, set out for Alton, in wagons fur- nished by the citizens of the county. They bore with them a handsome flag presented by the ladies of Carrollton, William Sharon making the presentation speech and S. S. Chester responding in behalf of the com- pany. The men went into camp at Alton, where they were joined by a company from Morgan County, under Gen. John J. Hardin, and by other companies from other directions. While at Alton both of these commands became part of the 1st Illinois Regiment. Gen. John J. Hardin was chosen Colonel. Of the Carrollton Guards, Col. Jacob Fry was elected Captain, Maj. W. C. Rainey, First Lieutenant, Col. J. C. Winters, Second Lieutenant, and S. S. Chester, Third Lieutenant. On Sunday, the 19th of July, the regiment embarked for Memphis, and thence went on to Montezuma. The company went through the war in Mexico and rendered valiant service in the battle of Buena Vista, in which the gallant General Hardin was killed. His death was very deeply regretted wherever he was known.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
At the April term of the Circuit Court of Greene County, resolutions were passed expressing the regret of the bar at the loss of Col. Hardin, and their appreciation of his abilities and admirable qualities. The attorneys present at this term of court were D. M. Woodson, D. A. Smith, C. H. Goodrich, Wm. P. Chesnut, Richard Yates, H. Dusenbury, A. W. Cavarly, Wm. Sharon, W. K. Titcomb, T. Barlow, Wm. Thomas, J. A. Chesnut, C. D. Hodges, R. L. Doyle, Wm. Bosbyshill, Giles H. Turner, John H. Burruss and J. M. Tillett. When it became known that more troops were needed, Greene County promptly responded, and in July, 1847, a second company, commanded by Capt. John Bristow, uncle of an ex-Secretary of the Treasury of the United States of the same family name, started for the seat of war. The members of this company came mostly from the northern part of the county. Capt. Bristow was soon obliged to return on account of ill health, but both the Greene County companies did good service during the war. For a number of years the survivors of these commands have been in the habit of meeting annually for the purpose of reviving old memories and perpetuating old fellowships. The last meeting of the Mexican Veterans' Association was held at White Hall, September 25, 1878. Col. J. C. Winters acted as president and E. A. Giller as secretary. There were present sixteen survivors of the Mexican war and also three survivors of the Black Hawk war. Speeches were made by Messrs. W. B. Ferguson, Jesse Sims, J. L. Stoddard, C. C. Eaton, W. B. Harper, Col. J. C. Winters and E. A. Giller, of the Mexican veterans, and by R. D. Gill and C. J. Whitesides, veterans of the Black Hawk war. The death of Archibald Overby, a Mexican veteran who had passed away during the year, was mentioned, and appropriate resolutions were passed in view of that event. The meeting then adjourned for a year.
As illustrating the unyielding patriotism of the great mass of the citizens of the county at that time, the following, which appeared in the first number of the Carrollton Gazette, June 26, 1846, is reprinted :
" Whereas, David Hartwell did, a few days since, make certain re- marks relative to the Mexican war, the purport of which was that he de- sired the success of the Mexicans over the Americans ; Now these are to certify that the citizens of Carrollton will not permit the said David Hart- well to live among them unless he will, publicly, retract all offensive language used in the premises, ask the pardon of the community, and promise hereafter to demean himself in a more orderly and gentlemanly manner. " MANY CITIZENS.
" CARROLLTON, June 22, 1846.
" Gentlemen : I will humbly comply with the above requirements of yours, stated in the article above, to which your names are attached, and will freely and gladly retract all the wrong that has procceded from me. I ask the pardon of each and every person or citizen, whose feelings have been hurt by me, and I will promise, in future, to live in a manner as orderly and gentlemanly as my humble knowledge of good breeding will enable me to do. DAVID HARTWELL."
The first newspaper established in Greene County was The Back- woodsman. Its publication was begun in 1837, at Grafton, and Paris
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Mason was its publisher and John Russell, of Bluffdale, its editor. In this paper appeared many of the verses and essays which have given Mr. Russell such a reputation as a writer. After the organization of Jersey County The Backwoodsman was removed to Jerseyville, where it was pub- lished by A. S. Tilden, afterward by Fletcher & Parenteau. During the management of the latter gentlemen the office burned down, and Ed- ward F. Fletcher removed to Carrollton, where he commenced the publi- cation of the first paper in the present limits of Greene County. This was the People's Advocate. It was printed in a brick building on the south side of the Square, now the property of George Wright, Esq. The Carrollton Gazette, the next venture of the sort, was established in June, 1846, by G. B. Price, by which gentleman and his sons its publica- tion has ever since been continued.
In 1847 occurred the Constitutional Convention which gave to the State the " constitution of '47." To this convention Greene County sent as delegates, D. M. Woodson, Franklin Witt and L. E. Worcester. Messrs. Witt and Worcester are still living. Judge Woodson was gathered to his fathers in 1877. While attending the convention at Springfield Judge Woodson kept the people of the county informed as to the important transactions of the body by frequent letters, which were published in the Carrollton Gazette.
About this time the county was very much excited by the rapid rise and growth of the "Sons of Temperance," and "Cadets of Tem- perance," secret societies composed largely of young persons. This is the first temperance revival of which we have any record in the county, and although it promised much and did accomplish some good, it was short lived.
The first fair ever held in Greene County occurred in the Fall of 1839. The place selected was the pasture now owned by George Wright, Esq., just north of his residence in Carrollton. Here a small collection of huge vegetables, some specimens of grain and fruits, and a very respectable show of stock was gathered and enclosed in a ring of rope. There was no entrance fee and one day was sufficient for award- ing all the premiums. Those who were present who felt able to do so were expected to contribute one dollar each toward the expenses of the occasion. At the same time a ladies'.department was arranged in the grand jury room of the court house. Here bedquilts and the niceties of cookery and needle craft were displayed, admired and criticised. The only facts we have been able to learn as to the premium list are that Mrs. Brace (mother of J. E. Brace, Esq., ) was awarded the first premium for best specimen of home made flannel, and that George L. Burruss, Esq. took the first and J. B. Eldred, Esq., the second premium for boar pigs. Stephen Spencer was one of the committee on fine wool sheep and John W. Huitt one of the judges on horses. The next year a similar display was made and a large attendance secured, but after that no fairs were held in the county until the organization of the Association in 1854.
The charter of the Jacksonville & Carrollton Railroad was granted in 1851, but the first effort to raise money for its construction was during the next year. At a meeting of the commissioners of the road, held in Jacksonville Monday, September 13, 1852, Hon. D. M. Woodson in the chair, it was " resolved that books for the subscription of the capital
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
stock be opened from and after the fifteenth day of September, 1852, at Carrollton, under the control and direction of A. W. Cavarly, C. D. Hodges, and F. P. Vedder, at such time as they may deem proper. At White Hall under the control and direction of L. E. Worcester, Asbury Davis, and Emanuel Metcalf, at such time as they may deem proper. At Kane under the control and direction of Z. H. Adams and N. M. Perry, at such time as they may deem proper. At Jerseyville under the control and direction of A. B. Morean, C. H. Knapp, and J. Ploughman, at such time as they may deem proper. At Alton under the control and direc- tion of George T. Brown, Edward Keating, and Levi Davis, at such time as they may deem proper. At Manchester under the control and direc- tion of Jas. Clinton, W. S. Andrews, and A. Hicks, at such time as they may deem proper. At Jacksonville under the control and direction of D. A. Smith, J. J. Cassell, and W. B. Warren, at such time as they may deem proper."
The corporators of the road were D. M. Woodson, Philip Coffman, D. A. Smith, A. W. Cavarly, Alex. B. Morean, Wm. B. Warren, A. C. Dixon, S. M. Prosser, Murray McConnell, W. S. Hurst, Joe Dunlap, and Edward Keating. In December, 1853, they announced that, as the pro- vision of the charter, requiring the subscription of $100,000, had been complied with, a meeting of the stockholders would be held at Carrollton on the 27th of that month, for the purpose of organization. At this time the following directors were chosen: James Berdan, Simeon Ross, D. M. Woodson, A. B. Morean, George T. Brown. Hon. D. M. Woodson was elected President. At this time there was a great deal of enthusiasm for the road, and one paper announced its belief that cars would be run- ning from Carrollton to Alton in eighteen months. It was nearer eighteen years before the prediction was realized. Meetings were held in the various towns, and a surveyor, Josiah T. Hunt, was at once set at work on the route, and finished his survey by June, 1854. Some difficulty soon ensued as to the terminus of the road. Alton City subscribed $100,000, on condition that the terminus should be in that city. Afterward the company saw the value of an outlet to St. Louis, and decided to extend the line to that city. The rivalry between St. Louis and Alton was then very bitter, and the latter eity at once withdrew its subscription. For several years the struggle to raise money enough to warrant the directors in contracting the road continued. Appeals through the press, personal solicitations, public meetings, and every means was tried, but still the work dragged. Year after year passed by, until the patience of the peo- ple was nearly exhaused. When the collection of the amounts subscribed was begun there was more delay and difficulty. Work was finally com- menced at Jacksonville, in 1858, and in 1860 cars were running as far south as Manchester. Two years more were occupied in building it to White Hall, and by this time the war so engrossed the attention and energy of the county that the connection with the main line, at Godfrey, was not made until 1865. Meantime the name of the road had been changed to the St. Louis, Jacksonville & Chicago Railroad, and it was shortly leased by the Chicago & Alton road, which thereby obtained its much coveted direct communication with St. Louis.
The movement which resulted in building the railroad running from Rock Island to St. Louis, now known as the St. Louis branch of the
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, began as early as 1858. The eastern part of the county was thoroughly aroused on the subject, and money was freely subscribed. The influence of the points interested was sufficiently great to secure the voting of $50,000 to the road by the county, and this with amounts otherwise raised secured the road. White Hall contributed $10,000 and obtained the crossing; Greenfield paid $15,000, and other parts of the county lesser sums. A portion of the road was at once built, but soon the lack of funds caused a halt. In 1868 a new charter was obtained, and from this time the work of con- struction was pushed vigorously forward, until in 1871 it was completed. This road has contributed very considerably to the prosperity of White Hall, has greatly aided Greenfield, and may be said to have created Wrightsville and Rockbridge. A cross road from Greenfield to Carroll- ton and thence to the Illinois River is now greatly needed. Such a line could be very cheaply constructed and its completion only a question of time.
In March, 1855, it is recorded that the county was out of debt, but it did not remain in this condition for any great length of time. Within a very few years Greene County had voluntarily placed upon its shoulders a debt of $200,000. The first quarter of this was a subscription of $50,000 in aid of the Jacksonville, Alton & St. Louis Railroad; the second $50,000 was voted to the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis road, and during the rebellion $100.000 was expended in hiring substitutes for such of the citizens of the county as might be drafted for service in the army. The first was paid in March, 1875, the third in four installments, of which the last was paid in 1870, and the second is still due, and pay- able in 1880.
From 1850 to 1855 or 1856 Abraham Lincoln, Richard Yates, and Stephen A. Douglas, as well as many other men who afterward occupied very prominent positions in the nation's history, were frequent visitors to this county. They often appeared, in their professional capacity, during the sessions of the Circuit Court, and in time of political excitement made many open air speeches, at various points in the county. Many of our old citizens were intimately acquainted with these statesmen.
In May, 1855, some skillful burglars entered the office of the county clerk, and, by the use of powder, succeeded in forcing open the safe. They escaped with $11,300 and were never apprehended. During this year the county became heir to a singular property. Dr. Titus Cornwell, at one time a resident of the county, had removed to New York, and there died. When his will was opened it was found that the doctor had devised four fifths of all his property in Illinois-estimated at from seven to ten thousand dollars-to Greene County, Illinois, to be used in this way : The property was to form a fund to be invested, the interest of which the testator directed should be used in the purchase of physiolog- ical and hygienic books, to be freely distributed among the public schools of the county. The other fifth of his Illinois property he divided between two medical institutions. I can not find that the Greene County schools ever received any benefit from this fund, although Dr. Cornwell especially directed that the income of the fund should be devoted to the specified use "for one hundred years at least." The population of the county during this year is given as about 14,000.
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
In 1862, when President Lincoln called for additional troops to aid in suppressing the rebellion in the South, Greene County answered with her usual promptness. Col. Jacob Fry's experiences and skill as a leader was again called into use and he was commissioned a Colonel, and author- ized to raise a regiment to rendezvous at Carrollton. Three companies offered themselves and were accepted; the first, Company A, was com- manded by Captain Annon P. Ohr, who had been editing the Carrollton Press ; the second, Company B, was headed by Captain Martin Mann, and the third, Company G, was led by Captain (afterwards Colonel) Jerome B. Milton. The remainder of the regiment came from other counties. The regiment was mustered into service in 1862, and for some months remained in camp at the Fair Grounds, just east of Carrollton. Soon, however, the orders came to march to the front, where the Greene County boys did noble service for the old flag. Conpany A, out of respect for the Hon. D. M. Woodson, called themselves the " Woodson Guards," in recognition of which honor Judge Woodson presented them with a handsome flag, which they bore through the war. The whole number of soldiers in the Sixty-First Regiment Illinois Volunteers, from Greene County, at its organization, was three hundred and sixty-six, of whom eighty died while in service or were slain in battle. The whole number of men who served in the Union Army, from Greene County. was 1,371. Of these 87 were in the 12th Illinois Cavalry, 84 in the 14th Illinois Infantry, 99 in the 32d, 352 in the 91st, 72 in the 122d, 74 in the 133d, 47 in the 144th, 108 in the 59th, and 84 in the 1st Missouri Cav- alry. Of these 17 per cent., or 195, died from disease or were killed during the war. For farther particulars see war record, farther on.
STATISTICS.
The census reports indicate that the number of inhabitants in the county increased more rapidly between the years 1830 and 1840 than between either of the other periods. When the census of 1830 was taken, which amounted to 7,674, Jersey County was still attached to Greene; but in 1840, with Jersey detached, the population of the county amounted to 11,951, Jersey at the same time having 4,515 inhabitants. The population of Greene, between the years 1830 and 1840, must have increased at least 115 per cent. In 1850 the population of the county was 12,429, being an increase from 1840 of 20 per cent. In 1860 it amounted to 16,093, being an increase from 1850 of 30 per cent., and in 1870 it was 20,270, an increase from 1860 of 26 per cent.
In 1876 the county contained 3,850 taxpayers. The comparative slowness of the increase of late years is attributable, perhaps, to two causes. In the first place, when the county was first settled, Illinois was on the western frontier, and very few emigrants pushed farther on toward the setting sun. Now, not only emigrants from the East pass by the comparatively old regions of Illinois, for the new lands beyond, but many of the residents of Greene County every year follow the tide of emigration and the star of empire westward. Still farther, it is to be considered that Greene County was very largely settled by persons of
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
wealth, who purchased large tracts of land, These still remain in the family of the original purchaser, and the county contains comparatively few small farms. But this state of affairs is rapidly changing. Death and other fortuitous circumstances are causing the division of many large estates, and there will then be room for many more small farmers. There are very few counties in the State of more wealth in proportion to the number of inhabitants it contains. According to the census report of 1870, the value of all farm productions in the county amounted to $2,507,350, of course a very low estimate. The value of the farms in in the county was then stated to be $11,007,884. The same report gives the following figures : Acres of improved land, 175,408, woodland, 93,242, other unimproved land, 26,653. Of winter wheat there were raised 577,400 bushels, of rye, 415 bushels, of Indian corn, 1,051,313 bushels, oats, 64,029.
The following figures taken from the Assessor's books for 1878, show approximately the present worth of the county, although such estimates are always very largely below the truth :
Horses, 7,362, valued at $238,405 ; cattle, 19,289, valued at $244,- 710 ; mules and asses, 1,487, valued at $54,485 ; sheep, 8,543, valued at $11,340 ; hogs, 27,928, valued at $37,645; steam engines, including boilers, 29, valued at $850 ; fire and burglar safes, 11, valued at $2,310 ; billiard, pigeon-hole, etc. tables, 6, valued at $185 ; carriages and wagons, 2,410, valued at $56,430; watches and clocks, 887, value, $3,815 ; sewing and knitting machines, 993, value, $11,460 ; pianos, 137, value, $9,890 ; melodeons and organs, 142, value, $3,955 ; total value enumerated property, $684,480. Merchandise, $130,580 ; material and man- ufactured articles, $5,325 ; manufactured tools, implements and machinery, $8,420 ; gold and silver plate and plated ware, $6,500; dia- monds and jewelry, $4.000; money of banks, bankers, brokers, etc. $40,435; credits of the same, $15,335 ; moneys of other than bankers, etc., $210,545; credits of same, $152,195 ; bonds and stocks, $5,700 ; agricultural imple- ments, $3,941 ; property of corporations not enumerated, $3,000 ; prop- erty of saloons and eating houses, $3,500 ; household and office property, $77,730; investments in real estate and improvements thereon, $6,905 ; all other property, $2,680 ; total value of unenumerated property, $696,- 900; total value of personal property, $1,381,380. Improved lands, 265,776 acres, value, $4,306,525 ; average value per acre, $16.20 ; unim- proved lands, 77,421 acres, value $266,020 ; average value per acre, $3.44; total lands, 343,197, value, $4,572,545, average value per acre, $13.32; No. of improved lots, 2,094, value, $644,730 ; average value per lot, $307,89 ; unimproved lots, 1,315, value, $28,230 ; average value per lot, $21.47 ; town and city lots, 3,409, value, #672,960; average value per lot, $197.41 ; total value of personal property, lands and lots, $6.626,885. Acres in cultivation, etc., in 1877 : wheat, 52,957 ; corn, 75,789 ; oats, 4,754 ; meadows, 19,514 ; other field products, 2,056; acres inclosed pas- ture, 69,097 ; acres in orchard, 3,571 ; acres in woodland, 113,927. Total value of all railroad property assessed in Greene County, $6,628,185 ; assessed value of railroad property in Greene County for 1878: Chicago & Alton, No. of miles, 38; St. Louis, R. I. & Chicago, 23. Assessed value, excluding buildings, C. & A., $240,795; St. L., R. I. & C., $53,- 625 ; value of buildings on right of way, C. & A., $1,804; St. L., R. I. &
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