USA > Illinois > Jersey County > History of Jersey County, Illinois > Part 9
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
LACK OF PHYSICIANS
There were no regular physicians. The neighbors looked after the sick with such remedies as they were aceustomed to use, and some of the older women acted, when need arose, as midwives.
NO SHOPPING FACILITIES
There were no towns or stores nearer than Edwardsville or St. Louis, and if any shopping had to be done, a neighbor would take his wagon and team, load on it whatever the other settlers desired to send to market for sale, and take with him a memorandum of purchases to be made. He would make his trip, sell the goods, make his purchases, collect whatever mail matter there was at the post office for the settlers. and upon his return distribute his load.
PIONEER POSTAL REGULATIONS
The postage of letters had to be paid at the office of delivery, and as money was very scarce, a letter would sometimes lie in the post office for a month before the addressee could raise the twenty-five cents necessary to defray the postal charge. All of these conditions prevailed a century ago when the first settlements were made in Lofton's Prairie, and the same ones were applicable to those who settled in other parts of Jersey County at about the same time, and for more than a decade later.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS
The settlements north and west of Edwardsville were retarded for several years by reason of the Indian elaims of ownership thereof; and during the pendency of this controversy, Governor Edwards warned all settlers to keep off this land. In 1817 or 1818 Auguste Choteau and Benjamin Stephenson, as commissioners in behalf of the United States, in a treaty with the Kickapoo Indians, at Edwardsville, purchased all of the rights of the said Indians, in 10,000,000 acres of land, lying between the Illinois River on the northwest, the Kaskaskia River on the south- east, the Kankakee River on the northeast, and the Mississippi River on the southwest, which purchase ineluded all of the lands in Greene and Jersey counties. As soon as possible after the execution of this treaty, the lands were opened for settlement. It is impossible to de-
Tabitha Catt
REV. S. C.att.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
termine accurately the time when the first settlement was made in the present limits of Jersey County. The first settlers were mostly poor, and money was scaree, and difficult to seeure for the entry of land, and therefore, in some instances, the settlers merely squatted upon the land without any right. In other instances they filed pre-emption claims which gave them three years in which to raise the money and enter the land, or to sell their pre-emption rights to others, and let the purchaser enter the land. We have no record of these pre-emption claims, or any transfer of them.
JEHU BROWN
One of the very early settlers was Jehu Brown, who took 880 acres of land, in what is now English Township, prior to 1830. He had sold a farm in St. Louis County, Mo., for a large sum, and determined to move to Illinois, where the government priee of land being only $1.25 per aere, with a few thousand dollars, he could seeure title to a large amount of land. His lands were along the edge of the timber, and extend- ing into the prairie on the east, where that was possible. Otherwise his land was wholly in the timber. This rule was followed by many of the early settlers. Their training had made woodsmen of them, and they were as a rule timid about going into the prairie any distance from the timber, first on account of the disastrous prairie fires and secondly on account of the difficulty in seeuring sufficient timber for building pur- poses and fuel. These reasons were regarded as very important ones in determining the settlers upon their loeation in opening up a new farm. As "Unele" Jolin Gunterman stated to the writer in 1870 :
JOHN GUNTERMAN
"My father settled on the Illinois River bottom in 1821. and after living there several years, I had an attack of chills and fever, which per- sisted for two or three years, and from which I could obtain no relief. I finally concluded that the malarial atmosphere arising from the low bottom land was the cause of my diseased condition, and that I must get away from it, onto higher grounds further east. So I went to my old friend Mathew Darr, who lived in the skirt of timber, his farm ex- tending out into the prairie. I spent a week there, and we talked the matter over from every point of view for the entire week, and the eon- clusion that we reached was that a man's life was too short to prepare
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
and haul lumber out onto that prairie to improve a farm, and if he did, he would freeze to death in the winter, or the prairie fires would burn everything up." In accordance with this decision, Mr. Gunterman en- tered the land upon which he was living in 1870, which was northeast of Fieldon in Riehwoods Township. He said that at the time that he was at Mr. Darr,'s, all of the land, so he supposed, between there and Vincennes, Ind., was open for settlement. It may be added that the most valuable and productive farms in this county are now upon those lands that Mr. Gunterman refused to enter. This feeling of dislike for the prairie lands was general at that time, and for several years there- after.
DR. SILAS HAMILTON
The year 1830 was made a prominent oue in the history of the ter- ritory now known as Jersey County, by the coming of Dr. Silas Ham- ilton. He was a native of Vermont, born at Tinmouth, May 19, 1775, a son of Elisha and Mary (Smith) Hamilton. The later was a descend- ant of one of the founders of the city of Woreester, Mass., and her father and brother were with General Wolfe in his attack upon Quebec, during the French and Indian War, and were both killed upon the Plains of Abraham, in the same battle in which General Wolfe was slain. At the age of twelve years Silas Hamilton was afflicted by what was then known as a fever sore, or white swelling in his right hip, which resulted in his being a cripple, and from which he suffered much pain and inconvenience all the rest of his life. His father had a large family, and with but. limited means, he was unable to give them an education, but his son, Silas, having an indomitable will, and a determination to sueeeed, which characterized him in all his after life, at the end of three years, and before he was able to walk or leave his room, organized a school there, which he taught for one term. Later on, he had improved so in health, that with the aid of crutches, he eould walk a few steps, and he then moved his school to a log cabin near his home, and with his erutehes, resting at intervals upon a ehair carried for him by his youngest sis- ter, Elizabeth, who later married Gilbert Douglas, he was able to reach his school. He pressed on through these obstacles and endured eount- less hardships, and seeured his preliminary education, and then entered the office of his elder brother, Dr. Ziba Hamilton. and by thorough and exhaustive study and close application, prepared himself for the prae- tice of medieine, which he followed for several years in his native state.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
with his brother Ziba. Later he removed to Wallingford, Vt., where he remained for some time, having a marked success in his profession. In 1801 he was married to Hannah Ives, a daughter of a prominent cit- izen of Wallingford. In 1806, realizing that the frail condition of his health would not permit him longer enduring the rigors of the cold, bleak winters of his native state, he determined to remove to a milder climate, farther south, and in the fall of that year, traveled overland through the states of Virginia and Kentucky, reaching Nashville, Tenn., where, upon invitation, he and his family spent the winter at the "Her- mitage," as guests of Gen. Andrew Jackson. There Doctor Hamilton mnet and made the acquaintance of many of the leading citizens of the state, and in the following spring opened an office at Nashville, and practiced his profession there for several years, and later removed to Natchez, Adams County, Miss., then the capital of that state, and the most important social and commercial center upon the Mississippi River, above New Orleans. He achieved marked success, both professionally and financially, and at the same time educated his only child, Silas Hamilton, Jr. Having accumulated a considerable fortune, and being an opponent of slavery, as practiced in the "cotton belt," where slaves were more cruelly treated and used than cattle or horses, he determined to open a plantation, stock it with slaves, in charge of his son, and by humane and kindly treatment, lead his neighbor slave owners to modify their cruel usage of their slaves and inaugurate a better policy. He secured a plantation, and stocked it with nineteen slaves, under the charge of his son, and planted a crop of cotton in the spring of 1823, but unfortunately on July 11 of that year, Silas, Jr., died. This was a severe blow to his father, but he continued to operate his plantation un- til 1829, when he concluded to retire from the active practice of med- icine and from his attempt to Christianize his neighbor slave owners, and remove to a free state. So he assembled his relatives and friends about him, and started out to spend the remainder of his life in the quiet enjoyment of their society. Having matured his plans and ar- ranged with his neighbors in the vicinity of Kingston, Adams County, Miss., to co-operate with him in his removal and settlement, he and his wife embarked from Natchez for New Design, Monroe County, Ill., the home of his nephews, Thomas M. and Daniel Hamilton, sons of his brother, Capt. Nathaniel Hamilton. The latter had removed from Ver- mont to Ohio in 1797 and settled on the Muskingum River, above Mari- etta, then the capital of Northwestern Territory, where he remained until the winter of 1817-18, when his sons built a flatboat, on which
1
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
they loaded all of their families and effects and reached New Design in April, 1818, in time to vote for delegates to the Constitutional Con- vention, which cnacted the Constitution under which the State of Illi- nois was admitted to the Union as a state, that same year. They re- mained there until their removal to Jersey County. Nathaniel and Betsy (McClure) Hamilton both died at New Design, as also did Han- nah Ives Hamilton, wife of Dr. Silas Hamilton.
OTTER CREEK PRAIRIE
During the fall and winter of 1829, Doctor Hamilton and his nephew, Thomas M. Hamilton, on horseback, explored the western part of Illi- nois as far north as Adams County, seeking a suitable location for the proposed colony. Its main requirements were, first, a sufficient amount of United States government land subject to entry; second, a location within a reasonable distance of the Mississippi River; third, fertile soil, well watered and drained, suitable for the purposes of farming and stock raising, and well supplied with timber for fuel, building and all farming purposes. After due consideration, Doctor Hamilton for his own purposes selected the east half of section 11, and the west half of section 12, township 7, range 12 of Otter Creek Prairie. The adja- cent lands on the east, west and south were selected for his family rel- atives and those to the south and south of them for his Mississippi and other friends. These plans were carried into effect by the entry of the lands subject to entry, at the United States land office at Edwardsville. and by the purchase of such lands as had been entered in the territory selected for this settlement. At the time Doctor Hamilton came to Illi- nois to perfect his arrangements for the location of his colony, there were but 320 acres of land actually entered in town 7, range. 12, and his entry of W1/2 SE 1/4, 12-7-12, bears the date of April 9, 1830. He had made the acquaintance of the Loftons, Gillhams, McDows, Whites, Slatens, Lurtons and others in Lofton's Prairie, and his proposed col- ony being near them on the west. and the country being but sparsely settled mostly by pioncers of limited means, the coming of a man of wealth and influence, with such advanced ideas, was naturally a topic of much interest to the community, and there was such a general rush to participate in the benefits of identification with this new enterprise, that many entries of land were made with this purpose in view. Doc- tor Hamilton returned to Mississippi, closed his business there, took his twenty-eight slaves to Cincinnati, Ohio, and manumitted them, giving
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
bond that they should not become a public charge. He brought with him Henry Walker and his wife, Venus, and George Washington, the two first named, known as Uncle Henry and Aunt Venus, as house servants, and George to be educated as a missionary to his own people in Africa. He had already arranged for the settlement of his relatives around his plantation, and his Mississippi friends on the adjoining lands in Otter Creek prairie, and in 1832-33 this was the most densely pop- ulated community in this part of Illinois. Among his relatives were his nephews, Thomas M. and Daniel H. Hamilton, Ezra Hurd and Polly (Hamilton) Hurd, a sister of Doctor Hamilton, both of whom died in the fall of 1831 at their Otter Creek home, leaving their sons, J. Montgomery, William and Ezra, Jr., and Caroline Ripson, their daughter, surviving, and also Gilbert Douglas and Elizabeth, his wife, a sister, and William and Aaron Hamilton, his brothers. Henry Noble, James and William Dougherty and John S. Lamb were old neighbors from Mississippi, and were all possessed of ample means for the im- provement of their new homes, and to assist their neighbors to do like- wise. Among those neighbors were the Terrys, Brooks, Waggoners, Whites, Buckles, MeDows, Beemans, Smiths, Slatens, Stilwells, Cooks, Sansoms, Curtis', Dabbs and McDaniels. These all had large families. and through correspondence with their relatives and friends in their original homes and through intermarriage, rapidly increased the num- ber of residents of Otter Creek Prairie settlement. The generally trav- eled road from Madison County to Carrollton, the county seat of Greene County, was through Lofton's Prairie and Otter Creek Prairie, and due north, through the Patterson and Brown settlements. Carrollton was seventeen miles north of Otter Creek. At that time there was no settle- ment at Jerseyville, and no road ran through the Jerseyville prairie.
GRAFTON
While at the land office at Edwardsville, Doctor Hamilton became acquainted with the prominent men there, among whom were former Governors Edwards, and Coles, and James Mason, the latter a brother- in-law of Henry Von Phul, one of the leading merchants of St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Mason had made extensive entry of land at Bloomington, Quincy, Springfield and Edwardsville. St. Louis was a small city at that time, and was especially opposed to having a rival city in Illinois, at Alton. After repeated conferences between Doctor Hamilton, Mr. Mason and his St. Louis friends, an arrangement was made between
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
them that Mr. Mason should enter the lands along the river where Graf- ton is now located, establish a ferry across the river, and another across the Missouri River, so that easy communication might be made with St. Louis and the Carrollton and Grafton road be established, so that all of the business of Greene County could be concentrated at Grafton with easy access to St. Louis. Carrollton and the Lofton and Otter Creek settlements were all interested in the enterprise. Grafton was only six miles from the two latter neighborhoods, twenty-three miles from Carrollton, and located on the Mississippi River just below the mouth of the Illinois River. There were no railroads at that time, and river transportation was a necessity for the rapid development of the country. Mason made the entries of land, established Grafton and the ferries. The Carrollton and Grafton road was opened as arranged, and Mason crected the first house in Grafton in 1832, and placed his brother, Paris Mason, there. He opened a store and took general charge of the enterprise. At the session of the Legislature in 1833, James Mason and Silas Hamilton and such other persons as they should as- sociate with them, were incorporated as The Grafton Manufacturing Company for the purpose of erecting grist, woolen, and cotton mills, and doing a general mercantile, manufacturing, trading and shipping business at Grafton. James Mason died at St. Louis in July, 1834, and Silas Hamilton died November 28 of that year, and nothing was ever done under that charter. The two principals having died, and there being no person of sufficient capability and influence to successfully prosecute the plans of the originators, it naturally languished. Paris Mason still remained at Grafton, and some years later Sarah (Von Phul) Mason, widow of James Mason, and her daughter. Maria, removed to and made their home there, and there Mrs. Mason died many years later. The town was surveyed and platted, and quite a number of stores, shops, warehouses and other business enterprises were opened and con- ducted with reasonable success, and until the great flood of 1844, in the Mississippi River, it was the main trading point in Jersey County. The principal stores and warehouses being erected upon the bottoms, they were flooded and had to be abandoned in that year. .
MARRIAGE LICENSES
The following marriage licenses were issued in Greene County, Ill., to residents of what later became Jersey County, Ill.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
1821
On October 30, Robert McDow and Esther Lofton were married.
1822
On May 29, George Finney and Margaret Creswell were married.
1823
On January 9, Elam Brown and Salley Allen were married by Charles Gregory, county commissioner. On January 30, Cyrus Tolman and Polly Eldred were married by Samuel Lee, a justice of the peace.
1824
On January 2, William Gillham and Martha Munson were married by Thomas G. Lofton, a justice of the peace. On March 20, John R. Caldwell and Elizabeth Slaten were married. On June 27, James Nairn and Victor Colean were married by John Brown, a justice of the peace. On July 19, George Stamps and Franky Henson were married by John Brown, a justice of the peace. On September 25, Thomas Cummings and Mary Ann Carroll were married by Thomas G. Lofton, a justice of the peace.
1825
On March 10, Charles Gregory and Elizabeth Woodman were mar- ried by Samuel Lee, a justice of the peace.
1826
On April 8, Charles Dodgson and Polly Lofton were married by Thomas G. Lofton, a justice of the peace. On November 4, William Waddel and Sally Gillham were married.
1827
On February 15, Tarlton F. Brock and Lucinda Slaten were mar- ried. On September 13, Jesse White and Tabitha Carrico were married by John Brown, a justice of the peace.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
1828
On April 28, John Gunterman and Melinda Mckinney were married by D. McFain, a justice of the peace. On October 16, Stephen Gorham and Lucretia Brush were married by S. C. Prince, a justice of the peace.
1829
On March 18, Jacob Lurton and Margaret MeDow were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G.
1830
On March 18, John E. Lofton and Jane White were married by Jolin Osbun, M. G. On April 11, William McDown and Delilah Wag- goner were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G.
1831
On August 18, William D. F. Slaten and Irena West were married by John Brown, a justice of the peace.
1832
On July 26, Ezckial Chance and Elizabeth Grimes were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G.
1833
On March 31, Richmond Henderson and Mary Ann Douglas were married by John Brown, a justice of the peace. On September 19, J. M. Terry and Mary Ann Waggoner were married by John Brown, a justice of the peace.
1834
On April 29, James J. Randle and Jane Lofton were married. On September 11, Richard Spalding and Sarah J. Gillham were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G.
1835
On February 19, John McDow and Mariah Waggoner were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G. On April 23, Hiram Curtis and Ann Eliza
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
Dougherty were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G. On July 9, Nathaniel Hamilton and Mary B. Dougherty were married by Gilbert Dougherty, a justice of the peace. On August 27, George Noble and Sarah Swan were married by J. J. Bayse, M. G. On September 3, Moses Cockrell and Caty Ann Utt were married by Thomas McDow, a justice of the peace. On October 15, Aaron Hamilton and Elizabeth Jackson were inarried.
1836
On January 26, J. M. Hurd and Lydia Noble were married by J. J. Bayse, a justice of the peace. On October 27, John W. Slaten and Ann F. Piggott were married by T. McDow, a justice of the peace. On December 4, Jacob Utt and Mary B. Swann were married by T. McDow, a justice of the peace.
1837
On January 7, Orange F. Howland and Sarah Ann Terry were married by A. King, a justice of the peace. On March 23, George B. Slaten and Clementine Lewis were married. On April 13, Wright Casey and Mary Frances Curry were married by William Jerome, M. G. On April 22, Zadock Reddish and Sophia Medford were married by D. Myers, a justice of the peace. On May 4, LaFayette MeCrillis and Mary E. Mason were married by Alvin Bailey, M. G. On June 11, Moses Amburg and Eliza Cope were married by J. M. Hurd, a justice of the peace. On December 14, Jeremiah Stilwell and Ann Eliza White were married by J. M. Hurd, a justice of the peace. On December 21, Peter C. Randle and Susannah Beeman were married by T. MeDow, a justice of the peace.
1838
On January 4, Benjamin M. King and Louisa Lemon were married by William Hill, M. G. On September 16, Asa Snell and Priscilla E. Landon were married by Joseph Crabbe, a justice of the peace. On October 18, Jarrett T. Grimes and Charity Brown were married by Urial Downey, a justice of the peace. On December 27, Virgil Noble and Hannah J. Utt were married by Moses Lemon, M. G. On Decem- ber 25, Isaac Scarritt and Martha Ann Mason were married by E. Rog- ers. M. G.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
1839
On January 3, Charles D. Hodges and Ellen C. Hawley were mar- ried by A. T. Bledsoe, M. G. On January 8, Ezekiel Gillham and Mary Cowan were married by T. McDow, a justice of the peace. On Jan- uary 17, Allen Gillham and Nancy Murphy were married by T. Me- Dow, a justice of the peace. On January 31, James Lamb and Cath- erine Curtis were married by Moses Lemon, M. G. On March 7, George Spangle and Priscilla Utt were married by J. M. Hurd, a justice of the peace. On April 2, Elias Cockrell and Mary McFair were married by R. S. Spencer, a justice of the peace. On June 13, William Hurd and Esther Ann Buckles were married by J. M. Hurd, a justice of the peace. On July 2, Thomas Ford and Mariah Adams were married by Joseph Fowler, M. G. On July 23, Edmund Douglas and Harriet Curtis were married by A. P. Brown, M. G. On September 30, Joseph H. Colean and Mariah Gillham were married.
1840
Early in January, William H. Allen and Martha Maria Mason were married under a Greene County license. On January 25, Thornton Hughes and Elizabeth Waggoner were married by T. McDow, a justice of the peace. On April 24, Isaac Harbert and Mrs. H. M. Shull were married by J. Fowler, M. G. On April 23, Christopher Kirchner and Elizabeth Thurston were married by Nathaniel Hamilton, a justice of the peace. On March 12, Albertus Lofton and Lucinda Chappell were married by T. McDow, a justice of the peace. On April 29, Augustine Stalder and Polly Lance were married by John Keys, a justice of the peace. On May 28, Perley Silloway and Harriet Wilkins were married by J. Crabbe, a justice of the peace. On June 18, Daniel MeFain and Mary Cooper were married by J. W. Lowder, a justice of the peace. On August 25, George Stafford and Ann E. Cresswell were married by Silas Crain, a justice of the peace. On September 10, Caleb Noble and Susannah E. Gillham were married by W. Jerome, a justice of the peace. On October 15, William Noble and Elizabeth Hamilton were married by M. Lemon, M. G. On October 22, Thomas Smirl and Euphemia Dougherty were married by W. Jerome, M. G. On December 17, John N. English and Elizabeth A. Belt were married by W. S. McMurray, M. G.
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HISTORY OF JERSEY COUNTY
1841
On January 3, Hiram English and Mary A. Grimes were married by H. N. Belt, a justice of the peace. On January 19, Elisha A. Bar- ton and Rebecca Lofton were married by S. Crain, a justice of the peace. On February 4, William Post and Hannah W. Calhoun were married by J. Harriott, a justice of the peace. On March 4, Jonathan Plow- man and Elizabeth Crull were married by S. Crain, a justice of the peace. On April 8, William Millross and Mariah Noble were married by W. Jerome, M. G. On June 3, David T. Bonnell and Sally A. Kirby were married by L. Lyons, M. G. On September 9, William B. Nevius and Laura Goodwitch were married by L. Lyons, M. G. On October 7, Benjamin C. Rhodes and Amanda Darr were married by G. W. Low- der, J. P. ' On October 10, Philip Pennington and Mary A. Cummings were married by E. Dodson, M. G. On November 7, William Chap- pell and Elizabeth Hooper were married by George Hoffman, a justice of the peace. On December 9, John Massey and Mariah Brown were married. On December 13, Henry Darlington and Marian Noble were married by W. Jerome, M. G.
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