USA > Illinois > Jersey County > History of Jersey County, Illinois > Part 40
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In November of that year, that land that belonged to George Wash- ington was sold, and at the April term, 1866, the report of that sale and the expenses incident thereto, was reported to the court, leaving a balance of $3,371.53, as the net proceeds of the sale of the real estate; and this amount together with the personal estate, was invested in gov- ernment bonds by Dr. Hamilton, and kept separately from his individual property. In 1875 at the October term, John Cisco, et al, through Hon. Theodore S. Chapman as solicitor, filed a bill in chancery in the circuit court of Jersey County, calling upon Dr. Hamilton for a report of the funds in his hands as trustee of the estate of George Washington,
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and, pending that suit, before its determination, Dr. J. O. Hamilton had a stroke of paralysis which unfitted him to attend to his business or any other, and, at his own request, he was relieved as trustee, and Linus Humiston, an old friend and teacher of George Washington, was appointed his successor. On October 25, 1875, Dr. J. O. IIamilton made a report, which was approved by the court, and made settlement with Linus Humiston, the new trustee, as his successor. From that time Dr. Hamilton had no connection whatever with the George Waslı- ington estate. Dr. Hamilton died in 1883, without having recovered from his paralytic disability. At the time of settlement with the new trustee, the balance of the net amount of the estate was $9,491.39. There being no provision in the non-cupative will as to how and where the funds should be used for the purposes mentioned in the will, at the April term, 1880, Linus Humiston, as trustee, made a report that the fund then amounted to $11,332.22, after the payment of all expenses to that time. and the erection of the monument provided for in the will to the mem- ory of Dr. Silas Hamilton, and asked the court to give him authority to use $2,500.00 of the fund for the erection of a schoolbuilding in the city of Jerseyville, the employment and the inauguration of a school for the education of colored children, the reason being given that there were no colored people in the Otter Creek community, and that there were a number of colored families in Jerseyville. A decree was entered giving this authority, but later, before the adjournment of the term, a cross petition was filed by Theodore S. Chapman, as solicitor for P. S. Breeden, et al., asking the court to set aside the decree for the building of a schoolhouse at Jerseyville, and that the income of the George Wash- ington fund should be used for the education of colored persons in insti- tutions already established. At the September term of the circuit court. Judge Burr presiding, the original petition of Linus Humiston, as trustee, and the decree at the April term, were set aside and a decree entered as prayed for by the intervening petitioner, and a new decrce entered with the intervening petition, providing for five trustees, con- sisting of the county superintendent of schools, the principal of the Jerseyville high school, George E. Warren, Leonard M. Cutting and Marcus E. Bagley, as trustees, they to appoint a treasurer who should be clerk of the board of trustees, and providing that when the income of the fund should amount to the sum of $1,075.00, that an examination should be had and students selected for a collegiate education, after a due examination as to their moral and educational qualifications, and sent to some establishlished collegiate institution. These trustees ap-
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pointed Theodore S. Chapman as treasurer and clerk of the board, and Linus Humiston settled with and turned the fund over to Theodore S. Chapman as treasurer. Mr. Chapman acted as treasurer until 1890, when he resigned and was elected a member of the board of trustees. Daniel J. Murphy, then county clerk, was elected and acted as treasurer and clerk of the board until 1906, when he resigned, and Judge Charles S. White was elected his successor, and continues as the treasurer of the fund, and clerk of the board. After the election of Mr. Chapman as a member of the board, he was named as president of the board and acted in that capacity to the time of his death, December 14, 1914. In the meanwhile the original trustees had died. L. M. Cutting was succeeded by Judge A. M. Slaten as trustee, and George E. Warren by O. E. Hamilton, and Marcus E. Bagley by Dr. A. M. Cheney, and Henry L. Chapman, son of Theodore S. Chapman, succeeded his father, and is now president of the board. During the years of operation of this fund, many colored people have been assisted to a collegiate education, and have gone forth into the world as leaders of their own race, as teachers, lawyers and physicians, so that the fund has had a wide and extended influence on the uplifting and betterment of the colored people.
DR. HAMILTON'S MONUMENT
The monument erected to Dr. Silas Hamilton, under the provisions of George Washington's will, is at Otterville, and a cut of it will be found in this work, as will also a cut of the original stone schoolhouse, and the new schoolhouse more recently erected. George Washington was buried in the old cemetery north of the Presbyterian Church in Otter- ville, in a grave on the south side of his former master, Dr. Silas Ham- ilton, the grave of Gilbert Douglas being on the north side of Dr. Hamilton, and a stone tomb has been thereon erected, enclosing these three graves, its location being about 300 or 400 feet from the site of the old schoolhouse, and a like distance from the monument erected in memory of his former master, from the bequest of $1,500.00, left by George for that purpose.
TRIBUTE TO GEORGE WASHINGTON
In his address at Piasa Chautauqua Assembly, heretofore referred to, Hon. Stephen V. White made this reference to George Washington, to wit :
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"I have spoken of Dr. Hamilton as having amassed a fortune in Mississippi. When he came north he liberated his slaves, twenty-eight in number, twenty-seven of them being set free in Ohio. Among others, he liberated a boy named George Washington, 'Black George,' we called him. He used to go to school with us and he sat at the same forms with us. He recited the same lessons with us, and, without being bril- liant, he was thorough.
"With humility I confess, that although Dr. Hamilton's gift was available far more for me than it was to 'Black George,' yet 'Black George' left a provision in his will for the erection of a monument to his benefactor, and I never did anything.
"From the very depths of my being I honor him as a man, as an example of gratitude that it would be well for all white men to emulate."
It will be noted that Dr. Hamilton's first entry of land in the Otter Creek Settlement was only eleven years after the admission of Illinois as a state into the Union, and now in the Centennial year, 1918, eighty- nine years after that entry, and the foundation of the Otter Creek Settle- ment, his memory is cherished, and the benefits conferred by him on that community are as pronounced as they were half a century ago. The memory of George Washington, one of the slaves manumitted by him, is also perpetuated in the monument erected by the former slave to his former master, and the benefits arising from his establishment of the George Washington Educational Fund for the higher education and elevation of his own race.
SURVIVAL OF ORIGINAL SETTLERS
There are few representatives of the original settlers in Otter Creek Township now residing there, but among them may be mentioned Charles H. Terry, son of Jasper M. Terry; several of the children of Caleb Noble; George, William and John Dougherty, Jr., sons of John G. Dougherty ; Josephine Green, daughter of William McDow; Mrs. Mary (Deming) Flautt, granddaughter of Daniel H. Hamilton; the sons and daughters of W. W. Dabbs; the children and grandchildren of Jesse Dabbs and Fred McDaniel; the Whites; Hendersons ; Spangles ; Sissons ; Montgomerys; Bartletts ; the sons of Linus Humiston, and Mrs. Alberta Chase, a granddaughter of John W. Slaten, and daughter of Judge A. M. Slaten, who, for many years, resided at Otterville. If there are any other representatives of the original settlers now living in that com- munity, they have escaped the memory of the writer, there being no
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intention on his part to ignore or omit a reference to any of the original settlers of that community, he having himself been born in a log cabin erected by his father on land and entered by him, adjoining the present limits of Otterville on the west. In this connection, it may be said that in a letter received by the writer from Hon. Stephen V. White in 1910, Mr. White remarked that when a boy, returning from the old stone schoolhouse to his home, while passing the log cabin of Nathaniel Ham- ilton, where the writer was lying as an infant at that time, in August, 1839, he distinctly remembers hearing the reports of the cannon which was fired at Jerseyville in celebration of the victory in the election, August 5, of that year which separated Jersey from Greene County.
In 1918, the writer had the pleasure, by invitation of Prof. Edwin A. Terry, principal of the Otterville school, of visiting that school, and delivering an address commemorative of the establishment of the Ham- ilton Primary School, and of Dr. Silas Hamilton, its founder.
OTTERVILLE
The population of Otterville is 100.
VILLAGE BOARD
Walter Smith, president; Hamilton Newberry, clerk; Lester Cope, treasurer.
BUSINESS INTERESTS
Merchants-William H. Lehmkuhl, Mrs. Elizabeth Ford. Black- smith-Frederick Kirchner. Justice of the Peace, Thomas A. Case; supervisor, Charles H. Terry. Hamilton Primary School Fund, trustees : $2,000.00, William Dougherty, president ; Thomas A. Case. secretary : Charles H. Terry, treasurer: George W. Noble. A. J. Humiston. Churches-Methodist, Baptist, Cumberland Presbyterian.
SUPERVISORS
The supervisors of Otter Creek Township from 1879 to 1918, have been as follows: Silas W. Rogers, 1879-1880; A. M. Slaten, 1881; Jesse K. Cadwallader, 1882-1883; Noah T. Rogers, 1884-1885; William Noble, 1886-1887 ; Joseph C. Dougherty, 1888; John G. Dougherty, 1889- 1891; James R. Bell, 1892-1893; Thomas A. Case, 1894-1895; William Dougherty, 1895-1897; J. W. Tearny, 1898-1899; William W. Dabbs, 1902-1903 and 1906-1907; George W. Noble, 1908-1909; A. L. Slaten, 1910-1911; Charles H. Terry, 1912-1918.
CHAPTER XXXIX PIASA TOWNSHIP
BOUNDARIES-RAILROADS-EARLY SETTLEMENTS-OTHER PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS-EARLY INCIDENTS-NEW PIASA CHAUTAUQUA-FIRST PRESI- DENT -- ORIGINAL PLAT-PRESENT BOUNDARIES-ADVANTAGE OF GROUNDS -- PRESENT OFFICIALS-DELHI-COAL MINES-PIASA SUPERVISORS.
BOUNDARIES
Piasa Township is in the southeast corner of Jersey County, and is bounded by Madison County on the south; Macoupin County on the east; Fidelity Township on the north; and Mississippi Township on the west. The big and little Piasa creeks intersect it diagonally, the former from Fidelity Township, entering Piasa Township in section 2; and the latter entering the township from Macoupin County in section 12. These two water courses form a junction in section 20, and flow thence into the Mississippi River in the southeast corner of Elsah Township, branches thereof reaching into Elsah and Mississippi townships.
RAILROADS
The main line and the Jackson division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad intersect Piasa Township, the former passing through sections 24, 25, 35 and 36; and the latter through sections 18, 19, 30 and 32. The only railroad station is Delhi on the southwest quarter of section 18. Brighton is adjoining this township on the east, and a part of the village is platted in Piasa Township. By reasons of the Big and Little Piasa creeks the land is well watered, and heavily timbered, although a large portion of the woodland has been cleared and put under cultiva- tion and Piasa Township is now one of the most prosperous townships in the county.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
The first settler of Piasa Township was Capt. John Wilkins, a sailor by calling, who was a native of Maryland. He first settled on section 31,
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in 1820. In 1824 he removed to section 19, near Delhi, where later he kept a stage station and tavern, and there he remained for about twenty years. Perley Silloway was married to one of his daughters, and later was elected the second sheriff of Jersey County. Still later Mr. Silloway moved to Virden, Macoupin County, Ill. Levi McNeil, a native of New Hampshire, was another very early settler, locating on section 22, in 1825, and here he lived until his death in 1852.
Nelson R. Lurton, a settler of 1828, located on the present site of Delhi and was a tavernkeeper and the first postmaster. He was born in Kentucky in 1803. His wife bore the maiden name of Adeline Sum- ner, and she was born in Missouri. They had seven children, all of whom are now deceased. Nelson R. Lurton died in 1844, having been a prominent citizen.
James B. Pinckard settled on section 24 in 1830. He was born in Virginia, but came to Piasa Township from Ohio. John Hart, William Hackney, S. T. Kendall, George and David Settlemeier and Barthol- omew Downs all came here in 1830. Of these, John Hart, S. T. Kendall and George and David Settlemeier were natives of Tennessee, but Wil- liam Hackney and Bartholomew Downs came here from Missouri. S. T. Kendall was a brother-in-law of N. R. Lurton, and was the candidate for sheriff against J. N. English, being beaten by one vote. However, he was elected state representative in 1842. Still later he moved to Mexico, Mo. William Hackney was the first blacksmith of Delhi. The Settlemeiers sold their claim to Phineas Eldridge in 1848. They had both served as soldiers during the Black Hawk War. Bartholomew Downs was a native of England and he lived on section 22 until his demise.
In 1834 came Howwill, who was born in 1774, in Somerset County, N. J. He settled on section 33. Mr. Howwill was burned to death in 1846. Thomas Marshall, another settler of 1834, located on section 30, where he remained until 1881, when he moved to Jerseyville. He was born at Wilmington, Del., November 21, 1814. In 1848, he was married to Mrs. Agnes McFarland, widow of Robert McFarland. Mr. Marshall was very highly respected and died at Jerseyville in the eighties.
OTHER PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS
Andrew Edwards, who was born in Pennsylvania May 11, 1808, moved to Ohio in 1819, and came to Jersey County, Ill., in 1849. He was married to Mary Darlington, December 24, 1835, and their children
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were as follows: Henry D .; Minerva, who became the wife of A. Ran- dolph; William H .; and George W. Andrew Edwards died June 4, 1867.
William Chappell, a son of William Chappell, was born in England, January 28, 1816, and came to the United States in 1833, with his father, and to Piasa Township in 1834, and continued to reside here until his death in 1894. In 1840, he was married to Mary King, who died soon after their marriage. Mr. Chappell was married (second) in 1842, to Elizabeth Hooper, and they had four sons, namely : William H., Charles F., Chevalier S., and Chester J. At his death, Mr. Chappell owned over 600 acres of land.
James R. Goodman was born in Virginia, but came to Jersey County prior to 1837, in which year he was married to Frances Fuller, who was born in Tennessee. After two years' residence in Piasa Township, they went to Madison County, Ill., but returned to Piasa Township and lived on section 29, where Mrs. Goodman died July 6, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman had a family of seven children, namely: John A., James G. and William C., who were prominent citizens, and four who died earlier in life.
Capt. Oliver Marston was born at Marston Mills, Cape Cod, Mass., in 1804, and for twenty-seven years followed a seafaring life, for sev- eral years of this period being captain of his vessel. In 1826, Captain Marston was married at Philadelphia to Elizabeth Powers. In 1842, Captain Marston located in Piasa Township, on the farm where he died in 1856, his widow surviving him until 1879. Their son, Joseph G. Marston, recently eighty-one years old, sold the old homestead in this township.
Phineas Eldridge, a son of Capt. Anthony and Susanna (Vance) Eldridge, was born at Philadelphia, Pa., March 14, 1822. His father was a neighbor of Captain Marston on Cape Cod, Mass., and for five genera- tions the Eldridges had been sailors. Phineas Eldridge fitted himself for the same occupation, and followed this calling until 1843, when he went to New Orleans, La., and remained there until 1848. In that year he and his father purchased a large tract of land on sections 11, 12 and 13, Piasa Township. In 1843 Phineas Eldridge was married to Elizabeth Wharf, and their children were as follows: Susanna, who became the wife of Judge James Burke; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Col. John J. Brenholt; Harry. who is a pilot on the Mississippi River ; and Anthony, who is clerk on a steamer plying between St. Louis, Mo., and New Orleans, La., on the Mississippi River. Both Phineas Eldridge
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and his father, Capt. Anthony Eldridge, died on their farm in Piasa Township.
William Bartlett, who was born in Maine in 1802, came as far west as Ohio, from whence he moved to Piasa Township in 1853, remaining here until his death in 1878. His sons, William H. and Charles B. Bartlett, have both been leading citizens of the township. William H. Bartlett was born July 3, 1840, in Ohio, and in September, 1862, enlisted for service during the Civil War, in the One Hundred and Twenty- fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Charles B. Bartlett was also born in Ohio, in September, 1845, and he died in 1908. Both he and his brother, William H. Bartlett, served as supervisors of Jersey County, from Piasa Township.
In the years between 1850 and 1860 some men came to Piasa Town- ship wlio later became prominent, among them being the following: Frank Schoberle, who was born in Bohemia, Austria, in 1830; George Cairns, who was born in Scotland in 1820; Charles P. Long, who was born at St. Louis, Mo., in 1850; Horace Lindley, who was born in Mad- ison County, Ill., in 1853; Herman Oehler, who was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1842; and James Nugent, who was born in Manchester, England, in 1818. The daughter of the latter, Sarah A. Nugent, was married to William H. Bartlett.
EARLY INCIDENTS
The first death in Piasa Township was that of Mrs. Elizabeth Wilk- ins, the wife of John Wilkins.
The first burial took place in 1827, when the body of Jacob Lurton, Sr., was interred in Piasa Township.
The first school was taught in 1837 by Priscilla Landon, a daughter of Horace Landon. She was later married to Dr. Asa Snell.
Nelson R. Lurton erected the first double log cabin on section 18, in 1831, and used it for a tavern, stage station and postoffice. From 1851 on stores were conducted by L. C. McNeil, W. R. Eldridge, W. A. Scott, J. N. Lurton, Tillotson & Compton, A. Hoyt, Terrill & Clapp, and Ed- wards & Hamilton. William Hackney was the first blacksmitlı.
NEW PIASA CHAUTAUQUA
During the years 1891, 1892 and 1893 camp meetings had been held by the Methodists near the spring in "Babbs Hollow," and after mature
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deliberation the ministers of the Southern Illinois Methodist Episcopal Church, and the St. Louis Conference, jointly organized and incorpor- ated The Piasa Bluffs Assembly, under the laws of the State of Illinois. This corporation purchased several hundred acres of land, erected a tabernacle, hotel, office, and several cottages, leased lots, and made other improvements.
FIRST PRESIDENT
Rev. Dr. B. St. James Fry lived in St. Louis, Mo., was the editor of the Central Christian Advocate, and a very able and influential man. Under his administration, as president, great numbers of people became interested in the enterprise, and regular Chautauqua programs were given, which were attended by large concourses of people from the rural districts, as well as from Springfield, Jerseyville, Alton, St. Louis, East St. Louis, Peoria and Grafton.
ORIGINAL PLAT
The first plat of Piasa Bluffs was made by J. F. Hunt, C. E., of Chau- tauqua County, N. Y., November 3, 1888, and filed for record November 9, 1888, by Benjamin St. James Fry, president, and Fletcher M. Doan, secretary, Piasa Bluffs Assembly.
PRESENT BOUNDARIES
Re-surveys were made and filed April 17, 1894, by Jacob B. Ulrich, president, and Robert T. Brock, secretary, Piasa Bluffs Assembly. The plat extends into both of townships 6-11 and 6-12. It is located on the Mississippi River, and the Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis Railroad, which gives direct communication with Springfield, Jerseyville, Alton, St. Louis, East St. Louis, Edwardsville and Grafton. During the summer excursion steamers bring large crowds from the cities on the river, who enjoy the beautiful grounds, and refresh themselves with the pure cold water from the spring which flows abundantly during the entire year. A large reservoir upon the top of one of the hills supplies this spring water to all of the hotels and cottages, and the swimming pool is also supplied with water piped from the spring. A postoffice is open here . from June until September of each season. When the city schools close, the cottages in this beautiful summer resort are filled with eager seekers after health and pleasure. No liquors are allowed upon the grounds.
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ADVANTAGES OF GROUNDS
The different clubs, societies, schools, athletic associations and advo- cates of other amusements are now represented on programs suited to the tastes of the residents. The convenient location of these assembly grounds with reference to the different cities gives the business and pro- fessional men whose duties keep them there during the day the oppor- tunity of going to business in the morning, and returning to their fam- ilies at the assembly grounds in the evening, during the summer months. In this way the period which is so trying to both old and young in the sweltering districts of the cities is comfortably passed.
PRESENT OFFICIALS
Christian Bernet, ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis, Mo., is now president of the Piasa Bluffs Assembly, and M. Ed- win Johnson is its manager. Its name has been changed to the New Piasa Chautauqua. This organization has, in the past thirty years of its existence, had a wonderfully elevating and educational influence on the county.
DELHI
The population of Delhi, which is a station on the C. & A. Railroad, is forty-five. Its present condition is as follows :
Charles P. Long is a justice of the peace, and Jerome W. Long is a constable. D. Sunderland & Co. have a general store and the postoffice, and George Houge operates a blacksmith shop.
COAL MINES
The coal mines in Piasa Township are light veins, of 12 to 24 inches, cropping out of the sides of the hills near Piasa Creek, worked by land- owners, by drifting, with the most primitive tools, and sold at mouth of drift to farmers of the vicinity. No modern mining machinery used- veins too light to justify-and no transportation, except as above stated.
SUPERVISORS
The supervisors of Piasa Township from 1879 to 1918 have been as follows: William A. Scott, 1879; M. V. Hamilton, 1880-1884; W. H. Bartlett, 1885-1888 and 1893-1896 and 1905-1908; Frank Knapp, 1889- 1892; C. B. Bartlett, 1897-1902; Frank Gorin, 1903-1904 and 1909-1914; E. J. Norton, 1915-1916; Dixon Mundle, 1917-1918.
CHAPTER XL
QUARRY TOWNSHIP
DISCOVERY-MARQUETTE AND JOLIET-GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS-EARLIEST CONCESSIONS-FIRST SETTLEMENTS-CAMDEN-GRAFTON-ROADS-BOOM -NATURAL CAVES-EARLY BUSINESS MEN-QUARRY INTERESTS-MA- SON'S LANDING-CHOLERA EPIDEMIC-BANKING INTERESTS-FERRIES- DREDGE BOAT INDUSTRY - DISTILLERY HOLLOW - RAILROADS - SUPER- VISORS.
DISCOVERY
In August, 1673, when Marquette and Joliet returned from their voyage of discovery down the Mississippi River, upon reaching the mouth of the Illinois River, after being exhausted by the heat and labor of ascending the strong current of the Mississippi, Marquette's strength gave out, so that these voyagers rested here at the mouth of the Illinois River, and refreshed themselves from the many springs that were in this vicinity until Marquette's vigor was somewhat restored, so that they could proceed on their return journey. They debated whether they should proceed up the Mississippi River, or diverge and go up the Illinois River, and they finally settled upon the latter route. During this interval of rest, on the site where Grafton was afterwards located, Marquette ascended the heights and viewed the landscape over which, no white man prior to that time, had ever gazed.
From these heights he looked out over a stretch of the Mississippi River for more than twenty miles. The Missouri River was also within the scope of his vision, and the mouth of the Illinois River. This is prac- tically the center of the Upper Mississippi Valley. The Mississippi River has its origin in the Itasca Lakes. Upon the great divide that separated those waters, those that flowed north into Lake Winnipeg and thence into Hudson Bay, from those running south into the Mis- sissippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico; flowing south, the waters of the Mississippi reach Jersey County. The Missouri River drains all of
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