USA > Illinois > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Illinois > Part 36
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Aaron Yearwood came in December, 1826. He was accompanied by his mother, with her two sons, Joseph and Robert, and by his brother William. With William came , years after coming out, F. died.
| his wife's sister Betsy, now Mrs. Watson. The father of these ladies, Robert Rankin, Sr., came a year or so later, and after a short stay, went to Shelby County, but left here his son Robert and Mrs. Robert Yearwood. Old Mrs. Yearwood's husband's name was Frederic ; she herself died in 1847. The next fall after Aaron's arrival, 1827, James Sursa, whose wife was sister to his wife and to Ward Webber, came out with his brother Jack Sursa. These men and one daughter were the children of Richard Sursa, who died in the war of 1812. Benjamin Webber came with the Yearwoods, married a Wilkerson, and settled at the Jordan or Coley Smith place on Seven Mile Creek. Ward Webber and John came three years later, 1829, the latter settling in the edge of Wayne County, while Ward located where Daniel Barfield afterward lived. Daniel was step son to James Sursa. About the same time, 1829, William Byers came to the place still known as the "Old Byers place." Mrs. Byers- "Aunt Nancy"-was sister to old Mr. Year- wood. Byers had a daughter already married to Joseph Brown. Pete Bruce, or Armstead W. and Moses Baugh, took one each, and the last girl (we suppose, not finding a B. to suit her) was married to Fountain Garrison. He and James Garrison came in 1827, and James died of small-pox a few years ago. James married a Wimberley ; in two or three
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
CHAPTER IV .*
CITY OF MOUNT VERNON-THE DECADE FROM 1830 TO 1840-GROWTH OF THE TOWN-NEW BUILD- INGS AND NEW BUSINESS-A LOOK BEYOND THE TOWN-BRIEF RETROSPECT-ANOTHER COURT HOUSE-SOME OF THE BUSINESS MEN AND WHAT THEY DID-STILL ANOTHER COURT HOUSE-THE JAIL-ORGANIZATION OF MOUNT VERNON TOWNSHIP-OFFICIALS, ETC.
" What is the city but the people ?
True, the people are the city."-Shakespeare.
A S early as any of these, perhaps in 1825, Jacob Ford settled in a little cabin now better known as the Tommy Short place, north of the Coley Smith place, on Seven Mile, and here he was soon joined by Joab Peter- son, a Swede; they had married sisters- cousins to old Mrs. Malone, by the way- and lived together for three or four years. The Garrisons, cousins to Isaac, etc., lived on the Herdman place. We may add that Aaron Yearwood ran the still-house on the creek for a year or more, Allen and John Wilkerson being the original owners. Aaron had no scruples about it till Abram Casey (A. T.) came in and mildly said, " Don't you think you are doing wrong?" Aaron re- flected; conscience was not satisfied, he re- solved to quit it, and did. Jack Sursa afterward operated there. James Sursa built a mill, which was extensively useful in its day; he was also County Commissioner for several terms. He died December 27, 1852, and Jack had been dead ten years the past August.
The Roads. - We have referred to the Goshen road and the trails and bridle paths that traversed the country. No road what- ever touched Mount Vernon for a year or two after it was laid out. Even the new
road or trail from Crenshaw's crossed the prairie nearly half a mile south of town, and went to Isaac Casey's house on the hill, where Beal lives. The history of our roads is given elsewhere, but we may here say that on the third day of the first term of the County Court, the subject of roads came be - fore the Commissioners. Orders were made at that time, and in September and October, 1819, but without result; at length in Feb- ruary, 1820, a Board of Viewers, with Joseph Pace as Surveyor, located the road running diagonally across the county, near where it has ever since been, now running from Mc- Leansboro to Centralia. In the spring of 1822, the Vandalia road was opened to the north line of Marion County, which was then an attached part of Jefferson, Elihu Maxey opening the first section, and William Max- well the next. But the road was not used much, and was not fairly open until the fall of 1823, when Thomas Minor and Maxwell were ordered to cut it out twelve feet wide and keep it in repair. The next road was the Covington road, opened, after two or three fruitless orders, in the spring of 1824, not far from where the Richview road now runs. In 1826, by the influence of John Summers, the Fairfield road was opened, Summers being one of the Viewers and the first Supervisor. It ran nearly where it does now, except that it started ont nearly due
*By Dr. A. Clark Johnson.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
east from the court house. In 1828, the Cov- ington road was vacated, and the George- town road was opened, now much better known as the Ashley or Nashville road.
The early religious settlers of the county, a majority of them, at least, were Methodists, several of them ministers. The next strong- est denomination was the Baptist. Zadok Casey, Edward Maxey and Lewis Johnson were Methodist preachers; James E. Davis, a Cumberland Presbyterian, and Archibald Harris, a Baptist, but all, these, all the preachers in the county, lived in a mile of where Thomas Moss lives. The first relig- ious society in Mount Vernon Township was the Baptist. It was organized in the old log court house in 1820. Chester Carpen- ter was holding a meeting at this time. The official members were Jacob Norton, Joseph Jordan, Oliver Morris and Overton Harlow. Not long after, a little log church was raised between where Isaac Garrison lives and the creek, this location being considered nearer the center of the population than the court house. Joseph Reid at the time lived in a small cabin near where Joseph Jordan and Frizell subsequently lived. This place of worship was not used as such more than a year or two, when the frequent floods in winter and spring proved that the site was not, well chosen. The meeting was then, per- haps in 1823 or 1824, moved to William Hicks', two miles west of town, and continued there for five or six years. But in the spring of 1829, a very nice and spacious house, for that day, was built near the creek, the site now being inside the Fair Ground Thomas Pace and others in town, who kept horses, had opened a road to the creek for the pur- pose of watering their horses. This road left the Shawneetown road not far from the Wyatt Parrish house, ran southeast near where Newby afterward built a horse-mill,
then nearly a due east course to the creek at a pretty deep hole called the horse hole. The road diverging from this one a quarter of a mile or less from the creek, and crossing at a ford below was of more recent date. On a rise north of the road near that horse hole this church was built. In the fall of the same year, an association met at this house, puncheon seats were provided and public services were held in the woods. Carpenter was pastor of the society first organized, and continued in the same situation, wherever the meetings were held, for ten or fifteen years. But perhaps we may as well finish this last house before we leave it. It was nsed regularly as a meeting place till 1835 -36, and the puncheons being preserved, services were held in the grove when the weather allowed. A season of foot-washing was occasionally appointed here and con scientiously observed. After societies were organized in other places and this house no longer met the demands of the church, it was sold; Capt. Newby bought it and converted it into a shop. He already had a small shop west of the road and nearly op- posite his dwelling, and he put the second shop east of the road north of his dwelling, put up two forges in it and used it for years. It was in this house that George Starner worked for Newby, and here Jefferson Stephenson, afterward County Judge of Washington County, hammered iron for a long time after he came to Mount Vernon. Many of our readers will remember the church, and still more the shop.
The second Baptist Church in the county was erected near what was called the soap ford on the creek, less than half a mile north of the Fairfield road. It was reached from town by a trail that wont by where Hobbs & Sons' mill now stands, by where Charley Patton lives, and so on to the creek,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
a trail frequently used by Capt. Sursa and others in the upper part of that settlement, coming to town. This church consisted of four large shanties standing abont ten feet apart, forming an oblong square, with two halls crossing at right angles. The hall running north and south was closed at both ends. Of course it was the design to hold camp-meetings here, and several were actually held, one room or shanty being used for worship and the others used as camps. Meet. ings were held here regularly for years. This curious structure was built about 1833, and stood and was used for six years or more. Traces of it may still be seen there.
We left the various buildings and im- provements in Mount Vernon about 1830, closing up the history of the first houses. In the meantime, other houses were coming on. George Pace married, lived awhile in the north room of the Kirby House, then built a chimney to Tunstall's old store room, on the lot where Herdman lives, and lived there a year; built a house on Bennett Maxey's lot, No. 1, now Crebs', and finally bought Lot No. 37, where the Prince House stands, built and moved there. The house he built on Lot No. I was occupied by many after he left it, but perhaps as much by a negro called Old Nick, as anybody else. Nick died there, and it was not used as a dwelling house afterward. Yet some have said that this house was the old Clerk's office, moved up there by Dr. Adams, and the same that Mrs. Crosnoe got torn down in 1841. George Pace sold his lot, now the Prince House, to John Van Cleve and went to Salem, as before no- ticed, in 1836. In the spring of 1829, Buck Pace, or W. W. Pace, by consent of John Tyler, who was agent for Nelson Ferguson and brother-in-law to both men, built a cabin on Lot No. 28, where the National Bank stands. Here Buck kept grocery. He
or some one else subsequently built another cabin just east of this. Both were quite small, built of small logs and " skelped down." After Pace left, S. G. Hicks lived for a time in the corner house. By this time, however, Edward H. Ridgway had built a huge, hip-roofed house, in 1832, west of the square, where Hndspeth & Taylor keep. It was furnished with a store room, and here Hicks sold goods in 1834, 1835 and 1836, when he built a large frame north of the square, where Varnell's meat shop stands, Lot No. 25. Some years later, Hicks built a house near where the Methodist Episcopal Church stands. Benjamin Miller bought it in 1854 and moved it to his lot; Coffee en- larged it, and Maj. Summers now lives in it. (You see, we took up Hicks and ran clear away with him.) After he left the cabin on the Ferguson lot, Isaac Casey lived there, and in 1837, when Stinson Anderson came back from Alton, where he had been Warden of the penitentiary, he lived there long enough to build a cabin a little west of where Dr. Green lives. Aud there Anderson re- mained, out east of town, till he traded the farm to Edward Ridgeway for land in Elk Prairie. It was not long after Anderson left the Ferguson lot before John Rahm mar- ried Ellen Kirby, about 1837, and came to town about 1840, setting up business at the old house on the corner, which Kirby had already used for a grocery, but making great additions to it. After Rahm, John Bost- wick went in with a grocery, and kept what some called a very disorderly house. As John is alive and we do not know how stout he is, we will not say much about it, but folks said that three or four old ladies went to his grocery one night, about 1849, took ont his chattels to the middle of the street and tore the old house into a thousand pieces. It was never ascertained what ladies,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
if any, did it, but John left in disgust, went to Rome and had the first house built that Rome ever contained, Asa Watson being the boss carpenter.
In 1830, Dr. Adams built a house on Lot No. 26, where Goodale keeps. William Baldridge had bid off this lot at the first sale for $70, but lots declined. He sold it to H. T. Pace in 1825 for $20: he to Burchett Maxey in 1827, for $25; and he to Oliver Morris for $35. Dr. Adams built a house on it, but Downing Bangh soon after bought it, and Adams pre- pared to move to an improvement he had traded for west of town. But Thomas Minor had a claim against him, and put Stephen Hicks, who was Constable, after him with an attachment. Adams showed signs of re- sistance, and Hicks struck him on the throat with a rock, a blow that came near proving fatal. Adams now went to the cabin where Wlecke's hotel stands, then went-perhaps took the house with him -- to the place where Old Nick died. Noah Johnston and William Bullock put up a two-story house, now owned by Russell Dewey and occupied by Hughes. Adams bought this frame and lived in it till he left town in 1835-36. Bangh built a store north of the square, about where Shep- herd's drug store is, in 1832, and he built a two-story frame house a little east of it; but he sold these, rented Van Cleve's house, and a Dr. Allen came into the old house, built a porch to it, inclosed the porch, putting in a glass front, and the house then went by the name of the glass house. As we have men- tioned Noah Johnston and William Bullock, we may add that they came to Bullock's Prairie in 1831, and that Johnston came to town in 1833, sold goods some time where the Crews building stands, some time in 1834 -35, at the next corner west, Lot No. 21, lived awhile at the Ridgway building, where Hudspeth & Taylor's store also stands, and
finally bought and located where he now lives. William Bullock first lived in a cabin that he built near this end of the Spiese farm, some sign of his shop being still dis- coverable in the road there. He then came to town and had his blacksmith shop almost in the middle of the block south of the square, on the "big road." The south part of towu was all open, and the road came di- rectly toward the court house. His dwelling house was located where Bob Wilbanks lives, but he died at Noah Johnston's.
Somewhere back in the olden time, Green Daniel built a cabin on John Johnson's (the writer's father), Lot No. 18, corner of Jordan and Washington streets, and lived there for several years. Samuel Goodrich afterward lived there for some time. It was still later, perhaps, that Mr. Goodrich built a small house south of where Westbrook's mill was burned, near the northwest corner of Curtis Johnson's lots, and not far from the same time that Allen Stanton, a shoe-maker, built near the southwest corner of the same lots. These houses were all pretty good forty to forty-five years ago. As old as Green Dan- iel's cabin, was a shop that John Williams built northeast of the court house. John built this house about 1830-31, used it for a time, made a visit to Tennessee and never came back. He was brother to Mastin Wil- kerson's wife. So the shop stood there until Bowman built a frame house in front of it, and sold the lot, or let Rhodam Allen sell it to John Johnson. The writer's father bought it in 1834, finished the house, used the old shop awhile for a kitchen, built or had Wm. Yearwood to build a new kitchen, that still stands there, and we believe moved the shop on to some of his lots. About the time that we came, perhaps in the spring of 1834, James Ross, a hatter, moved in, lived a year in the old house north of Herdman's, then
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
got Lot No. 44, the south lot under Strattan & Johnson's block, built the log house that Mr. Schanck took away twelve years ago, and after awhile succeeded in trading for Daniel Anderson's grocery that stood on the corner, where he erected a large frame building for a shop. In this period also comes the grocery built by A. D Estes at the Crews corner. Joseph Estes, Absalom's , father, had long owned the next lot west, and when Absalom married he built a small house there, where Morgan & Reid's shop stands, and painted it red, and it was univers- ally known as the red house. Absalom also eet up the grocery at the corner. Edward Wells kept a grocery there for a time. This house on the corner remained in statu quo till Rob- ert Castles got it in 1840, built a room west, a dwelling in the rear, etc. And thus it stood till Crews got it. It was also in 1834 -85 that W. B. Thorn bought the lot second from the corner south of Hobbs' mill. He got it from the writer's father for $100. He then erected a large blacksmith shop in front. one that he had brought from beyond Jordan's Prairie, and a very neat hewed-log house back for a dwelling. In 1837, John Johnson bnilt a hewed-log house where Tay. lor's Hotel stands, and Thomas B. Johnson and Dr. Greetham used it for a year or two for an office and drug store; then Thomas went to Kentucky and Mr. Thorn put up a harness and saddle shop in the house. Thorn had converted the former blacksmith shop into a dwelling. In 1841, he sold it to William Edwards and moved to the house that still stands just west of Merrill's livery stable. We remember but two other houses of this period, the Poteet house and the La- mar house. Alfred Poteet, in 1835-36, built where E. M. Walker lives and lived there while he remained in Mount Vernon, but the house afterward fell into the hands of Josiah
Melcher, and he moved it up and made a stable of it on the west end of what is now known as the Thorn lot, and it still stands there The Widow Lamar had two sons, Shelby and James. The boys built a cabin on John Johnson's lot south of the jail; it was occu- pied by them, Mrs. Foley, Blackhawk Will- iams, Sullins, Decoursey and many others, and only twelve or fifteen years ago passed a way.
A little later and on up to 1840, houses began to be numerous. Dr. Greetham built the house where Urry lives and went into it from where Mrs. Thorn lives, in 1839. W. A. Thomas built just north of Greetham's, now Hitchcock's, in 1840. The same year, or the next, the Rev. A. E. Phelps built the house Conger lived in till lately, on the south end of Casey street, and Henry Pierce the house across the street east of Urry's. and Ridg- way put up the four houses where J. R. Pal- mer, Peter Brown, etc., live, long known as the Ridgway Row. Jarvis Pierce erected the tavern that stood opposite the present site of the Methodist Episcopal Church, sold to Eli Anderson and he built a two-story house north of Phelps'; Anderson improved his tavern and Grant added rooms to the east end of it at a later date by moving a school. house in from the woods near Noah John- ston's. Little, a tailor, put up Joel Watson's house in 1839; Daniel Baltzell the house just across Union street west of Joel's; and Rufus Melcher the house recently torn down by Mrs. Baltzell. The old Methodist Church went up from 1836 to 1840, to which the parsonage north of it was added under the regime of J. H. Dickens; the third court house was built, etc. D. Baugh built the house that stood where Heiserman's new brick is going up, Thomas Cunningham the house that stood where Charley Pool lives. MI. Tromley the old house north of Latham's,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Isaac Faulkenberry the old house that stood on the east end of Latham's lots, and John Livingston the one that stood where George Ward lives. The Cesar and Guyler cabins went up near where is now the Baptist Church. W. Prigmore- built the house now better known as the Klinker House, north of the Prince house, and Johnny Smith the old house that stood on the corner of Walsh's lots. Thomas Pace put a house on the lot west of the old Odd Fellows Hall, now Mrs. Pace's, McAtee got it et at., and it formed part of the old Bogan houses near the Su- preme Court House. Hiram Mclaughlin put one on the east side of Casey street, op posite George Haynes', Gray got it, Nelson got it, and it now forms part of the residence of Jeremiah Taylor. From all this it ap- pears that this was an era of unusual pros- perity in Mount Vernon, and this will be in part explained by taking another look at what has been going on outside of the town.
We have already stated that not an acre of land was entered in the township for seven years after the county was organized and the town laid ont. This was caused by the pressure referred to elsewhere, growing out of the re-action that followed the inflation at the outset. The first entry was then made by Isaac Casey, 1826, in Section IS, uow part of Lewis Johnson's farm. A. T. Casey in Section 7, was the next man, 1829; Azariah Bruce, 1830. entered in the same section, and Thomas D. Minor, the same year, in Section 19. Still it went slow; land was plenty and a man settled wherever he pleased, stayed as long as he pleased, and ejectment was unheard of. In 1831, Bennett N. Maxey entered in Section 7; in 1833, James Susca and William B. Watson in 21; Isaac Hicks in 31, and E. D. Ander- son in 32. and Dr. Adams in 29, in 1835. Then everything went with a rush. In 1836,
Overton Harlow entered in Section 2, Elihu Maxey in Section 6, T. MI. Casey, M. Bruce and C. H. Maxey in 7; Benjamin Webber in 14: Browneaty Wilkey and Lewis Johnson, Jr., in 18; John Livingston, David Hobbs and Z. Casey in 19; Z. Casey in 20; Cole- man Smith in 22; John Summers in 23; Calton Summers and John, in 27; W. B. Watson in 28; H. T. Pace, D. Baugh and S. H. Anderson in 29; William Bullock and Isaac Casey in 30; Thomas E. Pace in 31; and J. Johnson in 33, etc. In 1837, Har- low entered more land in Section 2; Elihu Maxey and W. F. Johnson entered in 5; John Dodds in 10; Henry D. Allon in 11; James M. Bridges in 13; Matilda Massey and William Byers in 18; Thomas Cun- ningham and Priscilla Meek in 19; Vir. ginia Summers in 22; T. Cunningham in 27: W. B. Watson, John Summers and S. H. Anderson in 28; Asa B. Watson, E. H. Ridgway, Thomas E. Pace, John Johnson and Cephas A. Park in 29: T. Cunning- ham in 31; and H. B. Newby and E. H. Ridgway in 33. In 1838, James Newby entered in 14; A. M Grant in 15; William Byers in 18: Joel Pace in 20, and D. Baugh in 28. But IS39 was as fast as 1838 had been slow. Simeon Walker entered in Sec- tion 1; Hiram Duncan in 2; O. Harlow in JO: H. Duncan and Mary Ann Summers in 11; M. A. Summers in 12; D. Summers and Meredith Strickling in 13; D. Summers and J. Newby in 14; John Hart, Martha Grant, Freeman Burnet and David Stewart in 15; Abraham Buffington in 18; Armstead W. Bruce, James Sursa, Daniel Barfield, Aaron Yearwood and Robert B. Rankin in 21; Moses Kirby in 22; John W. Summers in 23; Benton Y. Little in 26: William Mar- low and George W. Summers in 27, etc.
The above is for reference, and not to be committed to memory. It shows, too, that
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up to 1840 no land was entered in Sections 3, 4, 8, 9, 16, 17. 24, 25, 34, 35 or 36. Many of these were already settled upon their entries, and some had been occupying them for many years.
We have now reached a period when in- dividual arrivals and buildings did not amount to so much. But before bidding adieu to the past, we present a brief resume, in different form, of the last ten years' busi- ness. Joel Pace, merchant, licensed March, 1831, remained till 1837, when he sold out to Randle & Grant; then I believe Grant bought Randle out in 1838; D. Bangh, licensed March, 1831, still in business, 1840; Henry Isbell, of Belleville, or his sons, 1831, kept a few months at the corner west of Nie- man's; E. H. Ridgway, licensed 1831 and again 1833, was in partnership with Eli Anderson in 1837, opposite the present site of the Con- tinental. In 1832, W. W. Pace and Harvey T. were licensed as merchants; in 1833, H. B. Newby came in when Isbell went out, and in 1837 he had merchant's license. In 1834, Noah Johnston was licensed; next year it was Thompson & Johnston; in 1836, Thompson and Johnston were again separate, after which both disappeared from the record as merchants. Johnston first kept at the Crews corner, then Thompson & Johnston at the Hudspeth & Taylor corner. Dr. Adams held forth on the west side, renewing his license in 1836. Sanderson & Estes, 1834, kept at the National Bank corner; then Estes alone at the Crews corner. In 1835, John M. Pace comes in, but soon goes back to his farm; W. W. Pace comes in for a year, and switches off; B. Wells and A. D. Estes take out a merchant's license each, mostly selling-not dry goods, but to dry customers. In 1836, the licensed men of the town were Hickman & Witherspoon, L. C. Moss, A. B. Watson and James Kirby. In 1837, Bowman takes li-
cense; so does Mr. England, Cunningham & Shields followed Adams; S. G. Hicks followed Thompson; Barker followed Hick- man, and Davis & Dodds went in on the west side. In 1838, W. S. Van Cleve fol- lowed Davis & Dodd's, and William Dishon opened up at the Crews corner. In 1839, Van Cleve was succeeded by Addison, Daniel & Co. And we may as well add here that for the last ten or fifteen years, we mean prior to 1840, peltry was the chief staple of the country. Sometimes it seemed to be the only thing anybody had to sell or to buy goods with. Merchants sent deer hides to St. Louis by the hundred, some shaved, some with hair on. The shaving was done fast and cheap. A man hung a hide up by the neck, took a knife and scraped upward, and literally " made the fur fly;" and scraping a deer's hide was considered to be worth from 3 to 5 cents.
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