USA > Illinois > Jersey County > History of Jersey County, Illinois > Part 41
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
the territory west of the lakes to the mountains south of that divide, and the waters from all that region are brought into the Missouri River, and find their way by the laws of gravitation into the Mississippi River.
Probably in the earlier ages across the alluvial bottom of the Mis- souri on the western side, within a few miles of the mouth of the Illinois River, to break its force against the bluff formation on the north side of the river, other deposits were made. The Illinois River is formed by the Desplaines and Kankakee rivers and extends around the south- ern portion of Lake Michigan, runs southwest across the state of Illinois, emptying into the Mississippi at Grafton. Originally, geologists and antiquarians inform us that all this country through which the Illinois River flows, was a great lake, and that this lake was simply an exten- sion of the present Lake Michigan over all of this territory. Hon. William McAdams, who for many years was a resident of Otter Creek Township in this county, informed the writer that in Calhoun County, not far from the mouth of the Illinois River, upon the top of the bluffs, there is a fissure on one side of which the formation of the strata are in their original normal condition, and on the other side of the fissure, the strata at the surface, would if in its normal condition, be 1,400 feet below, which would clearly indicate, that at some time in the remote past, there was a convulsion and upheaval in this locality, which prob- ably burst the southern rim confining this great lake between the bluffs in Calhoun County and Jersey County, thereby draining its waters into the Mississippi River, leaving the Illinois River as the means of drainage of all the country originally covered by the lake, and thereby lowering the surface of Lake Michigan.
As Judge Breese states in an early history of Illinois, the eastern rim of Lake Erie was probably burst by some similar condition of con- vulsion, which had the effect of forming Niagara Falls and river, leading into Lake Ontario, and thereby lowering the surface of Lake Erie. It will thus be seen that Jersey County is the center of the watershed from the Rocky Mountains, extending from Pike's Peak and Denver, in a northwesterly direction through Yellowstone Park to the summit of this great east and west divide, separating the waters running north from those running south.
From the snow peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the melted snow of their western slopes reaches the head waters of Columbia River, and then flow into the Pacific Ocean, and those flowing down the eastern slopes reach the head waters of the Missouri, and thence flow southwest and reach the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Missouri, which
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latter junction was within the view of Father Marquette at the time he stood on the heights at Grafton, and looked out over the then virgin territory spread before him. Here were concentrated from all this terri- tory, by the natural descent of gravitation, the waters from a territory almost equal in size to the whole of Europe, and of it the state of Illinois and Jersey County as the center, or concentration point, of all this flow of drainage water. The bluffs on the west and south sides of Jersey County form the most magnificent and picturesque scenery of the entire 2,000 miles of the course of the Mississippi River. For twenty miles east from the mouth of the Illinois River, the bluffs rise from the river bank to a height of three or four hundred feet, with hollows or valleys between, in which are found numerous springs of cool and re- freshing water. The valleys and the tops of these bluffs are covered with original forest trees of great height and size, which at the time that Marquette was viewing this wonderful landscape had been unseen and untouched by civilized man.
The editor of this history stood upon the same peak from which Mar- quette had originally viewed these rivers and landscape, 175 years later, in 1848, and saw at the same moment, steamboats upon the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers, laden with the merchandise of these rivers.
The probabilities are that the Mississippi River, in the earlier ages, had its original bed across the alluvial bottom that lies between St. Charles and the Mississippi River, with its mouth opposite to those bluffs not far from where Grafton now stands, and near the mouth of the Illinois River. By the constant wearing away of the alluvial soil the mouth of the Missouri River has worn its way to the Bellfountain Bluffs further east. emptying into the Mississippi River east of Alton. At different times after the voyage of Marquette and Joliet, Father Hennepin in his voyage of discovery from the mouth of the Illinois River to the head waters of the Mississippi River, descended the Illinois River to the Mis- sissippi, and once he was compelled to remain ten days, waiting for the ice to float out of the river, and he rested in what is now Jersey County during that period.
LaSalle and Tonti, when making their voyage of discovery with the object of reaching the mouth of the Mississippi River, were likewise com- pelled to rest on Jersey County soil for the same reason, the running of ice in the Mississippi River. From the time of the discovery of the Mississippi River by Marquette and Joliet, and their return by the route of the Illinois River to Green Bay in 1673, the Illinois River had been the main route of travel of the French and other people who
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came from Canada to points along the Illinois River, and they thus became familiarized with the bluffs and scenery of Jersey County. This river was the main thoroughfare from Canada to the south.
To come down to more modern times, in 1830, and 1831, under the joint efforts of Dr. Silas Hamilton and James Mason, in cooperation with the leading merchants of St. Louis, Mo., James Mason entered a large amount of land on the present site of Grafton, and he caused to be erected the first dwelling upon this site. At that time James Mason resided at Edwardsville, and had been receiver of the land office at that place. He had large landed interests in different parts of the state, notably at Bloomington, Quincy, Springfield and Edwardsville. The license to operate a ferry across the Mississippi River at Grafton was issued to James Mason. A ferry was also established across the Missouri River, at what was later known as Musick's Ferry. By means of these ferries the people from Grafton and Greene County could cross the river in the morning at Grafton, get into St. Louis, transact ordinary busi- ness and return the same evening, it being only a little over twenty miles from Grafton to St. Louis by this route, but by river it was more than forty miles. At that time St. Louis had only a population of about 4,000, so that its people were opposed to the building of a rival city as a com- petitor in business.
James Mason sent his brother Paris Mason to Grafton to look after his interests, and a general store was established by him at that point. A road was established, running from Bloomington to Springfield, thence to Carrollton and then to Grafton through the Otter Creek settlement. By this route Carrollton was twenty-three miles from Grafton. James Mason and Dr. Hamilton had secured by Act of Legislature the incorpo- ration of the Grafton Manufacturing Company located at Grafton, which authorized them, and those whom they should associate with themselves, to build grist-mills, woolen mills, cotton mills, tanneries, and to carry on general merchandising, in fact to do anything that would further the development of their new town. They had secured the good will and cooperation of Carrollton, Greene County, Lofton's Prairie and the Otter Creek settlements in this county which would further their enter- prise and build up the business of Grafton which had been named after the town of Grafton in Massachusetts, where Mr. Mason had originally lived. James Mason died in July, 1834, and Dr. Silas Hamilton died November 28 of the same year, so that unfortunately there was nothing accomplished under the charter of the Grafton Manufacturing Com- pany secured from the Legislature. Paris Mason, under a power of
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
attorney from Mrs. Sarah Mason, widow of James Mason, and guardian of Martha Maria Mason, only child of James Mason, took charge of the Mason interests at Grafton, and controlled and directed the same from that time until 1840, when William H. Allen was married to Martha Maria Mason, and by virtue of that relation, Mr. Allen became a director of the Mason interests at Grafton and its vicinity. He, with his wife and her mother, Mrs. Sarah Mason, established residence at Grafton.
The first settlements in what is now Quarry Township, were made in 1819 by George Finney, Sanford Hughes, David Gilbert, John Staf- ford, and a man named Copeland, who were soldiers in the regular army of the United States, and they, together with Col. Josiah T. Askew, were discharged from the regular service at St. Louis, and came up the river. Those first named settled in Quarry Township, and Col. Josiah T. Askew in Elsah Township, adjoining Lofton's settlement. Camden, at the mouth of the Illinois River was platted by George Finney in 1826 with the expectation that it would be a place of great importance in later years.
GRAFTON
Grafton was surveyed in 1836, and the first sale of lots was made in that year, and a great many of these lots were disposed of, and in 1837, during the time of the great inflation of finance, another sale of lots was made at Grafton. Lots sold for from $400.00 to $1,500.00 each, and when the inflation bubble burst, banks suspended, business enterprises were paralyzed, and a general stagnation prevailed in the country. The lots that sold for these fabulous prices were practically worthless or of very little value. In 1836 there was considerable substantial improve- ment in the way of building in Grafton. A wharf was built that was termed the "old wharf." It was a raised embankment of earth, four or five fect above the level of the bottom next the river, and a frame pier extended from that earthwork out into the river to deep water and was covered with plank, and the shipping business was carried on by means of this pier and earthworks wharf. One large stone two-story warehouse and two large frame houses were erected near this wharf, and several dwellings and store buildings were erected on this low bottom. A large market house was erected on the west side of Market, between Main and Water streets. This market house was simply a gable roof structure, supported by eight stone piers, and open on all sides, so that wagons or carts could be driven through for loading and unloading. The stone warehouse was erected by Thomas and Milton
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
Tootle, whose mother kept a hotel. These parties later went to St. Joseph, Mo., and both became merchants and bankers, and multi-mil- lionaires.
John Keyes built one of the warehouses, and he was one of the first merchants who located here. He also built a residence on the hill between Cedar and Vine streets, back of what was later the "Valley House," owned by William S. Dempsey, which was burned at the time the Val- ley House was destroyed by fire. Mr. Keyes was a dealer in general merchandise, and also handled grain and pork.
John Armstrong established a general store in which Thomas Wed- ding of Rosedale acted as clerk. William B. Denby and Lawson & Lucas also opened general stores. Brook Stafford established a black- smith shop in 1836. The general collapse in business from 1837 to 1840 in the Mississippi River Valley, and the territory occupied by its trib- utaries, had the effect of closing most of the stores. The flood of 1844, which was the highest and most disastrous overflow of water that has ever been known on the Mississippi River since the original settlement of the Mississippi River, flooded all of the lower bottoms, drove all of the merchants and residents from that portion of the town, tore up the pier for the shipment of freight and produce, and compelled most of the business interests to leave the town and seek other locations. Brook Stafford went to the Otter Creek settlement, and established a black- smith shop there. There was a saw-mill established at Grafton, during the inflation period, by A. W. Caverly of Carrollton, another was estab- lished at the mouth of the Illinois River by a man named Crandal.
The first German settler in Quarry Township was Nicholas Kaslick, who located in 6-13, in 1832. He was the father of John Kaslick, Nicholas Kaslick and Daniel Kaslick. One of his daughters was married to Henry Eastman, and another was married to Hiram Noble, the son of George Noble, and the father of Judge H. P. Noble, ex-county judge of this county. About the same time of the settlement here of Nicholas Kaslick, William Williams, William Rawlins, Oliver A. Van Antwerp, James Tucker, George Noble, Jacob Metzler, and Robert Smith settled in the same neighborhood, where George Finney and David Gilbert had located. Gilbert Lake along the Illinois is named after the latter, who settled on its banks. A ferry was established across the Illinois River about a mile above its mouth. The bluffs along the river extend from the mouth of the Piasa to the mouth of the Illinois River, and up the Illinois River to Macoupin Creek, which is the northern boundary of Jersey County on the river. The settlements in the western part of
PIASA BIRD
Seen on the Bluffs near Grafton by Joliet and Marquette on Their Voyage of Discovery Down the River in 1673
Bluffs on the Mississippi River near Grafton
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
what is now called Quarry Township, were substantially all along the bottoms in front of the bluffs, between the bluffs and the river.
A man, named Evans, entered a considerable amount of land near the ferry crossing the Illinois River, which he held for a number of years, and then sold to Henry Dalgas. Ralph Andrews later pur- chased land in the Illinois bottom near the Evans land, and opened a saloon and store there, where he remained until his death. During the inflated times at Grafton, a Methodist Church was erected on the hill back of the Keyes residence. It was a frame structure about 30x40 feet. Dr. J. H. Buffington, who later removed to Jerseyville, taught a school in this church in 1848, which the writer of this history attended as a student. The church was afterwards taken down and removed, and in 1857, the present brick church was built on Main street by the same denomination. It is a very comfortable building, with a basement and ample room for the accommodation of the congregation.
NATURAL CAVES
In front of the bluffs east of Grafton there were large caves in the early days, with an arched entrance, and vaulted room running from 150 to 200 feet, and another entrance where several people could con- gregate, or where a large number of cattle or other live stock could find shelter from the inclemency of the weather. There were also sim- ilar caves farther east in the same bluff, one particularly where the en- trance was very low, and a person had to enter through a small opening, which enlarged on the inside, and was filled with bones of persons and animals supposed to have been aborigines of the country; but by rea- son of the development of the rock quarry interests, the front of this bluff has been entirely removed, and, of course, those caves were quarried out.
ROADS
There were of course no railroads anywhere in the western country, , during the period upon which we are now dwelling, all of the trans- porting being done by the rivers, and the interests of all of Greene County, and of the settlers in the southern part of it, especially were centered at Grafton. There were roads made for the accommodation of the settlers, throughout the country, where they were most con- venient for travel on horseback or by wagon, and were used by the people going and coming from Grafton. After the flood of 1844, influ-
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ence was brought to bear upon the county commissioners of Jersey County, to expend the internal revenue fund that had been received from Greene County, in the construction of a road to Grafton. In compli- ance with this demand, the road between Carrollton and Grafton was completed with this fund, and this action was a great mistake. The road was then located across the southeastern quarter of section 6-6-12, running from the northeast corner to the southwest corner thereof, and thence in a southwesterly direction to the top of the bluff about half a mile from the river front, and thence descending the side of the bluff for a considerable distance where the rock was quarried and blasted from the side of the bluff and made what is known as Rock Hill; thence running southeasterly to what was known as the Dug Hill, where a large amount of earth and clay had been removed to make way for the road. The rise from the road where it is first described on the north to the top of this hill was probably 100 feet, and then the steep descent from there along these two hills, Rock and Dug hills, was so great that it had the effect of largely deteriorating travel and trade from the country district to Grafton. This was especially demonstrated in after years when Gen. James Semple established the town of Elsah, and the road down Askew Hollow to that place. Much of the business of the country was transferred to Elsah. If the expenditure of the same amount of money that was made on the road that was established, had been used on the road where it is now located, from Independence Schoolhouse to Grafton, it would have required much less money, and would have had the effect of securing and holding the trade of the country districts, and have been of very great benefit to the town.
EARLY BUSINESS MEN
In 1847, William Shephard located at Grafton and opened a store. He had been interested in the building of this new road, and the stone that was quarried from this new rock road was largely used in com- pleting what is the "new wharf," and the present stone wharf at Grafton. Mr. Shephard was largely interested in the contracts for the construction of this new road and in the erection of this new wharf. He was a very thoroughgoing, driving business man, and remained in business at Grafton until 1852, when he secured contracts for the con- struction of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and was engaged on them for a considerable time. He then sold to his nephew, George V. Gross,
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who remained in business at Grafton until his death a number of years later.
Jacob Godfrey, one of the old settlers at Grafton, who came there in 1856, was a tailor by trade and followed this business for a time, and later was elected, and acted as constable for a number of years. Later, he clerked in the Shephard & Gross store, and still later, he and Henry Eastman formed a partnership, upon the arrival of Mr. Eastman at Grafton, and they built a store, about 1858, which is occupied by the son of Henry Eastman, John H. Eastman. In the spring of 1846, Nathaniel and B. B. Hamilton opened a store in the old John Keys store at the corner of Cedar and Main streets, across on the west from the site of the present Eastman store. Later, W. B. and J. W. Slaten opened a store farther east in a one-story building on the site later occupied by the Reubel Hotel. During 1854-5, William H. Allen erected a large flour mill under the name of the Grafton Manufacturing Com- pany, the same name that was originally used in the incorporation issued to James Mason and Dr. Silas Hamilton. This mill was operated by Mr. Allen until 1869, when the management of it was assumed by his son, James M. Allen, and continued by him until the changes in the manufacture of flour and the concentration of that business into large mills, monopolized the milling interests of the country, and made the operation of the smaller mills unprofitable. The Grafton mill, with many others of similar capacity throughout the country, were closed for this reason.
In 1857 the first interest in quarrying stone from the mountainous bluffs for shipment and for local building purposes was manifested by the opening of a quarry by Silas Farrington and John Loler from St. Louis. After due investigation it was demonstrated that this stone was well adapted for building purposes, and subsequently all piers of the railroad bridges at Hannibal on the Mississippi River, and Mere- dosia on the Illinois River, were constructed from the Grafton stone. The first Lindell Hotel at St. Louis, Mo., was also built of it. Later when the United States developed the plan to control the waters of the Mississippi River by dykes, large amounts of the stone from Grafton were used by the government for this purpose. Willow mats were first laid down and covered with stone, raising them several feet in height. These dykes were constructed for the purpose of controlling the channel of the Mississippi River for navigation by steamboats engaged in carrying the commerce of the river. After a half a century, a very serious question arises as to whether or not the sand bars that were
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formed below these dykes and moved down the river from year to year, were not a more serious obstruction to the channel of the river and the landing at the different towns and villages, than would have resulted if these dykes had not been built.
The large demand, created by these several building operations, developed the Grafton quarries until during the most prosperous years there were more than 2,000 men engaged during the season of navigation, at work in these quarries. The stone was transported from Grafton in large barges, and delivered at St. Louis for building purposes, or for use by the government in the construction of these dykes. There were several quarries, under different managements, developed during the period of greatest demand.
In 1849, in order to develop the commerce between Grafton and St. Louis, William H. Allen, William Shephard and other parties pur- chased a stern-wheel steamboat, named "Allegheny Mail," which was operated for one season between the towns named, with John A. Kistler as captain. Later this steamboat was sold by the owners, the venture not having been profitable. About 1855 or 1856, the seamer "Adelia" was purchased by parties interested at Grafton, but it was later attached and sold for debt incurred in navigation. Among those who had claims against the boat were James C. Fichner, who was chief engineer, and John Noell, who was the pilot. After considerable litigation the boat was sold under these claims, and was purchased by parties living at Grafton, among whom were John Loler, William H. Allen, James C. Fichner, and others. This boat was then repaired and operated for a time, and then in 1861 or 1862, it was pressed into the United States service, and used as a dispatch boat by General Grant at Vicksburg.
James C. Fichner remained at Grafton until his death, leaving a widow and one daughter, Mary, who is the present wife of Ernest Meysenburg of Grafton. After the marriage of William H. Allen to Martha Maria Mason, daughter of James Mason, and Mr. Allen's set- tlement at Grafton, there was a division of sentiment between the James Mason interests and the Paris Mason interests, and Paris Mason removed to section 16, about one mile west of his original location in Grafton. established a store there and built his residence and a warehouse, oper- ating a large business at what was known as Mason's Landing.
In the early fifties, an arrangement was effected between the St. Louis and Keokuk Packet Company to obtain coal for their steamboats from the Illinois River, to be delivered to their boats at Mason's Landing. The coal was brought down the Illinois River in barges and
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unloaded in two and one-half bushel boxes with handles at each end. It was taken from the barges and piled on the river bank, from whence it was carried to the steamboats. John Whitfield was the agent who managed this business at Mason's Landing, and controlled it for a num- ber of years, developing it to extensive proportions. In those years the cutting of cord wood from the forests along the rivers, and carrying it in boats to the St. Louis market, was developed quite extensively, and some of the main operators of this business were Slaten, Brock & Co. of Grafton, who did a very large business in that line. Boats were loaded at the river with cord wood, and floated down to St. Louis, and after they were unloaded there, were towed back up the river by steamboats, among which were the old "Bon Acord," owned by the Mortland Broth- ers, Thomas, Chettick and John Mortland, who resided in Calhoun County. A large proportion of the grain and produce received at Grafton was transported by these boats. In those early years large rafts of pine logs and pine lumber, were floated down the Mississippi River from the Wisconsin pineries and many of them were stopped at Grafton and remained for some months before they were taken to St. Louis, or further south. There was a daily line of boats running between St. Louis and Keokuk, Iowa, and St. Louis and St. Paul, on the Mississippi River, between St. Louis and Naples and St. Louis and Peoria on the ยท Illinois River. There were also many transient steamboats, that is to say, steamboats owned by individuals instead of firms, that were oper- ated along these rivers. There being no railroads in this part of the country, made the operation of the steamboats essential to the conduct of commerce and the results were very profitable to the owners. In 1849 and 1850 the canal boats from Chicago came down the Illinois River bringing freight and produce to the cities along this river. These boats were towed down the river and back again to Ottawa.
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