USA > Illinois > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Illinois > Part 22
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Publie. So he had three offices when he came to the county in the spring of. 1819, and was soon appointed to a fourth. Yet there was so little business that he found time to attend to them all, and besides to teach a school-the first ever taught in the county. Such was the man who held one, or rather several, of the most important offices of the county, and for almost twenty years faithfully discharged his official duties. The carly officers of the county were faithful and efficient, but none of them wore the official harness so long without rest as did Mr. Pace. This, however, is not intended as a reflection upon those who have held office under the elective system ; for truly Jefferson has been favored in the official integrity of its public servants in late years, as well as in the early period of its existence, as that pattern of old fidelity, Mr. Bogan, so eminently proves, with its many other true and faithful officers.
It was during the memorable campaign of 1840 that the " Liberty party" was organized and a ticket for President and Vice President was nominated. For several years previous to this, the anti-slavery agitation had been making slowly, but unmistakingly, its deep impressions upon the public mind, and more especially the minds of the religious portion of the people North and East, but it was not until about this period that the friends of the cause of emanci- pation proposed political action. James G. Birney, a former slave-holder of Kentucky, but then a resident of Michigan, was placed at the head of the ticket, and Thomas Morris, of Ohio, was placed second. This ticket had but little popularity so far west as Illinois, and was scarcely heard of in the southern part of the State. The small vote polled for the ticket throughout the country was taken principally from the Whig party. Four years later, the vote of the party was largely inercased. This organization was believed by many of its friends, and doubtless was, premature and mis- guided, but no party was ever actuated by
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loftier or purer motives. The anti-slavery movement, at that time, was not larger than the cloud the Hebrew prophet saw, that so rapidly spread over the whole heavens and filled the earth with refreshing showers. At that time, no one expected to live to see the institution of ne- gro slavery in America abolished, but in less than the period allotted by Providenee to a generation of men, by an amendment to the Federal Con- stitution, slavery, and involuntary servitude of every species, in all the States and Territories belonging to the American Union, was forever abolished.
But notwithstanding the drafts the anti-slav- ery party, the temperance party, and other par- ties from time to time made upon the Whigs, they continued to be one of the ruling parties until the repeal of the Missonri Compromise in 1854, which led to the organization of the Republican party, and the absorption of the Whig, as well as the Liberty, or Abolition, party, For a quarter of a century the Repub- lican has been the dominant party in Illinois, bnt has never attained to a majority in Jeffer- son County.
That other political organization -- the Demo- cratie party-which sprang into existence or, assumed distinctive form during the administration of Gen. Jackson, is still one of the great political parties of the eoun- try. For fifty years it has maintained its or- ganization without change of name or prinei- ples, and to-day the indications for its success were never more flattering. It has always been the ruling party in this county. Indeed, the county has been and is still a stronghold of Democracy. Many of the early settlers fought under Gen. Jackson in the Indian wars of the the South, and were with him at New Orleans, and it is not strange, nor was it inconsistent with their duty or honor that they should look upon the old hero in the light of their political pa- tron saint. And when he had passed away to his reward, they reverently placed his mantle
upon the worthy shoulders of Stephen A. Douglas, and accepted him as their leader. With unbounded faith in the wisdom of their choice, they transferred their political allegiance to the " Little Giant," and in all party fights they rallied around him as solidly as the Old Guard around Napoleon at Waterloo, or the Stonewall brigade, of Confederate fame, around its idolized leader. When his sun went down forever in the dark political storms of 1860, they, so to speak, "hung their harps upon the willow," and mourned as those without hope and without faith. But eventually they aroused anew for the fight, and now they present to their political enemies a solid and unbroken front.
Other political parties have sprung up in the county, and in the country at large, and under the name of "Greenbackers," " Prohibition- ists," " Independents," "Grangers," etc., have flourished for a period to a greater or less extent, and succeeded sometimes in electing their candidates to office, but only in a very few instances. It is not probable that any of them will rise into formidable opponents of the two great ruling parties. The county is and doubtless will continue largely Democratic for years to come.
Zadok Casey .- It is eminently appropriate in the political history of the county to notice at length some of those active spirits who par- ticipated in the early politics, and bore a promi- nent part in the scenes and the times of which we are writing. Indeed, the political history would be incomplete without sketches of those men who contributed so largely in molding the political life and affairs of the county. Foremost of the list, as well as first in chrono- logieal order, is the Hon. Zadok Casey, who for a long period of his life devoted his time and his talents to the service, in one capacity or another. of his country and his fellow-men.
Zadok Casey was born in the State of Geor- gia March 17, 1796, and was the youngest
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child of Randolph and Mary Jane (Pen- nington) Casey. He was married, when scarcely twenty years of age, to Rachel King, a daugh- ter of Samuel King. From the pioneer sketches of Mr. Johnson, and from other sources at our command, we gather some of the facts of Mr. Casey's early life, and his removal to this county. Soon after his mar- riage. he began to preach, and kept it up through life, even when most thoroughly en- gaged in politics. He was very poor, and after his father's death the care of his mother devolved on him, as well as that of his own family. When he came to Jefferson County in 1817, he brought her with him, and the worldly goods of them all comprised but a very small number of necessary articles for housekeeping. In a few days after his arrival here, he had selected a location, and beside a large log erected a camp to shelter them until he could build a house. He soon put up a cabin of small logs because there were not men enough in reach to raise a house of large logs. The floor was rough puncheons, the door of clap- boards, beds of board scaffolds, a shovel, a skillet ; this was their early home in Illinois. But he was young, strong, and a good worker, and soon there was a sign of improvement and thrift about his place. Ile was a man of strong character and a powerful native intellect. When he came here he was entirely unedu- cated ; indeed, it is said that he learned his A B C's partly with the aid of his wife after he was married. But his natural thirst for knowl- edge led him to improve every moment, and he eventually became an excellent scholar. As we have said, he was a minister of the Gospel, and continued to preach at intervals during his whole life. But it is principally of his political career we shall speak in this connection.
Mr. Casey's active public life commenced almost with his settlement in the county. He took a prominent part in securing the forma- tion of the county, and was one of the Com-
missioners composing the first County Court. In 1820, lie made his first race for the Legisla- ture against Dr. McLean, of White County, and was defeated, but at the next election (1822) he was elected over his former competi- tor, and was again elected in 1824. In 1826, he was elected to the State Senate for four years, and, in 1830, to the office of Lieutenant Governor, John Reynolds, as already stated, being elected Governor. So great and so uni- versal was his popularity that in his race for the Legislature in 1824. he received every vote cast in the county but one. Before his term as Lieutenant Governor had expired, he was elected to Congress over Mr. Allen, of Clark County. He was re-elected in 1834 over W. H. Davidson, and, in 1836, over Nat Har- merson ; was elected again in 1838, and elected in 1840 over Stinson H. Anderson. But at this session he voted for a national bank, for a bankrupt law and against the independent treasury. This, to a great extent, injured his popularity in the district, and, in 1842, he was defeated by John A. McClernand. This left Gov. Casey for a time to the obscurity of pri- vate life, and for several years he was engaged in local and domestic enterprises. He was elected in 1847, together with Judge Walter B. Scates and F. S. Casey, to the Constitutional Convention, and to him and Judge Seates, more than to any other influence, is Jefferson County and the city of Mount Vernon indebted for the location here of the Supreme Court House. He was elected to the Legislature in 1852, and was a member of the State Senate at the time of his death, September 4, 1862. He was employed by the Ohio & Mississippi Rail- road to secure the right of way through Illi- nois but when the company failed he lost heavily by not being paid for his services.
Gov. Casey was a Democrat in politics, though not as strongly partisan as many of his asso- ciates in public life. There are those who knew him well, that even intimate that his politics were
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" shaky," and that he was disposed to be just a little hypocritical. His great popularity, how- ever, with the mass of the people, refutes all such charges. He was an excellent financier. Though he commenced life poor and penniless, he accumulated considerable property, and in after life, whatever he took in hand seemed sure to prosper. His children were Mahala, Mary Jane, Samuel K., Hiram R., Alice, Newton R., a physician of Mound City, Ill .; Thomas S., of Mount Vernon, one of the Judges of this judicial circuit ; and John R., a practicing phy- sician at Joliet, Ill.
We have now given in detail the record dates of the birth, removal to Illinois, and the differ- ent important official positions filled by Gov. Casey during life, and it only remains now to fill up the strong outlines of this sketch by a just delineation of those physical, moral and mental characteristics of the man that stand out like the bold promontories that divide the troubled waters and embrace those harbors of safety for the ships upon life's sea. We have sketched his life from his birth in 1796, in the humble pioneer home of his parents in Geor- gia. his early marriage and removal to Illinois in the spring of 1817, where, beholding the territory in all its natural beauties of woodland grove, green prairie sward, decked and covered with rich foliage and lovely flowers, that, becom- ing enamored with so much natural wealth and beauty of country, he determined to make it his permanent home. With his wife and child, he came to what is now Jefferson Coun- ty, and built his rude log cabin upon the spot made historic by his acts, and which will be known to remote history as the old Casey homestead. He was barely twenty-one years of age when he landed in the territory with his little family. They came here, the wife riding the only horse he was able to possess, and car- rying the child and their all of earthiy goods, particularly the " skillet," being strapped to the saddle, and in front of this caravan walked the ; more acceptably advance the cause of Chris-
young husband and father, leading the way with bis rifle upon his shoulder. When, upon the first night of his arrival, he had built his camp fire by the side of a large log, and his wife had set about preparing the first frugal meal, he wandered off a short distance, looking about him, and finally stopped and leaned in wrapt contemplation against a large oak tree, and there, with the silent stars looking down upon him as witnesses, he knelt in prayer and earnest supplication to the great God of the nniverse, and asked that his enterprise might meet the favor of heaven, that his family might be given happiness, health and security, and that be might be only a Christian, sincere man, and an upright, honorable and good citizen. That honest petition to heaven was granted as soon as it was asked, as his great and pure life has so abundantly testified to all the world. Here was the humble beginning of a pioneer life, that was only given for the short space of forty- five years to his family, to his neighbors, to the county, the State and the nation, and yet its impress is everywhere, and its good effects will be known and deeply respected by the millions who may come after him, and are now and will continne to reap what he has sown. He came to Illinois a poor and wholly illiterate young ·man, a wife and child and pony being his chief and nearly the whole of his possessions, and looking much like an awkward, overgrown boy, to whom the alphabet was an unexplored mys- tery. He only knew how to work, and soon a floorless cabin had gathered beneath its clap- board roof his household goods, and his first years were only marked by hard work and bumble Christian piety. There was nothing self-asserting in his nature, and he lived and worked and struggled the true hero, and in front of his fire of an evening, he would lie upon his back, while his wife was singing the song of the spinning-wheel, and aiding him in the mastery of the alphabet, that he might
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tianity. Before he came to Illinois, he had been regularly licensed by his church-the Method- ist Episcopal-to preach the Word of God, and this holy work he continued until the day of his death. He had soon grown into physical and mental strength and symmetry. He was nearly six feet and two inches in height, of perfeet proportions, lithe, active and graceful in his movements, and courtly of manners, his presence in any crowd would arrest the atten- tion and command deference and respect at all times and in all places. Soon he was drawn into political life and into public office, and here he was even a greater man, and wielded a wider influence upon the stump than he had in the pulpit, although in his most active political lite, when a leading politician and office holder in the State, he never relaxed his ministerial duties, but mentally expanded, and grew with all his multifarious work, until, in the very threshold'of his;life, he lived and moved a great, commanding and central figure. With his own strong hand, he was first a great farmer and an eminent financier, calling about him numerous dependents, to whom he was as a kind father and indulgent friend, giving good advice, em- ployment, subsistence, and in the fullness of a 'heart that was big enough to take in all the world, he attached all to him in bands of steel, and at the same time his busy brain thought out schemes of industry, that built up his county and his State beyond any other man of his day or age.
When it is remembered that in the times when Gov. Casey lived his most active young life, when his destiny was shaping itself, the surroundings were such as we know little or nothing of now except by traditions. The pio- neer people were rough, rude, simple, sincere, honest, warm-hearted and hospitable, and the men of mark were mostly brilliant, erratie, often irreverent and dissipated. Their lives were fe- vered and delirious, and upon the rostrum or in the forum, where they would gleam and flash
like blazing meteors, they would easily descend to the revel or orgie, and their flashing lights would be quenched in gloom and darkness. In the society of the young State were the two ex- tremes, the rude simplicity and the gifted, brill- iant children of erratic genius, and amid these surroundings Gov. Casey trod alone his path- way of life, the sincere preacher, the pure and spotless politician and statesman, the great, the grand man of his time.
It was the inherent force of a great mind alone that enabled him to enter upon a long and exciting political campaign, and from the stump to discuss with wonderful power the ab- sorbing and often exasperating questions of the day, and when Sunday came he could gather about him even those who had waged hot po- litical controversy with him all the week, and all thoughts and all stirred up passions were laid aside in a moment, and as the minister of God he would lead the entire flock to the fold of the Great Shepherd-to that fountain of life for all mankind and for the ages. In religion, he was not a fanatic; as a teacher of the truths of Holy Writ, there was not a trace of dogma- tism, and hence in his intercourse with men or in the pulpit, he was as natural, pure and com- manding, as the simple and sublime truths that his life and preaching exemplified.
As a politician, he was equally pre-eminent, whether in the hustings, the Legislature, the State Senate, or the Congress of the United States ; he was respected whether as the hum- blest new member of these bodies, or as the presiding officer, the master spirit of the im- portant committee, or the orator and speaker upon the floor. Here as elsewhere, he was the born leader among men, and his well-poised mind was never at fault-never brought in question the justness of his leadership. His fellow-members in Congress soon learned that | he made no mistakes, and it was an almost every-day occurrence in the State Legislature while he was a member, and the Speaker was
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ealled on to unravel by his rulings some diffi- cult parliamentary question, to announce to the House that the chair " desired to take the opin- ion of the member from Jefferson County," and the business or discussion would suspend until Gov. Casey could be consulted, and the tangled questions be made plain and settled to the complete satisfaction of all.
A grand old man, whose pure and exalted life is one of the most important chapters in the history of the Northwest for the study and contemplation of the youths of our country. His death, in the meridian of his intellectual manhood, was a National grief and calamity, for which a grateful posterity ean only now have the consoling compensation that may come from the pen of the biographer, whom, we trust, may gather the hint from this brief sketeh, and make an immortal book, entitled the " Life and Times of Gov. Casey."
Stinson H. Anderson .- Carlyle said, "great men, taken up in any way, are profitable com- pany." This is very true, like all the aphor- isms that fell from the pen of the great author and essayist. We cannot look, however imper- fectly, upon a great man without gain- ing something by him. He is the living light, fountain of native, original insight of manhood and heroie nobleness, which it is good and pleas- ant to be near. No great man lives in vain. And happy is the country, and happy the com- monwealth, if it produce but one, whether it be a soldier, the foremost of the age, or a states- man who administered the affairs of a nation.
It is the naturally great men-men of strong intellects and force of character-that come to the front when important work is to be done. Such a man was Stinson H. Anderson. He came here at a time when he was most needed, and his finger-marks are still to be seen-tell- ing the story of his handiwork, and writing his epitaph in the hearts not only of his descend- ants, but of the thousands who are reaping and who will in the future enjoy the fruits of his
labors. He came here, no doubt, impelled by the Napoleonic impulse of destiny. A new county was still in its first decade of " success- ful experiment," and while he did not, at onee, rush into the vortex of political and official life, yet he soon became a recognized leader. He drew men to him as the magnet draws the steel. Even his opponents and political enemies ac- knowledged his merits and admitted his power and great intellectual strength.
Gov. Anderson was born in Sumner Coun- ty, Tenn., in 1800, and while still a young man came to Jefferson County. He engaged in agricultural pursuits, and soon became one of the most successful and enterprising farmers of the county. He devoted considerable atten- tion to fine stock, especially to horses, of which he was extremely fond. He loved the fleet- footed coursers, and the sports of the turf were his greatest pleasure and pastime.
In illustration of his love of the turf, the following incident is related of him: He had a little race mare ealled Polly Ann, that he cherished next to his wife and children. He believed that she could outrun any ani- mal (her distance) that stood on four legs in the State of Illinois, and was willing to stake his all on such an issue. Dr. Logan, father of Gen. John A. Logan, the "swarthy Sena- tor from Illinois," had a very fine raee horse -a stallion called Walnut Cracker-of which he entertained much the same opinion as the Governor did of Polly Ann. Logan lived in Jackson County, and after considerable bantering between the owners of the rival nags, a race was finally made-distance 1,000 yards. To sneh a pitch of excitement were the principals wrought up, and so con - fident was each in the speed of his animal, that they staked, not only all their ready cash, but all the property they possessed in the world. The race was run upon Logan's own track at Murphysboro, and Gen. Ander-
LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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son, of Mount Vernon, a son of the Gover- nor, then but a lad, and Gen. John A. Logan, were the riders. When they appeared upon the race track. Walnut Cracker, the Logan horse, came with his head up and nostrils distended, like the war-horse of old, as though he scented the battle from afar, while little Polly Ann stood with her head down and her ears flopped over her eyes, seemingly almost without life. Young Anderson was somewhat awed by the appearance of the Logan horse, and with a sort of whimper, told his father he believed Polly Ann would be beaten. " William," said the Governor, "she's got to beat; if you don't make her win, I'll whip you sir, as a boy was never whipped before, by -- sir!" Such fiery eloquence had its effect on William, and in the race, which followed a few minutes later, Polly Ann passed under the wire several lengths ahead of Walnut Cracker, thus car- rying to the ownership of the Governor all the cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, etc., of Dr. Logan.
But the talents of Gov. Anderson were not destined to be hidden under a bushel, nor his abilities
"To rust unburnished, not to shine in use,"
and duty to his country called him from his plow, Cincinnatus-like, to take his place in her councils. He was elected Representa- tive of Jefferson County in the legislative session of 1832, and re-elected in 1834. He naturally became a leader, as one born to command, and by his rare judgment of men and things, convinced his fellow-members that he committed few errors. In 1838, he was elected Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with Thomas Carlin, and for the snc ceeding four years was the presiding officer, by virtue of his position, of the Senate. Hen. Noah Johnston, who served in the Sen-
ate during those four years, describes him as an able, courteous and dignified presiding officer, and one whose knowledge of parlia- mentary law and usage enabled him to avoid all mistakes. While President of the Senate, says Mr. Johnston, but one of Gov. Ander- son's decisions was appealed from, and in that case he was sustained in his ruling. After the close of his term as Lieutenant Gov. ernor, he entered the United States Army, and was appointed Captain of dragoons, and served in the Florida or Seminole war-a war which continued with varying results for twenty years before the Indians were finally subjugated. He was Warden of the penitentiary at Alton for four years, and upon the accession of Mr. Polk to the Presi- dency, was appointed United States Marshal for the State of Illinois, which position he held until the close of President Polk's term.
Gov. Anderson's political life commenced just at a time when the two great parties as- sumed distinctive names. That of the National Administration took the name of Democrat, and the opposition that of Whig. Gov. Ander- son cast his fortunes with the Democrats, and was ever after a faithful, active and energetic worker for his party. During his Presidency of the State Senate, party strife ran high and the bitterest political vituperation was indulged in by the Whigs and Democrats, but such was his tact and power in the management of men that throughout the stormy sessions of his official term he maintained the profound re- spect of the opposition as well as of his own party.
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