USA > Illinois > Grundy County > History of Grundy County, Illinois > Part 22
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Squire was entrapped, exclaiming, "I told you nothing good would come of those two women living there alone." He consulted the statute relative to holding inquests, and then procceded to summon a jury. L. W. Claypool and Samuel Ayers had been let into the secret by Chapin. The former declined to serve on the jury, but the latter wanted to see the fun. Having obtained his jury of twelve "good men and true," he repaired to the stump to examine the corpse, when lo! there was nothing there but a bundle of rags. The Squire laid np a hickory in oil for Chapin's use, but really never got quite even with him.
On the 15th of April, 1842, having reached the age of nineteen, with all our worldly goods and possessions, consisting of a few home-made clothes and Blackstone "done up in two volumes," all ensconced in a " cotton bandana," with two Spanish quarters in our pocket like "Japhet in search of a father," we struck ont from the paternal nest in the town of Deer Park, La Salle County, Illinois, and " on foot and alone like the girl that went to get married" we wended our way to the new town of Morris, with great expectations of achiev- ing a fortune and of building up a name that would be the envy of the old and the emulation of the young. We toiled along cheerily and manfully for the first half of the road-some fifteen miles. From thence on, those ponderous words of Blackstone, or the amount of paper used to print them, grew in weight step by step until each seemed to outweigh a common sized anvil. Night spread her sable wings over wood- land and prairie long ere we reached our goal. On striking the point where Messrs. Kenrick & Kennedy now live we gave com.
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
pletely ont. The roads were in a horrid condition and the mud was half leg deep. The arguments of the legal sage were too heavy for us and hence we deposited them in a hollow oak tree and covered them over with leaves and mud, to be exhumed at a more convenient season. At about nine p. M., we reached the Grundy Hotel, though it was then far from being finished. Here we received a hearty welcome, with many proffers of a drop of whisky, with the assur- ance that it would do us good. We received the welcome without the whisky. Mor- ris had been located and christened just three days before we east our lot within its preeinets. We have been inseparable com- panions since that time and have grown old together. It has grown larger, stronger and better. We, too, have grown larger, but alas, weaker and more wieked. Hope deterred for forty years, and still our expee- tations seem no nearer realization than when we came. Some days after our arri- val here we returned to the hollow tree for onr books. They were safe and uninjured. Our first day in Morris as a citizen was full of adventure and decidedly discouraging. We came here ostensibly to keep the books of account of the firm of Armstrong & Hart, who were canal contractors and built the canal through Morris, but our main objeet was to study law, and as we were informed before coming that the book-keeping would oeenpy but a small portion of our time, we expected to literally absorb the contents of Blackstone. We were to board at the Grundy Hotel, of which Mr. Armstrong was proprietor. On the day after our ar- rival we were placed in charge of said hotel as well as of the books of the firm, while Mr. Armstrong and family started to Ottawa
for a short visit. Early in the day we were informed by the cook of the boarding house for the canal hands that he was "out of meat," and as none could be obtained short of Dresden, we mounted a horse and went thither and made a purchase of sever- al barrels of pork from Antoine Peltier and returned towards evening. There was a en bby-hole under the stairway of the hotel in which was stored a barrel of cheap brandy, the door to which we locked and put the key in our poeket. During our absence some thirsty soul broke open this door to get at the brandy. Having taken a few drinks he imagined that he was the owner of the entire barrel. Soon it was known all over the village that brandy was free at the Grundy Hotel. Once fairly started, brandy was carried in pails, dip- pers, pitchers and tin enps to the men on the work, and as a natural result a sober inan was the exception and fighting was general.
As we approached the hotel the engineer in charge of the construction of the canal and the boss carpenter on the erection of the court house were stripped for a fight, each insisting that he would knock the other over the Alleghany mountains if he could only get a fair liek at him. They had a seratehi across the road, which they vainly endeavored to toe, but were so drunk that when they attempted to straighten up, they lost their equilibrium, and were forced to step baek, so a collision was impossible, so long as they respected the road mark. We had seen but little drunkenness thus far, and were horrified and pained at the sight. IIere was a inan of intelleet and education, a first-class gentleman, so muddled with the accursed liquor that he forgot who he
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
was and what he was trying to do. By the joint use of persnasion and physical strength we got the engineer in bed, when he soon went to sleep, and came out the next day humiliated and humble and es- chewed cheap brandy ever after, as a bev- erage. Having thus disposed of the engi- neer, we started in search of a sober man, but failed in the effort. As we left the ho- tel a fight was in progress between Mat Catlin, the plasterer, and Johnnie May, a teamster. They were of the banty order and fought lively with the advantage in fa- vor of May, who soon got Catlin down and was pummelling him in the most approved style. We went to the rescue of Catlin and released him from his perilous condition, and for this kindly act he became highly in- censed at us and turned the vials of his wrath upon our poor head. The result was a slight conflict, with a pair of badly-dam- aged eyes to the plasterer. We then went into the office to post up books when Kurtz, the carpenter, came in and demanded more brandy. We had none to give him if we had wished to do so, as the barrel had been completely emptied before our return from Dresden, and had we had it to give we should most certainly have declined to give him any, as he was still quite tipsy. Our refusal roused him to a towering rage. We ordered him out of the room, to which he replied: " I know you are the boss here, but you are too small for a boss. I will go out if you can put me out, but not other- wise." We thereupon went for him and rushed to the door when he caught hold of the door jambs with his hands. This we ex- pected, but were in no way disconcerted by it. We had seen such tricks before and well knew how to defeat them. We seized
him around the legs and ended him over, when he fell on the flat of his back into the bar room. Ile sprang quickly to his feet and came at ns for fight, striking out with both fists wildly. We dodged the blows and gave him a hip lock, land- ing him across the flared edge of an old- fashioned Franklin stove, which settled liim, and at the same time broke one of his ribs, when he was ready-yes, anxious, of being put in his " little bed." Gilman, the teamster, was the next to make trouble. Ile got up in the night to interfere with the cook whose room was down stairs. We heard him getting up and knew his design. Stealing to the head of the stairway in the dark hall we were ready for action. As he reached the first step we gave him a violent push. He had no time to count the steps or open the door at the foot of the stairs. He stopped very suddenly with his head in the bar room and his body in the stairway. The stairway door, however, was demoralized, and minus a panel. He was satisfied that " the way of the transgressor is hard," and very willingly returned to his bed. When Mr. A. returned from Ottawa, he found the work on the court house suspended and his team idle for want of a driver. Upon in- quiring the cause of Mr. Catlin, he was informed that "we got on to a bit of a tan- trum, when Picayune like to have kilt the whole of us."
This was the way a new name was given to us. Not a very elegant one, but one that stayed by ns for several years. Thus we had a busy day, even though it was our first day in Morris. We established our reputa- tion as a "fighter " and have rested since.
WILLIAM E. ARMSTRONG, the founder of Morris, was born in Licking County, Ohio,
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
Oct. 25, 1814, and died Nov. 1, 1850. With his mother's family he moved over- land from Ohio to Illinois in the spring of 1831, and located near where Laeon now stands, in April of that year. In August, of the same year, the family moved to the pres- ent town of Deer Park, La Salle County. A man of great mental and physical strength, he was a born leader of men. In Septem- ber, 1841, he was elected sheriff, and was re-elected several times thereafter. So great was his infinenee that he was gener- ally called " the emperor of Grundy." He always had a host of friends, who looked upon him as their leader. Yet he never appeared to seek their leadership. It was accorded him. In energy, persever- anee and business tact, he had few equals. He could plan and exceute great under- takings, where the common man and mind could see nothing to do. Ile was probably the ablest man Grundy County ever had. He with his wife and two daughters moved from Ottawa here in March, 1841, and took possession of the Chapin log cabin before described. With him came GEORGE H. KIERSTED, a graduate of South College, Kentucky. M). Kiersted was a man of lib- eral education and magnificent physical form, a man who would attract attention and admiration among a crowd of hundreds of fine looking men. There was a peculiar dignity-yca, majesty in his very step, whilst every motion of his fine form was graceful and easy. About six feet in height, with broad shoulders and powerful limbs, yet he was as aetive as a eat; even up to the time of his death, which occurred but a few years since, he could turn a hand- spring on the barn floor. With clear blue eyes, finely shaped head and remarkably
pure complexion, he was a very handsome man. Fond of music, poetry and flowers, and a poet himself of no common type, yet too modest to let his poetry see the light of publication. Possessed of a fine tenor voice, and master of the flute, and of great conversational powers, he was a wel- come guest and leader of society. His life and history here are parts and parcels of the history of Morris. He was generous to a fault, and acquired money only for its use. Next to Mr. A. no man ever excelled him in influence in Grundy County. He was defeated for the office of reeorder by Mr. L. W. Claypool, May 24, 1841, and then accepted a position as assistant engi- neer on the canal, making his home still here. Ile married Miss B. Kelley, the ac- complished sister-in-law of James Nagle, and upon the death of Mr. Nagle succeeded him as clerk of the county commissioners, court, June 5, 1843, which office he con- tinned to hold until the office was changed to eounty elerk, in 1849. He also heid the office of clerk of the circuit court from 1842 to 1853, and postmaster a short time under Polk's administration, but resigned it in favor of the writer in the spring of 1864. He died poor, leaving a large family-all daughters. The eldest, Anna, is the wife of D. C. Huston, Esq .; the second, Abbie M., is the wife of Alex- ander Burrell, Esq., both of Morris. Both are ladies of fine physique and intelli- genec. PASCHIAL PAOLA CHAPIN, before mentioned, was a brother of John P. Cha- pin, one of the proprietors of Morris and came here in 1842 to look after his brother's interest. A natural wag, yet handsome and accomplished. We find him acting as, elerk pro tem. of the county commissioners
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
court in the fall of 1842. He was the first clerk of the circuit court of the county and " a hale fellow well met," in all the public gatherings of the time. He went by the name of P'Flora P'Nellic or P. Chapin, and left here about the year 1845 and died in Wisconsin lately. He was " a gay and fes- tive old bach," ever ready for sport and fun. Of medium size, dark complexion, jet black hair and whiskers, he was decidedly handsome. JAMES HART came here with his family in the fall of 1841 and located his cabin near the Cedar Pole on Wanponsee street. Ile was a giant in size and strengthi and possessed of good executive ability. In company with Mr. Armstrong he took one or two contracts on the canal, one of them being that portion which passes through Morris. Teams and scrapers in digging canals had not come into nse at that time, and if they had, they could not have been obtained, for they were not in the country. The work was done with the shovel and barrow, a very slow and expensive mode of digging a canal. In this slow mode of canal building, Mr. Hart was well educated, and would have made money on their con- tracts if the State had not gone into prac- tical bankruptcy and paid their estimates in scrip, worth only about 333 cents on the dollar. Notwithstanding this ruinous depreciation in the funds, Messrs. Arm- strong & Hart finished up their contracts at a heavy financial loss. At the regular election, Aug. 7, 1843, Mr. Hart was elect- ed school commissioner of the county and qualified as such Sept. 4th, giving a $12,000 bond, which office he held to the time of his death, which occurred in 1844. He left quite a family, of whom Mrs. Thomas Reynolds, Mrs. Wm. Telfer and John
Hart, our popular blacksmith, still reside in Morris. MICHAEL DEPRENDEGAST came here from Ottawa in the winter of 1843-4 and built a double log cabin where the First National Bank of Morris now stands. Elected to the office of justice of the peace soon after coming here, he held that office up to August, 1846, when he was elected probate justice of the peace. For him nature did but little, education much. He made a good justice of the peace and by no means a bad probate judge. He had been admitted to the bar, but never practiced as a lawyer. A man of inordinate vanity, he was extremely susceptible to flattery, but his honesty and integrity were never ques- tioned. He built the fine brick block at the corner of Washington and Wauponsec streets, known now as the Bank Block, but during his life-time as the " Pendegrass Block." It was asserted by some that his name when he came from Ireland was Pen- degrass and that for style he changed it to " DePrendegast " to make it Frenchy and aristocratic. IIe died about the year 1870, leaving his widow and one son surviving; both of whom died shortly after, leaving an estate for litigation without direct heirs. LUTHER S. ROBBINS, M. D., moved to Mor- ris from the Sulphur Springs, sonth of this city, in 1842, and took possession of the Chapin cabin when Mr. Armstrong moved to the Grundy Hotel. Dr. Robbins was doubt- Jess the first regular physician of Grundy County, having located at the Sulphur Springs, now owned by George Harold, in 1834. He was elected probate justice of the peace in 1843 which he held to the time of his death, April 1, 1845. He was a man of good acquirements with considerable skill as a physician.
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
BARTHOLOMEW MCGRATHI came here from Dresden and built the " Morris Hotel " in 1843, which stood at southwest corner of Main and Liberty streets where the Gib- bard brick block now stands. A natural mathematician and fine business man, he had been engaged for several years preceding as a canal contractor, and was elected one of the county commissioners to succeed Henry Cryder, Esq., Aug. 7, 1843. This office he filled with credit to himself, and satisfaction to the county for several years, and died of consumption, very generally regretted, in 1846, Icaving a widow and three children, two of whom now survive, viz .: Thomas E. and Samnel D. McGrath, the former of this city, the latter a com- positor on the Chicago Times. Ilis widow became the wife of Col. James H. O'Brien, and died here in 1850.
JOHN McNELLIS, or black Jack, as he was sometimes called, came here from Ottawa in 1844, and built a frame house, on the spot now occupied by Brown's drug store, for a boarding house and saloon. Unable to read or write, yet nature supplied this defect by giving him a large, well balanced and active brain. He did a good business, and accumulated some means so that when the canal was opened in 1848 he was able to purchase a fine canal boat, and chris- tened it the General Shields. With this boat and the exercise of good judgment in the purchase and sale of grain, he made considerable money. What would have seemed to others a misfortune not unfre- quently proved to him fortunate. For in- stance, on one occasion he bought several thousand bushels of wheat, which were shipped on the General Shields for the Chicago market; while on its way a break
in the canal detained the boat some fifteen days, during which time the price of wheat went up several cents per day, so that he nearly doubled his money on this venture. When the canal trustees held their public sale here, Mr. McNellis purchased sixty acres of land, all now within the corporate limits of the city of Morris. He also purchased at that sale several other tracts of land. Honest in his dealings with the farmers lic gained their con- fidence and good will to such a degree, that, other things being equal, he got their grain. Erecting a warehouse where the McEwen warehouse now stands, he did the leading grain business for many years. Having purchased the fine farm lying northwest . of Morris, now owned by William Stephens and occupied by his son Charles, he built the fine brick dwelling thereon, and other- wise improved the place so as to make it one of the best farms of the county. A devout Catholic in religion, and feeling the want of education himself, he erected a fine four story brick building, and with ten acres of land surrounding it, he donated it for a " Catholic School forever." Thns was St. Angela's Convent, which is an honor to our city-founded. It was the munifi- cent gift of John McNellis. Nor were his church donations confined to his own church; having also given to the Catholic church two acres of land for a church building and parsonage, he also subscribed and paid $3,000 toward the erection of the splendid Catholic Church edifice, and then gave $250 to the Congregational, $100 to the Presbyterian, $100 to the Baptist,and $250 to the Episcopal Churches of Morris. Dona- tions whose aggregate amount would make a moderate fortune to any individual. Bn+
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
he met with reverses and is now old and poor. Highwines, at one time during the
war, went up to a high figure, which in- duced him to erect a distillery at the An Sable, some six miles east of Morris. This
proved his downfall. Of the practical
awhile, but finding it was proving a heavy edge whatever. IIe tried to operate it working of a distillery he had no knowl-
loss, he then leased it to parties who ran
mentally and physically, and is compelled government, he has become broken down, the property being restored to him by the ted. What, between litigation and hope of by the government and virtually confisca- " erooked," when his property was seized
· to live on small means and cheaply. No man has done more toward the material
prosperity of Morris, than John MeNellis.
His brother-in-law, JUDGE PATRICK
started a blacksmith shop (the first in the HYNDS, came here also in 1844, built and
place) on the lot just north of the present residence of his widow. He was elected
Justice of the Peace soon after coming
here, and such was his fine sense of even-
handed justice that he gave very general
satisfaction as such. Indeed, his decisions
were seldom if ever reversed on appeal.
snitable person to fill the vacancy in the Ilis fine judgment pointed him out as a
office of County Judge on the resignation
special election and re-elected in 1853 at year he was elected County Judge at a of Judge Henry Storr, in 1851. In that
ercised certain chancery jurisdiction, he tion to the amount of $1,000, and ex- County Court had a common law jurisdic- the regular election. Notwithstanding the
discharged the duties thereof very satisfac- torily to the bar and the people, though he
was not a lawyer, nor indeed had he ever read law. He die 1 of consumption in 1860,
leaving a widow and three children, all of whom are still living. Judge Hynds was in many respects a remarkable man. He
was a warnı true friend, of positive eharac-
There was no halfway business in his con- honor. What he promised, that he did. ter, generous impulses and high-toned
position. His rule of life and conduct were based upon this thought : Whatever is honest must be right-whatever is dis- honest is a crime that should be punished.
MAHLON P. WILSON, whose adz and driver have been heard from early morn
to dewy eve for nearly forty years, was the first cooper of Morris. Indeed, we may say the only one, except his brother Alex-
the 10th of May, 1844, Mahlon P. with his ander, who came many years later. On
log cabin erected for a boarding house for wife and one child moved into the double the fine residence of S. S. Strong, Esq. canal hands, on the spot now occupied by
Here he opened his shop and commenced the manufacture of barrels, firkins, etc., which he has carried on continuously in now oeenpied by the McCann briek build- he ereeted a small frame house on the spot Morris for over thirty-eight years. In 1845
family into it and opened a boarding house. ing on Washington street, and moved his
This building was but 16 by 24 feet, if we
remember aright. When Messrs. Le Roy &
Hannah built the brick building, this house
was removed and is still standing as a part
we believe). For many years past, his shop of the Clifton House (forming the kitchen,
has been on Canal street, east of the court honse, where from morn till late at night his driver and adz are in constant motion.
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
Industrious, and by no means extravagant, yet he never made a fortune. He, however, succeeded in keeping out of debt, raising and educating a large family. He is now sixty-five years of age, hale and hearty and as slim as a shad, yet tough as sole leather. Though not an Episcopalian, he is decidedly neutral in polities and religion. He never sought nor held an office, and seldom at- tended a church, but for all that he is a moral man and a good citizen.
PATRICK KELLEY, a man of large size and great physical strength, opened a saloon- or grocery as then ealled-in a shanty on the corner of Main and Wauponsee streets. He was deputy sheriff under Mr. Arm- strong, and at the election of 1846 he was elected recorder over Henry Storr, although he received few or no votes outside of the. laborers on the canal. In those days the canal vote was by no means an uncertain or doubtful element in elections of county offieers in Grundy County. They consti- tuted a clear majority of the legal voters of the county, and when united they " lieked the platter clean." In 1846 the canal vote swept the boards, except for sheriff. Mr. Armstrong succeeded in diverting a part of their vote, and was re-elected. Mr. Kelley, by the assistance of Dr. A. F. Hand, man- aged to do the recording passably well. The doetor in those days was slightly given to the spread eagle, and decorated several pages of the records with counterfeit pre- sentments of that famous bird. Mr. Kelley was a mason by trade and a good one. Ile died in this eity some years sinee, leaving two highly educated and accomplished daughters.
ADAM LAMB, or more generally known as Scotch Lamb, was a canal contractor
and came here in 1844 and built what was known as the " Mud House," for a store. This house stood on Washington street nearly opposite the present Normal School building. It was merely an adobe build- ing-the first and last of its kind. The clay would not resist the rain; it simply melted. To protect it a coat of lime and sand mortar had to be spread ontside. The cohesion of the mud was insufficient to hold the mortar, hence the latter fell off in patches, leaving the surface irregular and decidedly resembling a clear case of small pox. It stood, however, for many years and was the regular " catch basin" for new- comers to tarry in for a time until they conld do better. Its last nse was for the printing office of the Morris Yeoman, the first newspaper published in Morris. This was too weighty and the poor old adobe caved in and its debris was hauled away. Mr. Lamb was not only a ripe seholar but a finished Seotch gentleman; at one time a member of the elub of Edinburgh eritics. He was a bachelor with jet black hair and whiskers, with fair complexion and symmet- rical form; he was remarkably handsome. He left here for Chicago on business, and never returned, leaving a large amount of property and unsettled business, He was free from debt and had considerable money on his person when he started to Chicago. He was heard from in New York city, where all trace of him ceased. It was sup- posed that he took a sudden notion to re- turn to "Bonnie Scotland " for a visit, but he never reached there; he was probably killed and robbed in the city of New York. This was in 1846, and his brother closed up his business here and sold ont the store to the writer. Weare uncertain whether this
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