USA > Illinois > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 2
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ILLINOIS IN 1822.
(From the American Atlas published in Philadelphia in 1822.)
SITUATION, BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT.
Illinois is situated between 36° 58' and 42° 30' N. lat. and 10° 20' and 14° 21' W. long. It is bounded north by the North West Territory; east by Indiana; south by Kentucky, and west by Missouri. Its medium length is about 365 miles, and medium breadth 162, the area being about 59,000 square miles, or 37,760,000 acres.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY, SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS.
The greater part of the State is either flat or undulating. Extensive prairies constitute two-thirds of its surface. The soil may be divided into six classes : I. Bottoms, bearing a heavy growth of timber. This land is of the first quality, and is found on all the principal rivers. It varies in width from 50 rods to two miles, and is of inexhaustible fertility. 2. Newly-formed land found at the mouths of rivers. There are many thousand acres of this land at the mouth of the Wabash, and at the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi. It is annually inundated, and is very unhealthy. 3. Dry prairies, approaching the rivers ail bordering on the bottom land, but elevated from 30 to 100 feet. 'T'he prairies of the Illinois river are the most extensive of any east of the Mississippi, and have alone been estimated at 1,200,000 acres. The soil is not inferior to the first-rate river bottoms. 4. Wet prairies, found remote from rivers or at their sources. This soil is generally cold and barren, abounding with swamps and ponds, and covered with a tall coarse grass. 5. Timbered land, moderately hilly, well watered, and of a rich soil. 6. Hills, of a sterile soil, and destitute of timber, or covered with stinted oaks and pines. Corn is at present the staple production of the State. Wheat does well, except on the bottoms, where the soil is too rich. Tobacco grows to great perfection. Flax, hemp, oats, Irish and sweet potatoes succeed as well as in Kentucky. Among the mineral productions are iron, coal, and copper. Salt springs are also numerous.
RIVERS.
The State is bordered on three sides by the great rivers Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi. The Illinois is formed by the Kankakee and the Plaines, which unite near the N. E. corner of the Seate. It pursues a south westerly course of nearly 400 miles, and joins the Mississippi 18 miles above the mouth of the Missouri. It his a gentle current, unbroken by rapids, and is navigable for boats throughout its whole course. The Kaskaskia rises in the N. E. part of the State, and running S. W. falls into the Mississippi 84 miles below the mouth of the Illinois, and 100 above that of the Ohio. It is navigable for 150 miles. Saline Creek falls into the Ohio 20 miles below the mouth of the Wabash. It is navigable 30 miles. There are salt work« belonging to the United States on this stream, 20 miles from its mouth. The Little Wahash falls into the Wabash a few miles from its mouth.
CLIMATE.
The climate is in general very favorable. In the south it is sufficiently mild to raise colton ; and peaches come to maturity in the northern parts. It is generally healthy and agreeable.
CHIEF TOWNS.
Kaskaskia, lately the seat of government, is on the right bank of Kaskaskia River, 11 miles from its mouth. It contains a bank, a land office, a printing office, and about 160 houses, scattered over an extensive plain. The town was settled upwards of a hundred years ago hy emigrants from Lower Canada, and about one-half of the inhabitants are French. The surrounding country is under good cultivation. Cahokia is a French settlement, on the Mississippi, 52 miles N. W. of Kaskaskia, and 5 miles below St. Louis. Shawneetown is on the north bank of the Ohio, 12 miles below the mouth of the Wabash,
and 12 miles east of the salt works belonging to the United States, on Saline creek. The inhabitants are supported principally by the profits of the salt trade. Edwardsville is a flourishing town on Cahokia river, 22 miles N. E. of St. Louis. Vandalia, 50 miles N. E. of Edwardsville, is now the seat of government.
CIVIL DIVISIONS AND POPULATION.
Counties.
Inhabitants.
Gallatin
3,155
White
4,828
Edwards
3,444
Franklin
1,763
Washington
1,517
Bond
2,931
Alexander
626
Jackson
1,542
Randolph
3,492
St. Clair
5,253
Madison.
13,550
Union
2,362
Wayne.
1,114
Jefferson
691
Monroe
1,537
Crawford
3,022
Clark
931
Pope.
2,610
Johnson
843
55,21I
In 1810 the population was 12,282; in 1818, 35,220; in 1820, 55,211, and is very rapidly increasing. The settlements at present are confined to the southern portion of the State, and the neighborhood of the great rivers. The number of slaves in 1810 was 168. The constitution provides that no more slaves shall be introduced into the State.
GOVERNMENT.
The constitution of Illinois was adopted by a convention held at Kaskaskia, on the 6th of August, 1818. It provides for the distribution of the powers of government into three departments. The legislative authority is vested in a general assembly, composed of a senate and house of representatives, the members of each of which bodies are elected every two years by the people. The senators vacate their seats in rotation. The Governor is chosen every fourth year by the people, and, at the same period, a Lieutenant-Governor is chosen in the same manner. The governor and judges of the supreme court constitute a council of revision, to which all bills that have passed the assembly must be presented Although the council of revision may return a bill with their objections, a majority of the members of both houses may pass it into a law. The governor nominates, and with the consent of the senate, appoints to all offices not otherwise provided for in the constitution. .The right of suffrage is universal. All white male inhabitants who have resided in the State six months preceding elections, enjoy the rights of electors ; and it is provided that all votes shall be given viva voce, until altered by the general assembly. The judicial power is vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the general assembly may from time to time establish. The supreme court consists of a chief justice and three associates, who are appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the assembly, and hold their offices until 1824, at which time their commissions expire; hut after that period the justices of the supreme court and of the inferior courts hold their offices during good behaviour.
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HISTORY
OF
JACKSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
BY JAS. H. BROWNLEE, A. M.
CHAPTER E.
PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS.
" Through the long vista of departed years, The kindling eye now gazes-dimmed with tears ; And now, with magic power, behold, it brings The sweets of memory-without its stings ! But tongues more tuneful shall thesc seenes rehearse, --- For mine but heralds many a nobler verse."
N the following pages is related, from the best attainable sources, the history of the first settlement of our county. No labor has been spared to make the narrative both interesting and complete ; yet we are painfully aware that it is in some things defective. Nor, indeed, is it possible for it to be otherwise. No newspapers were published here, in early times, in whose musty and preserved files we might find authentic data. Many events and anecdotes worthy of insertion here have faded from the memories of the living. All available sources of information have been consulted, and nothing has been omitted which, in our opinion, reflects light upon the past history of our county. The picture here drawn of the pioneers and first settlers, their modes of living, their cus- toms, habits and amusements, while necessarily lacking entire completeness, we feel, so far as it goes, is accurate and truthful.
While engaged in the agreeable work of preparing these annals, we have been conscious only of a desire to perform our task with fidelity to facts; to sketch life-like portraits of the bold men and brave women who played their parts so, well. in the morning twilight of our county's history, upon life's stage.
A record of those to whom we of this generation are so greatly indebted, while falling short of that fulness and accuracy which so greatly enhances the value of a work of this character, cannot fail to prove at once highly interesting and greatly instructive. It would have been far better for this people, and for the future Macaulay of this great valley, had an historian of the founders and first immigrants of this county,-of their privations and distresses, of their heavy sorrows and simple joys, of their free-hearted hospi- tality, of their courage and daring in the day and hour of danger, of the pro- phetic hope which stimulated them always, and, together with their trust in Providence, enabled them to successfully combat the dark throng of dangers that cruelly beset them,-sooner appeared. Most of their number have passed from among us to the narrow house appointed for all the living, and the silent tomb which received their worn frames, received also the host of recollection, and anecdote, and reminiscence, which was of priceless value. The remorseless grave keeps well the secrets committed to its bosom. . But it is well that at last the work of gathering together the meagre and scattered records of the past, for the instruction of those who are to inhabit this land, and for the benefit of the student of history, has at last been attempted, before the last gray-haired actors of an earlier day, are called to travel into God's presence, there to be reunited to the friends of their youth, and com- panions of their toils and dangers. We are heirs of the past, but we are also debtors of the past. Are we not too apt to forget how great is our obligation
to the hardy men and noble women who, two generations ago, bade farewell to the homes of their fathers and familiar scenes of their youth, nud traveled westward to the great Mississippi Valley, to lay broad, deep .und strong, the foundations of a mighty state, under whose protection a p . ,perous and happy people, might enjoy without stint the blessings of liberty az { peace ?
A majority of them brought with them little that we call we . but they brought what, to the settler in an unbroken wilderness, is of ne value,- industrious and frugal habits, stout and enduring muscles, od contented and brave hearts. Since first their eyes beheld the country, how changed is the scene! The physical features of the landscape remain nearly the same. The same sky, not less blue, not less bright, arches above it as of yore ; the same hills rear their crests, and stand, like sentinels, along our western boundaries ; the same majestic river, the noblest of the earth, rolls ceaselessly along our border to pour its mighty tribute of waters into the ocean. but the damp and almost impenetrable forest has largely disappeared before the axe of the woodman, as have its beasts before his rifle ; while white-walled farm- houses, the abodes of happiness, are seen wherever you turn your eye,
" And forest, and field, and meadow, As a carpet, checker the land."
Fair towns and pleasant villages have gathered their happy populations, and resound with the "hum of men." Railroads run as great arteries through hill and across dale, while telegraph wires have woven a net-work over the land. Temples of knowledge, where children gather with earnest. inquiring eyes, to learn the way of wisdom, are multiplied, till there is room for all ; and temples of religion, where all ages gather to learn the way of holiness, point with burnished spires towards the utter peace and solemnity of the skies.
" A debt we ne'er can pay, To them is justly due."
The early settlers, through unremitting toil and great hardship, through great sacrifice and manifold dangers, have made possible the degree of leisure and culture we enjoy to-day, and the progress of science and art, of letters and high philosophy, in the great valley of the west. The germ of the beneficent school system, on which the hope of the Republic rests, and which unrolls the ample page of knowledge, "rich with the spoils of time," alike to the child from the mansion and the hovel, was planted by their hands and watered by their care. They brought with them the cheer- ing ceremonies of a pure religion, which to-day elevates and consoles the hearts of the children of men. They laid the foundations of the grand state of Illinois, which to-day presses closely on towards her predestined place as first of all the sisterhood.
We say, then, all honor to those
" Who travailed in pain with the births of God, And planted a state with prayers. Hunting of witches and warlocks, Smiting the heathen horde; One hand on the mason's trowel, And one on the soldier's sword."
A few who are well nigh worn out in the battle and toil of life linger
11
12
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
among us. They deserve well of their country, and of the younger genera- tion that has grown up around them. Let them feel that we are not un- grateful to them for their unselfish devotion to liberty, for their sacrifice and toil, and while we reap the grand harvest their hands have sown, let us cause them to feel that we honor them, and that their deeds will be held in grate- ful remembrance by us and by our children.
In the midst of the beautiful and fertile land they wrested from the wild beast of the forest, and from the fiercer red man, who contended desperately for the inheritance of his fathers, they shall sweetly sleep, while ages glide away, leaving behind them a race that will read with never-flagging interest the record of their lives, which furnishes noble examples of manly daring and womanly heroism; examples of fortitude under trial, and patience in affliction, which commend themselves to our hearts. And as we dwell upon the pages made glorious by their deeds, let us highly resolve to emulate their virtues.
A contemplation of the integrity of the fathers, can but be beneficial at this age. We need more of that austerity of virtue and simplicity of taste that characterized the people of that earlier day.
" Let us so live that when our summons comes
To join the innumerable caravan that moves to the pale realms of shade, Where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death, That we shall go, not like the quarry slave, scourged to his dungeon, But, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, We shall approach our graves like one that wraps the drapery of his couch about him, And lies down to pleasant dreams."
EARLY SETTLERS AND PIONEERS. Song of the Pioneers. BY WM. D. GALLAGHER.
A song for the early times out west,
And our green old forest liome, Whose pleasant memories freshly yet Across the bosom come :
A song for the free and gladsome life, In those early days we led,
With a teeming soil beneath our feet, And a smiling Heaven o'erhead !
Oh, the waves of life danced merrily, .And had a joyous flow, In the days when we were Pioncers, Fifty years ago!
The hunt, the shot, the glorious chase, The captured elk or deer;
The camp, the big, bright fire, and then The rich and wholesome cheer; The sweet, sound sleep, at dead of night, By our camp-tire, blazing high- Unbroken by the wolf's long howl, And the panther springing by.
Oh, merrily passed the time, despite Our wily Indian foe, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago!
We shunn'd not labor : when 'twas due, We wrought with right good will ; And for the homes we won for them, Our children bless us still. We lived not hermit lives, but oft In social converse met ;
And fires of love werc kindled then, That burn on warmly yet. Oh, pleasantly the stream of life Pursued its constant flow, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago!
We felt that we were fellow-men; We felt we were a band, Sustain'd here in the wilderness By Heaven's upholding hand. And when the solemn Sabbath came, We gathered in the wood, And lifted up our hearts in prayer To God, the only Good. Our temples then were earth and sky- None othera did we know- In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago!
Our forest life was rough and rude, And dangers clos'd us round ; But here, amid the green old trecs, Freedom was sought and found. Oft through our dwellings wintry blasts Would rush with shriek and moan; We cared not-though they were but frail, We felt they were our own! Oli, free and manly lives we led, 'Mid verdure, or 'mid snow, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago !
But now our course of life is short; And as, from day to day, We're walking on with halting step, And fainting by the way, Another land, more bright than this, To our dim sight appears, And on our way to it we'll soon Again be pioneers !
Yet, while we linger, we may all A backward glance still throw, To thic days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago !
CHAPTER II.
CIVIL HISTORY.
FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGISLATOR ELECTED-FIRST SENATOR ELECTED-STATE BANK CREATED-FIRST GRAND JURORS-LICENSE TO SELL LIQUORS-FIRST COUNTY JUDGE -CLERKS -SHERIFFS - ATTORNEYS - TREASURERS - CIRCUIT CLERKS - COUNTY SURVEYORS-SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES-COUNTY SENT CHANGED -INDEBTEDNESS-FLOOD OF 1844-MUDDY SALINE RESERVATION-THE BAR-THE GREAT REBELLION-ASSESSMENTS.
N the preparation of this chapter, one of the most important con- tained in the entire work, we have been greatly embarrassed by the difficulty or impossibility, in some cases, of procuring very accurate data. This arises not from the condition, but from the absence of county records ; and this lamentable fact is explained when we know that nearly all records and books of the county were destroyed in the conflagration that in 1843 consumed the court-house at the then county seat, Brownsville. Some of thesc, indeed, were restored by the Board of Investigation created by act of Legislature, but they were comparatively few, and mainly were deeds and land titles. The names of early county officials, the services, the dates of their entrance upon aud withdrawal from office are entirely lost, or exist only in the fading remembrance of aged citizens.
We submit this chapter to our patrons and to criticism checrfully, how- ever, and with that degree of satisfaction which arises from a consciousness that we have done the best that could be done under the untoward conditions and circumstances that encircled us. Thorough search of all existing records at the county seat have been instituted, during which the officials in charge have, in all ways, extended valuable assistance.
Prior to 1795 this county was embraced within the widely capacious limits of the county of St. Clair. In that year Gen. Arthur St. Clair organized the county of Randolph, and thenccforward, or for a period of 21 years, the soil of this county formed a portion of Randolph, the county seat of which was the historic Kaskaskia. In 1816 the demands of the settlements within our limits were acceded to, and Jackson county was formed. It is bounded on the north by Randolph and Perry counties, on the cast by Franklin and Williamson, on the south by Union, while on the west it is bounded by the Mississippi. Its territory is large, consisting of 497 square miles, or 318,080 acres. The soils and woods, the valuable minerals, the geography and climatology, the fauna and flora of this large domain have been fully noticed in another part of this work, and need not be dwelt on here. When this county sprang into being in obedience to legislative mandate, Illinois was yet a territory, the most part of which was a wilderness, the greater portion of whose vast solitudes had never been trodden by the foot of civilized man.
Remarkable, indeed, have the events and revolutions, the discoveries and inventions that have occurred and been made on this earth of ours since
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Jackson had her birth. Napoleon, the most wonderful warrior that "ever rose or reigned or fell," has since fretted out his life on a lone island in the south Atlantic, where British fear and hate had confined him; Scott and Taylor, and Grant and Sherman and Lee, have been placed in military an- nals amongst the great captains of history; Byron, the greatest poet of modern times, has closed his brief and sad, yet splendid career; Keats and Hunt, Tennyson aud Browning, Bryant and Longfellow, Whittier and Lowell have sung ; Irving and Hawthorn, and Thackeray and Dickens have won their place amongst the masters of English ; the " god-like," matchless Webster, the impassioned and eloquent Clay, and the powerful and meta- physical Calhoun, have risen to eminence, shed new lustre upon their country aud their race, and sunk iuto the bosom of the grave; Agassiz and Darwiu and Huxley, Priestley and Faraday, and Miller aud Lyell, and a host of coadjutors have extended the circle of science; Charles Lamb, the most ad- mired of English humorists, has written the Essays of Elia ; aud Thomas de Quincy, the greatest master of Euglish prose the world has seen, has pub- lished his Confessions of an English Opium Eater ; Macaulay has written in noble and eloqueut strains, unrivalled for their display of learuiug, aptness, aud richuess of illustration and imagery, the great history of his native land ; Bancroft and Prescott, and Hildreth and Motley, of our own country, have won high rank amoug the historiaus of the earth ; Chalmers and Chanuing, Spurgeon and Punshon, and Beecher and Moody have enforced the duties of morality and religion, with a force and eloqueuce not inferior to that of a Massillon or a Bossuet or a Taylor; Stuart Mill has arisen as a bright star upon the horizon of philosophy, aud Carlyle upon that of history and philo- sophy ; aud Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, the world's most illustrious son, has been crowned Saviour of his Country and Beuefactor of Maukiud. Then, too, since has the broad bosom of that mighty river, which forms the western limit of our county, been first furrowed by the rushing kecl of the steamboat ; the voice of Stephenson's locomotive has been first heard in our land ; Morse, the American scientist, has discovered how to send that subtle agent, electricity, on its lightning pinions, to do the bidding of man ; Charles Goodyear has discovered how to make vulcanized rubber, and McCormack, to the wheat-growing belt, the reaper; the Oceau Cable has been laid by Field aloug the " slimy bottom of the deep ;" aud the Atlantic aud Pacific have becu bound together by iron bands ; while Howe has been distinguished by the public as the inventor of the sewing machine; Florida has been obtained of Spain, and Alaska has been purchased of Russia, while Mexico has been conquered, and a magnificent domain rescued from her grasp aud added to our western border ; the centre of population has travelled more than 300 miles westward along the 39th parallel, and the population has increased from 8,000,000 to more than 40,000,000; the constellation upon the blue field of our flag has been increased and made more glorious by the addition of 29 stars, representing 29 states ; St. Louis has grown from a mere trading post to a city of 500,000 inhabitants, while upon the shore of Lake Michigan there has arisen, as if through enchantment, a city which claims the proud title of "Queen of the West and North." Jackson county from near 1;200 has swelled her numbers to nearly 25,000, and Illinois from a population of near 33,000 has advanced to more than 3,000,000 ; gold has been discovered in the far west, and has now gathered her busy populations ; and finally, the great war for the Union has been fought and won.
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