USA > Illinois > Knox County > History of Knox county, Illinois > Part 8
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In the example " May 1-wheat sells at $1.05@1.10, seller June," seller June means that the person who sells the wheat has the privi- lege of delivering it at any time during the month of June. "Sell- ing short"' is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or stock at a fixed price within a certain length of time, when the seller has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling "short" to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the "shorts" are termed " bears."
LEGAL WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Whenever any of the following articles shall be contracted for, or sold or delivered, and no special contract or agreement shall be made to the contrary, the weight per bushel shall be as follows, to wit:
lbs.
1bs.
Apples, dried.
24
Hemp seed ..
44
Barley. .
48
Hair (plastering).
8
Beans, white.
60
Lime, unslacked.
80
Beans, castor.
46
Onions. 57
Buckwheat
52
Oats. 32
Bran
20
Potatoes, Irish
60
Blue-grass seed.
14
Peaches, dried.
33
Broom-corn seed.
46
Potatoes, sweet.
55
Coal, stove.
80
Rye.
56
Corn, in the ear.
70
Salt, fine
55
Corn, shelled.
56
Salt, coarse.
50
Corn meal.
48
Turnips.
55
Clover seed.
60
Timothy seed.
45
Flax seed.
56 Wheat.
60
GAME
Consists of birds and beasts of a wild nature, obtained by fowling and hunting. It is unlawful to hunt, kill or in any manner to inter- fere with deer, wild turkey, prairie chickens, partridge or pheasants between the first day of January and the fifteenth day of August; or any quail between the first day of January and the first day of Oc- tober; or any wild goose, duck, Wilson snipe, brandt or other water fowl, between the fifteenth day of April and the fifteenthi day of Au- gust, in each and every year. Penalty: Fine not less than $10 nor more than $25, and cost of suit, and shall stand committed to a county jail until fine is paid, but not exceeding ten days. It is unlawful to
95
ABSTRACTS OF STATE LAWS.
hunt with gun, dog or net within the inclosed grounds or lands of another without permission. Penalty: Fine not less than $3 and not exceeding $100, to be paid into the school fund.
Fish are animals of a wild nature. No one has any property in them until they are captured, and, like other wild animals, if, having been taken, they escape and regain their liberty, the captor loses his property in them. A person has no right to fish in the waters of an- other, and acquires no property in the fish caught except by the own- er's consent.
BEES.
Bees, while unreclaimed, are by nature wild animals. Those which take up their abode in a tree belong to the owner of the soil in which the tree grows, if unreclaimed; but if reclaimed and identified they belong to their former owner. If a swarm has flown from the hive of A, they are his so long as they are in sight, and may easily be taken; otherwise they become the property of the first occupant. Merely finding on the land of another person a tree containing a swarm of bees, and inarking it, does not vest the property of the bees in the finder. They do not become property until actually hived.
DOGS.
Dogs are animals of a domestic nature. The owner of a dog has such property in him that he may maintain an action for an injury to him, or to recover him when unlawfully taken away and kept by another.
When, in consequence of his vicious propensities, a dog becomes a common nuisance, the owner may be indicted, and where one com- mits an injury, if the owner had knowledge of his mischievous pro- pensities, he is liable for the injury. A man has a right to keep a dog to guard his premises, but not to put him at the entrance of his house, because a person coming there on lawful business may be injured by him, though there may be another entrance to the house. But if a dog is chained and a visitor incautiously goes so near him that he is bitten, he has no right of action against the owner.
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.
Whoever shall wilfully overdrive, overload, overwork, torture, tor- ment, beat, deprive of necessary and proper food, drink, or shelter, or cruelly kill 'any such animal, or work an old, maimed, sick or dis- abled animal, or keep any animal in an unnecessarily cruel manner, for each and every offense shall be liable to a fine of not less than $3 or more than $200, to be recovered on complaint before any justice of
96
ABSTRACTS OF STATE LAWS.
the peace, or by indictment. The word " animal " used shall be taken to mean any living creature.
UNITED STATES MAILS.
The following suggestions and rulings of the Post Office Department in regard to the sending of matter through the United States mails will be found valuable. By giving careful attention to and closely following theni, almost perfect security from all delays and losses, and the many little vexatious inquiries generally made by the public will be avoided.
Make the address legible and complete, giving the name of the post- office, county and state; the name of the street and the number of the house, also, should always be given on letters addressed to cities where letter-carriers are employed. Letters intended for places in foreign countries should have the name of the country as well as the post- office given in full.
See that every letter, newspaper or other packet sent by mail is se- curely folded and fastened. Avoid using as much as possible cheap envelopes made of thin paper, especially when containing more than one sheet of paper.
Never send money or any other article of value through the mail, except by means of a money order or in a registered letter. Every letter sent should contain the full name and address of the writer, with the county and State, in order to secure its return if the person to whom it is directed cannot be found. Persons who have large corre- spondence find it most convenient to use " special request envelopes," but those who only mail an occasional letter can avoid the trouble by writing a request to "return if not delivered," etc., on the envelope.
Postage stamps should be placed upon the upper right hand corner of the addressed side of all mail matter.
Written matter in unsealed envelopes prepaid with only a one-cent postage stamp will be held for postage.
Diplomas, commissions, certificates, etc., having written signatures attached, circulars, having anything written thereon, are subject to postage at the rate of three cents for each lialf ounce or fraction thereof.
Stamps cut from stamped envelopes, mutilated postage stamps, and internal revenue stamps, will not be accepted in payment for postage. Letters deposited in a postoffice having such matter affixed are held for postage.
To use, or attempt to use, in payment of postage a postage stamp, or stamped envelope, or any stamp cut from such stamped envelopes,
97
ABSTRACTS OF STATE LAWS.
which has been before used in payment of postage, is punishable with a fine of fifty dollars.
In using postal cards, be careful not to write or have anything printed on the side to be used for the address, except the address; also be careful not to attach anything to them. They are unmailable as postal cards when these suggestions are disregarded.
No cards are " postal cards " except such as are issued by the Post Office Department. In no case will unclaimed cards be returned to the writer or sent to the Dead Letter Office. If not delivered within sixty days from time of receipt they will be burned by the post-master.
To insure a letter being forwarded in the mails it must have not less than three cents in postage stamps affixed.
After a letter has passed from the mailing office the delivering of it cannot be delayed or prevented by the writer; but, if the writer request the return of the letter, which has not left in the mail, the post-master may deliver it, if he is satisfied that the party applying is the writer.
A subscriber to a newspaper or periodical who changes his residence and postoffice should at once notify the publishers of the change.
Printed matter, merchandise and other third-class matter cannot be. forwarded from the office to which it is addressed unless postage is furnished for such purposes. A request to return indorsed on such matter will not be regarded unless postage is furnished for the pur- pose. A request to return written on such matter subjects the pack- age to letter postage.
All packages mailed at less than letter postage should be wrapped so that their contents can be readily ascertained without destroying the wrapper.
Matter contained in sealed envelopes, notched at the ends, is sub- ject to letter postage.
The sender of any article of the third class may write his or her name or address therein. or on the outside thereof, with the word "from " above or preceding the same, or may write or print on any package the number and name of articles inclosed.
All losses should be promptly reported.
Packages of any description of mail matter may weigh not exceed- ing four pounds.
RATES OF POSTAGE.
On letters, sealed packages, mail matter, wholly or partly in writ- ing, except book manuscript and corrected proofs passing between au- thors and publishers, and except local or drop letters, or postal cards;
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ABSTRACTS OF STATE LAWS.
all printed matter so marked as to convey any other or further infor- mation than is conveyed by the original print, except the correction of' mere typographical errors; all matter otherwise chargeable with letter postage, but which is so wrapped or secured that it cannot be conveniently examined by the post-masters without destroying the wrapper or envelope; all packages containing matter not in itself chargeable with letter postage, but in which is enclosed or concealed any letter, memorandum, or other thing chargeable with letter post- age, or upon which is any writing or memorandum; all matter to which no specific rate of postage is assigned; and manuscript for pub- lication in newspapers, magazines or periodicals, THREE CENTS FOR EACH HALF OUNCE OR FRACTION THEREOF.
On local or drop letters, at offices wliere free delivery by carriers is established, TWO CENTS FOR EACH HALF OUNCE OR FRACTION THEREOF.
On local or drop letters, at offices where free delivery by carriers is not established, ONE CENT FOR EACH HALF OUNCE OR FRACTION THEREOF.
RATES OF POSTAGE ON THIRD-CLASS MATTER.
By act of July 12, 1876, third-class matter is divided as follows:
One cent for two ounces .- Almanacs, books (printed), calendars, catalogues, corrected proofs, hand-bills, magazines, when not sent to regular subscribers, maps (lithographed or engraved), music (printed sheet), newspapers, when not sent to regnlar subscribers, occasional publications, pamphlets, posters, proof-sheets, prospectuses, and regu- lar publications designed primarily for advertising purposes, or for free circulation, or for circulation at nominal rates.
One cent for each ounce .- Blank books, blank cards, book manu- script, card boards and other flexible materials, chromo-lithographis, circulars, engravings, envelopes, flexible patterns, letter envelopes, let- ter paper, lithographs, merchandise, models, ornamented paper, postal cards, when sent in bulk and not addressed, photographic views, pho- tographic paper, printed blanks, printed cards, sample cards, samples of ores, metals, minerals, and merchandise, seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots and scions, and stereoscopic views.
Any article of mail matter, subject to postage at the rate of one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof, which may be enclosed in the same package with items subject to the rate of one cent for each two onnces or fraction thereof, will subject the entire package to the highi- est rate, viz. : one cent for each onnce or fraction thereof.
The following articles are unmailable:
Packages containing liquids, poisons, glass, explosive chemicals, live animals, sharp pointed instruments, flour, sugar, or any other matter liable to deface or destroy the contents of the mail, or injure the per-
99
ABSTRACTS OF STATE LAWS.
son of any one connected with the service. All letters upon the en- velope of which, or postal card upon which indecent, lewd, obscene, or lascivious delineations, epithets, terms or language may be written or printed, or disloyal devices printed or engraved, and letters or cir- culars concerning illegal lotteries so called, gift concerts or other simi- lar enterprises offering prizes, or concerning schemes devised and in- tended to deceive and defrand the public. Also, all obscene, lewd or lascivious books, pamphlets, pictures, papers, prints or other publica- tions of an indecent character.
REGISTERED MATTER.
The fee for registering a letter going anywhere in the United States is fixed at ten cents in addition to the regular postage. Post-masters are required to register all letters properly presented for that pnr- pose, but no letters are to be registered on Sunday.
Registered letters will never be delivered to any person but the one to whom they are addressed, or to one whom the post-master knows to be authorized to receive them.
MONEY ORDERS.
The money-order system is intended to promote public convenience and to secure safety in the transfer through the mails of small sums of money. The principal means employed to attain safety consists in leaving ont of the order the name of the payee or person for whom the money is intended. In this respect a money-order differs from an ordinary bank draft or check. An advice or notification contain -. ing full particulars of the order is transmitted without delay by the issuing post-master to the post-master at the office of payment.' The latter is thus furnished, before the order itself is presented, with in- formation which will enable him to prevent its payment to any per- son not entitled thereto, provided the remitter complies with the regu- lation of the Department, which prohibits him from sending the same information in a letter inclosed with his order.
Under no circumstances can payment of an order be demanded on the day of its issue. The fees or charges for money-orders will be as follows:
On orders not exceeding $15. 10 cents
On orders over $15 and not exceeding $30. 15 cents
On orders over $30 and not exceeding $40. 20 cents
On orders over $40 and not exceeding $50. 25 cents
When a larger sum than $50 is required, additional orders to make it up must be obtained. But post-masters are instructed to refuse to issue in one day, to the same remitter and in favor of the same payee, more than three money-orders payable at the same postoffice.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
A little over a half century ago the territory now embraced within the limits of Knox county was in a state of nature. Scarcely a white inan, except hunters and traders, had ever crossed its fertile prairies. It was a wild region and uninhabited save by the wild beasts of forest and prairie, and roving bands of Indians, whose trails were found here and there over prairie and through timber, from village to vil- lage, of wigwams. Herds of deer, packs of wolves and other wild animals roamed at will. The buffalo had been driven by the Indians farther west, although their bones were found here and there scattered over the prairie. Since then wonderful and unparalleled have been the changes that have taken place.
Fifty years have passed since Daniel and Alexander Robertson, Richard Mathews, Jacob Gum and his sons, John B., James and Zephaniah, Riggs Pennington, Stephen Osborn, Eaton and Robert Nance, Benjamin Coy, Alexander Frakes, Robert Greenwell, Thomas Sheldon, Nicholas Voiles, Mrs. Jennie Vaughn, and John, her son, Jesse D. Gum, James Reynolds, Andrew and Alexander Osborn, M. D. Coy and Thomas McKee came to this county to found homes, all of them settling in Henderson township. Of this number but two are living in the county at the present time; and as there were no written records kept, as a natural consequence, a great many early in- cidents of local importance at the time of their happening are lost to the memory of the oldest surviving settlers; or, if not entirely lost, have become so confused with the multiplicity of accumulating cares, that to extricate an accurate account of them from time's rubbish, and preserve them in printed pages, so they may be seen now as they were then, will require a most critical exercise of mind and pen. As near as is possible ever to obtain, we give a correct sketch, taking great care properly to secure names, dates and locations, and we be- lieve the early history of the county is as full and complete as could have been compiled.
101
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Daniel and Alexander Robertson, and their brother-in-law, Richard Mathews, were the first to locate in the county of Knox. The two former were single men, but remained so bnt a short time, as we find the first marriage license issued, by the Clerk of the county, was to Daniel Robertson. Alexander was married shortly afterward, and in 1848 died. His daughter is the wife of John Junk, and has resided all her life on the farm where her father settled and died and where she was born. Richard Mathews remained here but a short time, and then returned to Morgan county, settling near Urnsville, where in 1876 he died.
The Robertson brothers first settled on the northeast quarter of section 15, Henderson township, where the soil of Knox county was first cultivated by a white man. At present Daniel lives on the southwest quarter of section 11 of the same township. He was un- able to get legal possession of the land originally settled upon, and was compelled to remove. In the early settlement of the Military Tract great annoyance was experienced by the pioneers from parties having tax titles, grants, patents, etc., of the land. Thus it was with the piece of land Mr. Robertson first located. A man . by the ; name of Baker, whose wife's father had an interest in or a claim upon this land, came along one evening and asked to stay over night. This privilege was cheerfully granted him. On the following morning he asserted his right to the land. He refused to leave the house. In an altercation which Daniel Robertson liad with him over this land Baker shot at Robertson, but fortunately missed him. Robertson ran to the house after liis gun, but his wife, fearing something fatal, kept it from himn. It would seem that with such vast expanse of wild land there would be no difficulty in regard to a small field.
Daniel Robertson, the first settler of the county, and who at pres- ent is hale and stout, and does considerable work on his farm, was born in Scotland, June 12, 1804. He was brought by his parents to the United States when only four weeks old. They settled near Lake George, New York. In 1820 his father came to the newly organized State of Illinois, settling in Madison county. In 1821 he went to Morgan county, from whence in a few years his two sons Daniel and Alexander went into Schuyler county, where they followed the busi- ness of raising hogs. The Galena trail went through Schuyler and Knox counties, and travelers were passing to and fro much of the time. Some of them told the Robertsons of the fine country in this county. They reported it as the best through which the trail passed. Time has since verified the assertion of these early miners. The winter of 1827-8, acting upon the advice of strangers, they concluded
102
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
to remove here. After some preparations they set out, in the latter part of February, 1828, for the unsettled country, with two yoke of oxen to their " prairie schooner" wagon, and with 80 head of hogs. Arriving after a weary journey, they pitched their tent and com- menced farming. Among the few rude implements they brought with them was a plow, the first to turn the soil of Knox county so far as known, except the still more rude implements of the Indians, who had cultivated little fields here and there over the county. This plow is still in the possession of Mr. Daniel Robertson, in a good state of preservation, and a relic worthy of more than a passing notice. How different is this antique implement from those in use at the present time! It was made after the most improved pattern, and at the time was a model worthy of imitation. It is what is known as the "Bar- share" plow, and in construction consumed a great amount of timber. The beam is 8₺ feet long and 16 inches in circumference. The wooden mold-board is 3 feet 4 inches long, about 10 inches wide and 4 inches thick, and is made of oak. The wrought-iron share, about the only piece of iron about it, is 4 feet, 4 inches long, although cut- ting but a 16-inch furrow. To make it more unique it is only from 14 to 16 inches high. With this ancient plow they prepared a few acres of ground and planted corn, which yielded forty bushels to the acre, thus enabling them to supply the immigrants as they came, and to " give the hogs a taste now and then," as Mr. Robertson remarked to us.
These animals subsisted mostly upon acorns and other nuts found in the timber. Considerable trouble was at first experienced with the Indian dogs, which would kill the pigs and make the hogs "homesick." These dogs were similar in many respects to the wolf, and were quite as mischievous and troublesome.
Of the pioneers of 1828 Daniel Robertson and Thomas McKee are the only two now residents of Knox connty. Almost all the others have finished their earthly career, and their names and deeds deserve mnuch honor from each citizen of the county, for they each and all as early settlers endured the trials and hardships of a new and wild country, to lay the foundation for future greatness and make a more beautiful, cultivated connty. Their memories should be perpetuated and handed down to posterity, who, when the country's age is told by centuries and its population by hundreds of thousands, will read with greater interest of those that opened the way for them to ad- vance in learning, culture, wealthlı and other ways. Future gener- ations should fully know and appreciate those who began the work of settling and changing a wild, unsettled and uncultivated county as Knox once was, to what it now is.
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Jacob Gum and his sons settled upon sections 32 and 33. Jacob was a minister of the gospel, and seldom failed to preach on Sunday; and although we may know his congregation was not large, nor did they assemble in a beautifully frescoed auditorium with cushioned pews and floor richly carpeted, yet the truth was just as earnestly preached and as gratefully received as to-day, for Elder Guin was an earnest worker and in his day wielded much influence for good. He was a member of the Regular Baptist Church, but finally united with the Christian Church, in which denomination he remained a de- voted member and an earnest, zealous laborer in his Master's cause, until called to dwell with Him on the shores of eternity, his death occurring many years ago in this county.
His sons Jesse and Zephaniah died in Missouri; John died in Cali- fornia; but James is living in that State at the present time. Riggs Pennington settled on section 10, from which place he moved to sec- tion 27, from thence to Texas in 1836, where he died. Stephen Os- born settled on section 23. He died at Henderson. Alexander Frakes and the Nance brothers settled on section 9. Frakes after- ward moved to Oregon, where he died. Eaton Nance is living in Missouri, but his brother Robert died in Cass county, Illinois. Ben- jamin Coy settled on section 31, and died in this county. M. D. Coy died in Iowa. Robert Greenwell settled on section 15, but afterward removed to Missouri, where he died. Nicholas Voiles settled on sec- tion 22, but moved to Texas, where he died about 1S52. Mrs. Vaughn, familiarly known as " Aunt Jennie," lived on section 33, and died in this county. John, her son, is still living, having no permanent home. James Reynolds died in this county. Alexander Osborn is still living, with his wife, whom he married in 1829,- theirs being the first marriage in Knox county. They are now re- siding in Kansas. Andrew Osborn also resides in the same State.
Thomas Sheldon resided in this county but one winter, when he went to Rock Island, where he died in June, 1829. He left a widow and four small children. In a wild, uncultivated country, where physical labor is required, a woman with a family of small children would undergo much suffering. The settlers of Knox soon heard of the death of Mr. Sheldon, and immediately two of their number went to ascertain the condition of the family. In September they con- cluded to bring his widow to their own settlement at Henderson that they might care for her, and accordingly sent Thomas McKee with two yoke of oxen to bring her and her effects. The few settlers of Rock Island had been very kind to the widow, and had provided her with provisions for the winter,-among which was a barrel of flour
104
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
and a barrel of meat. Thomas McKee was at the time but nineteen years of age, but was a hardy frontier boy, and scarcely knew what hardships were; but he certainly experienced many on this trip of four days. He came to Rock river on his return, and there being no bridges or ferries, it must be forded. This he did, which without guide was a dangerous task. He came on to Mill creek, crossing it safely, but a little this side his wagon sunk so deep in the mnd that his oxen in a desperate attempt to pull it ont broke the neck-yoke. This was very discouraging, but young McKee immediately started back for Rock Island afoot for another yoke. This he obtained, and soon returned, reaching his wagon abont dark. They were obliged to remain there all night, when a heavy rain fell and the water rose up nearly to the bed of the wagon. The following morning he unloaded his wagon and "pulled out." He says, to-day, it is a great wonder to liini how he ever managed to load the barrel of meat, as the lady was in a condition which unfitted her for lending any assistance in lifting. They came on farther and stalled again, and again unloaded every article. At Edwards river he stuck again, the oxen being un- able to get up the rather steep embankment. He again unloaded every article, and then had to carry and roll each up the bank to the wagon. Coming on into Rio township, this county, about dark, he came to a sloughi, where he remained over night.
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