USA > Illinois > Logan County > History of Logan County, Illinois > Part 13
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John J. Hardin.
1843-44
Stephen A. Douglas
1843-44
John Wentworth
1843-44
John A. McClernand
1843-44
TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Robert Smith 1845-46
Joseph P. Hoge. 1845-46
Stephen A. Douglas
. 1845-46
John A. McClernand. 1845-46
Orlando B. Finklin 1845-46
John Wentworth. 1845-46
John J. Hardin
1845
THIRTIETH CONGRESS.
John Wentworth. 1847-48
Orlando B. Finklin. 1847-48
Thomas J. Turner. 1847
Robert Smith 1847-48
Abraham Lincoln 1847-48
William A. Richardson.
1847-48
John A. McClernand 1847-48
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HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. THIRTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
151
John A. McClernand.
:849-50 Edward D. Baker. 1849-50
John Wentworth. 1849-50
William H. Bissell. 1849-50
Timothy R. Young. 1849-50
Thomas L. Harris. .1849
William A. Richardson 1849-50
THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS.
William A. Richardson 1851-52
Richard Yates 1851-52
Thompson Campbell
.1851-52
Richard S. Maloney. 1851-52
Orlando B. Finklin.
1851-52
Willis. 1851-52
John Wentworth. 1851-52
William H. Bissell. 1851-52
THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
William H. Bissell
1853-54
Thompson Campbell 1853-54
John C. Allen.
1853-54
James Knox. 1853-54
Willis.
1853-54
Jesse O. Norton. 1853-54
Elihu B. Washburne 1853-54
William A. Richardson.
1863-54
Richard Yates 1858-54
THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne
1855-56
Samuel S. Marshall 1855-56
Lyman Trumbull.
. 1855-56
J. L. D. Morrison.
1855-56
James H. Woodworth
1855-56
John C. Allen.
1855-56
James Knox ..
. 1855-56
Jesse O. Norton. 1855-56
Thompson Campbell. 1855-56
William A. Richardson 1855-56
THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne.
1857-58
Samuel S. Marshall. 1857-58
Charles D. Hodges.
1857-58
Isaac N. Morris. 1857-58
William Kellogg.
1857-58
Aaron Shaw
1857-58
Thompson Campbell.
1857-58
Robert Smith 1857-58
John F. Farnsworth
1857-58
Thomas L. Harris 1857-58
Owen Lovejoy
1857-58
THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne
1859-60
John F. Farnsworth 1859-60
John A. Logan.
1859-60
Philip B. Fouke
1859-60
Owen Lovejoy.
1859-60
Thomas L. Harris. .1859-60
John A. McClernand.
1859-60
William Kellogg. 1859-60
Isaac N Morris
1859-60
James C. Robinson 1859-60
THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne
1861-62
Isaac N. Arnold.
1861-62
James C. Robinson.
1861-62
Philip B. Fouke
1861-62
John A. Logan
1861-62
William Kellogg.
1861-62
Owen Lovejoy.
1861-62
Anthony L. Knapp. 1861-62
John A. McClernand.
1861-62
William A. Richardson 1861-62
THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne.
1863-64
William J. Allen 1863-64
Jesse O. Norton
1863-64
Isaac N. Arnold.
1863-64
James C. Robinson 1863-64
John R. Eden. 1863-64
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152 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
Lewis W. Ross
1863-64
John F. Farnsworth. .1863-64
John T. Stuart.
1863-64
Charles W. Morris. 1863-64
Owen Lovejoy
1863-64
Eben C. Ingersoll
1863-64
William R. Morrison 1863-64
Anthony L. Knapp 1863-64
John C. Allen
1863-64
THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne. 1865-66
John F. Farnsworth. 1865-66
Anthony B. Thornton
1865-66
Jehu Baker .. 1865-66
John Wentworth.
1865-66
Henry P. H. Bromwell .1865-66
Abner C. Hardin.
1865-66
Andrew Z. Kuykandall. 1865-66
Eben C. Ingersoll
1865-66
Samuel S. Marshall.
1865-66
Barton C. Cook.
1865-66
Samuel W. Moulton. 1865-66
Shelby M. Cullom 1865-66
Lewis W. Ross 1865-66
FORTIETH CONGRESS.
Elihu B. Washburne.
1867-68
John F. Farnsworth 1867-68
Abner C. Hardin
1867-68
Jehu Baker. .1867-68
Eben C. Ingersoll.
1867-68
Henry P. H. Bromwell 1867-68
Norman B. Judd.
1867-68
John A. Logan. 1867-68
Albert G. Burr.
1867-68
Samuel S. Marshall.
1867-68
Burton C. Cook
1867-68
Green B. Raum 1867-68
Shelby M. Cullon
1867-68
Lewis W. Ross .1867-68
FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Norman B. Judd.
1869-70
Shelby M. Cullom 1869-70
John F. Farnsworth.
1869-70
Thomas W. McNeely 1869-70
H. C. Burchard.
1869-70
Albert G. Burr.
1869-70
John B. Hawley
1869-70
Samuel S. Marshall.
1869-70
Eben C. Ingersoll.
1869-70
John B. Hay.
1869-70
Burton C. Cook
.1869-70
John M. Crebs 1869-70
Jesse H. Moore 1869-70
John A. Logan. 1869-70
FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS.
Charles B. Farwell.
1871-72
James C. Robinson, 1871-72
John F. Farnsworth.
1871-72
Thomas W. McNeely 1871-72
Horatio C. Burchard.
1871-72
Edward Y. Rice .. 1871-72
John B. Hawley
1871-72
Samuel S. Marshall. 1871-72
Bradford N. Stevens 1871-72
John B. Hay.
871-72
Henry Snapp
.1871-72
John M. Crebs. 1871-72
Jesse H. Moore. 1871-72
John S. Beveredge. 1871-72
FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
John B. Rice.
1873-74 Robert M. Knapp 1873-74
Jasper D. Ward.
1873-74
James C. Robinson. 1873-74
Charles B. Farwell
1873-74
John B. McNulta 1873-74
Stephen A. Hurlbut. 1873-74
Joseph G. Cannon. 1873-74
Horatio C. Burchard. 1873-74
John R. Eden 1873-74
John B. Hawley .. 1873-74
James S. Martin 1879-74
Franklin Corwin. 1873-74
William R. Morrison 1873- 74
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HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
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Greenbury L. Fort.
1873-74 Isaac Clements.
1878-74
Granville Barrere. 1873-74
Samuel S. Marshall
1873-74
William H. Ray.
1878-74
FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS.
Bernard G. Caulfield
1875-76
Scott Wike. 1875-76
Carter H. Harrison.
1875-76
William M. Springer. 1875-76
Charles B. Farwell. 1875-76
Adlai E. Stevenson 1875-76
Stephen A. Hurlbut.
1875-76
Joseph G. Cannon 1875-76
Horatio C. Burchard.
1875-76
John R. Eden.
1875-76
Thomas J. Henderson
1875-76
W. A. J. Sparks. 1875-76
Alexander Campbell. 1875-76
William R. Morrison 1875-76
Greenbury L. Fort. 1875-76
William Hartzell.
.1875-76
Richard H. Whiting
1875-76
William B. Andersor
1875-76
John C. Bagby 1875-76
FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
William Aldrich 1877-78
Robert M. Knapp .. 1877-78
Carter H. Harrison 1877-78
William M. Springer. 1877-78
Lorenzo Brentano. 1877-78
Thomas F. Tipton 1877-78
William Lathrop. 1877-78
Joseph G. Cannon.
1877-78
Horatio C. Burchard 1877-78
John R. Eden 1877-78
Thomas J. Henderson 1877-78
W. A. J. Sparks. 1877-78
Philip C. Hayes .. 1877-78
William R. Morrison. 1877-78
Greenbury L. Fort. 1877-78
William Hartzell. 1877-78
Thomas A. Boyd.
1877-78
Richard W. Townshend
1877-78
FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS.
William Aldrich. 1879-80
James W. Singleton 1879-80
George R. Davis 1879-80
William M. Springer 1879-80
Hiram Barber. 1879-80
A. E. Stevenson 1879-80
John C. Sherwin. 1879-80
Joseph G. Cannon
1879-80
R. M. A. Hawk. 1879-80
Albert P. Forsythe 1879-80
Thomas J. Henderson 1879-80
W. A. J. Sparks. 1879-80
Philip C. Hayes. 1879-80
William R. Morrison 1879-80
Greenbury L. Fort. 1879-80
John R. Thomas. 1879-80
Thomas A. Boyd. 1879-80
R. W. Townshend.
1879-80
Benjamin F. Marsh 1879-80
FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS ...
William Aldrich 1881-'82
. James W. Singleton. 1881-'82
George R. Davis 1881-'82
William M. Springer 1881-'82
Charles B. Farwell 1881-'82
Dietrich C. Smith. .1881-'82
John C. Sherwin. 1881-'82
Joseph G. Cannon.
1881-'82
Robert M. A. Hawk. 1881-'82
Samuel W. Moulton 1881-'82
Thomas J. Henderson 1881-'82
William A. J. Sparks. 1881-'82
William Cullen. 1881-82
William R. Morrison 1881-'82
Lewis E. Payson. 1881-'82
John R. Thomas. 1881-'82
John H. Lewis. 1881-'82
R. W. Townshend.
1881-'82
Benjamin F. Marsh. 1881-'82
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154 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS.
Ransom W. Dunham 1883-'84
William H. Neece. 1883-'84
John F. Finerty. 1883-'84
James M. Riggs. . 1883-'84
George R. Davis. 1883-'84
William M. Springer. 1888-'84
George E. Adams.
1883-'84
Jonathan H. Rowell 1888-'84
Reuben Ellwood 1883-'84
Joseph G. Cannon. . 1883-'84
Robert R. Hitt. 1883-'84
Aaron Shaw. 1883-'84
Thomas J. Henderson 1883-'84
Samuel W. Moulton 1883-'84
William Cullen
1883-'84
William R. Morrison
1883-'84
Lewis E. Payson. 1888-'84
Richard W. Townshend 1888-'84
Nicholas E. Worthington
1883-'84
John R. Thomas. 1883-'84
FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Ransom W. Dunham 1885-'86
William H. Neece 1885-'86
Francis Lawler
1895-'86
James M. Riggs.
1885-'86
J. H. Ward
1885-'86
William M. Springer .. 1885-'86
George E. Adams
1885-'86
Jonathan H. Rowell 1885-'86
Reuben Ellwood. 1885-'86
Joseph G. Cannon 1885-'86
Robert H. Hitt. .1885-'86
S. Z. Landes. 1885-'86
Thomas J. Henderson. 1885-'86
John R. Eden ..
1885-'86
Ralph Plumb.
1885-'86
William R. Morrison
1885-'86
Lewis E. Payson
1885-'86
Richard W. Townshend. 1885-'86
Nicholas E. Worthington
1885-'86
John R. Thomas. 1885-'86
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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
CHANGES OF FIFTY YEARS .- LIFE IN THE CROWDED EAST .- COUR- AGE OF THE PIONEERS .- THEIR LABORS AND REWARDS .- A PEN PICTURE.
Within one brief generation a dense and unbroken wilderness has been transformed into a cultivated region of thrift and pros- perity, by the untiring zeal and energy of an enterprising people. The trails of hunters and trappers have given place to railroads and thoroughfares for vehicles of every description; the cabins and garden patches of the pioneers have been succeeded by comfort- able houses and broad fields of waving grain, with school-houses, churches, mills, postoffices and other institutions of convenience for each community. Add to these a city of 6,000 inhabitants, two of 1,500 each, and numerous thriving villages, with extensive business and manufacturing interests, and the result is a work of which all concerned may well be proud.
The record of this marvelous change is history, and the most im- portant that can be written. For fifty years the people of Logan County have been making a history that for thrilling interest, grand practical results, and lessons that may be perused with profit by citizens of other regions, will compare favorably with the narrative of the history of any county in the great Northwest; and, considering the extent of territory involved, it is as worthy of the pen of a Bancroft as even the story of our glorious Republic.
While our venerable ancestors may have said and believed
"No pent up Utica contracts our powers, For the whole boundless continent is ours,"
they were nevertheless for a long time content to occupy and pos- 10 (155)
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156
HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. ? !
sess a very small corner of it; and the great West was not opened to industry and civilization until a variety of canses had combined to form, as it were, a great heart, whose animating principle was improvement, whose impulses annually sent forward armies of noble men and women, and whose pulse is now felt throughout the length and breadth of the best country the sun ever shone upon-from the pineries of Maine to the vineyards of California, and from the sugar-canes of Louisiana to the wheat fields of Min- nesota. Long may this heart beat and push forward its arteries and veins of commerce.
Not more from choice than from enforced necessity did the old pioneers bid farewell to the play-ground of their childhood and the graves of their fathers. One generation after another had worn themselves ont in the service of their avaricious landlords. From the first flashes of daylight in the morning until the last glimmer of the setting sun, they had toiled unceasingly on, from father to son, carrying home each day upon their aching shoulders the precious proceeds of their daily labor. Money and pride and power were handed down in the line of succession from the rich father to his son, while unceasing work and continuous poverty and ever- lasting obscurity were the heritage of the working man and his children.
Their society was graded and degraded. It was not manners, nor industry, nor education, nor qualities of the head and heart that established the grade. It was money and jewels, and silk and satin, and broadcloth and imperious pride that triumphed over honest poverty and trampled the poor man and his children under the iron heel. The children of the rich and poor were not per- mitted to mingle with and to love each other. Courtship was more the work of the parents than of the sons and daughters. The golden calf was the key to matrimony. To perpetuate a self- constituted aristocracy, without power of brain, or the rich blood of royalty, purse was united to parse, and cousin with cousin, in bonds of matrimony, until the virus boiling in their blood was transmitted by the law of inheritance from one generation to an- other, and until nerves powerless and manhood dwarfed were on exhibition everywhere, and everywhere abhorred. For the sons and daughters of the poor man to remain there was to forever fol- low as our fathers had followed, and never to lead; to submit, but never to rule; to obey, but never to command.
Without money or prestige, or influential friends, the old pio-
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INTRODUCTORY.
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neers drifted along one by one, from State to State, until in Illi- nois-the garden of the Union-they have found inviting homes for each, and room for all. To secure and adorn these homes more than ordinary ambition was required, greater than ordinary endur- ance demanded, and unflinching determination was, by the force of necessity, written over every brow. It was not pomp, or parade, or glittering show that the pioneers were after. They sought for homes which they could call their own, homes for themselves and homes for their children. How well they have succeeded after a struggle of many years against the adverse tides let the records and tax-gatherers testify; let the broad cultivated fields and fruit- bearing orchards, the flocks and herds, the palatial residences, the places of business, the spacions halls, the clattering car-wheels, and ponderous engines all testify.
There was a time when pioneers waded through deep snows, across bridgeless rivers, and through bottomless sloughs, a score of miles to mill or market, and when more time was required to reach and return from market than is now required to cross the continent, or traverse the Atlantic. These were the times when our places were constructed of logs and covered with "shakes " riven from the forest trees. These were the times when our children were stowed away for the night in the low, dark attics, among the horns of the elk and the deer, and where through the chinks in the "shakes " they could count the twinkling stars. These were the times when our chairs and our bedsteads were hewn from the forest trees, and tables and bureaus constructed from the boxes in which their goods were brought. These were the times when the workingman labored six and sometimes seven days in the week, and all the hours there were in a day from sunrise to sunset.
Whether all succeeded in what they undertook is not a question to be asked now. The proof that as a body they did succeed, is all around us. Many individuals were perhaps disappointed. Fortunes and misfortunes belong to the human race. Not every man can have a school-house on the corner of his farm; not every man can have a bridge over the stream that flows by his dwelling; not every man can have a railroad depot on the borders of his plantation, or a city in its center; and while these things are desirable in some respects, their advantages are oftentimes outweighed by the almost perpetual presence of the foreign beggar, the dreaded tramp, the fear of fire and conflagration, and the insecurity from the presence of the midnight burglar, and the bold, bad; men and women who
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158 HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.
lurk in ambush and infest the villages. The good things of this earth are not all to be found in any one place; but if more is to be found in one than another, that place is in our rural retreats, our quiet homes outside of the clamor and turmoil of city life.
In viewing the blessings which surround us, then, we should reverence those who have made them possible, and ever fondly cherish in memory the sturdy old pioneer and his log cabin.
Let us turn our eyes and thoughts back to the log cabin days of a quarter of a century ago, and contrast those homes with com- fortable dwellings of to-day. Before us stands the old log cabin. Let us enter. Instinctively the head is uncovered in token of reverence to this relic of ancestral beginnings, early struggles and final triumphe. To the left is the deep, wide fire-place, in whose commodious space a group of children may sit by the fire, and up through the chimney may count the stars, while ghostly stories of witches and giants, and still more thrilling stories of Indians and wild beasts, are whisperingly told and shudderingly heard. On the great crane hang the old tea-kettle and the great iron pot. The huge shovel and tongs stand sentinel in either corner, while the great andirons patiently wait for the huge back-log. Over the fire- place hangs the trusty rifle. To the right of the fire-place stands the spinning wheel, while in the further end of the room is seen the old-fashioned loom. Strings of drying apples and poles of drying pumpkins are overhead. Opposite the door in which you enter stands a huge deal table; by its side the dresser whose pewter plates and "shining delf " catch and reflect the fire-place flames as shields of armies do the sunshine. From the corner of its shelves coyly peep out the relics of former china. In a curtained corner and hid from casual sight we find the mother's bed, and under it the trundle-bed, while near them a ladder indicates the loft where the older children sleep. To the left of the fire-place and in the corner opposite the spinning wheel is the mother's work-stand. Upon it lies the Bible, evidently much used, its family record tell- ing of parents and friends a long way off, and telling, too, of children
"Scattered like the roses in bloom, Some at the bridal, some at the tomb."
Her spectacles, as if but just used, are inserted between the leaves of her Bible, and tell of her purpose to return to its comforts when cares permit and duty is done. A stool, a bench, well notched and whittled and carved, and a few chairs complete the furni-
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INTRODUCTORY. 159
ture of the room, and all stand on a coarse but well scoured floor. Let us for a moment watch the city visitors to his humble cabin. The city bride, innocent but thoughtless, and ignorant of labor and care, asks her city-bred husband, "Pray, what savages set this up?" Honestly confessing his ignorance, he .replies, "I do not know." But see the pair upon whom age sits "frosty, but kindly." First, as they enter, they give a rapid glance about the cabin home, and then a mutual glance of eye to eye. Why do tears start and fill their eyes ? Why do lips quiver ? There are many who know why; but who that has not learned in the school of experience the full meaning of all these symbols of trials and privations, of loneliness and danger, can comprehend the story that they tell to the pioneer? Within this chinked and mud-daubed cabin we read the first pages of our history, and as we retire through its low door-way, and note the heavy battened door, its wooden hinges and .its welcoming latch-string, is it strange that the scenes withont should seem to be but a dream ? But the cabin and the palace, standing side by side in vivid contrast, tell their own story of this people's progress. They are a history and a prophecy in one.
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CHAPTER II.
- -
SCIENTIFIC
-
SITUATION .- BOUNDARIES .- TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY .- STREAMS. -ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. - COAL. - BUILDING MATERIAL. - THE PRAIRIES .- TIMBER.
Illinois is a magnificent empire; and in almost its exact center lies Logan County. It is bounded on the north by Tazewell and McLean counties, on the east by De Witt and Macon counties, on the south by Sangamon County, and on the west by Mason and Menard counties. It comprises an area of a little more than seven- teen townships, or about 618 square miles. Its physical features are so well described by the State Geologist in his three-volume report on economic geology that we need no apology for reproduc- ing the greater part of his article here. Tazewell, McLean, Logan and Mason counties are treated together.
" The surface of the country over the greater portion of this die- trict, including McLean, Logan, the greater part of Tazewell, and the eastern part of Mason County, is a high, undulating prairie, with here and there groves and belts of timber. The soil is gen- erally a rich brown mold,"varying somewhat in different localities, in the proportion of clay, etc., which it contains, some portions being more argillaceous than others. In the timber, however, which occupies scarcely more than one-fifth or one-sixth of the entire surface, and in the broken country along some of the prin- cipal streams, the soil is of a somewhat different character, the lighter-colored and more argillaceous sub-soil appearing at or nearer to the surface.
"In the greater part of Mason County, and over considerable tract in the southwestern part of Tazewell County, the surface configuration varies from that which we have just described; the prairies are low and comparatively flat, and in many portions were originally overflowed, or marshy, at some seasons of the year. The soil of these prairies is a rich alluvium, generally more or less arenaceous, which forms, when sufficiently elevated or (160)
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SOIENTIFIO.
drained, one of the best producing soils in this district. Along the Illinois and Sangamon rivers in this region, we find in some places rather extensive sandy tracts of river formation, and on the San- gamon River, in Mason County, and on the Illinois River, in Ma- son and Tazewell counties, the bald bluffs of the Loess are in some localities conspicuous features in the general landscape.
"The principal streams occurring in this district, besides the Illinois and Sangamon rivers, which form a portion of its borders, are the Mackinaw River, in Tazewell, Mason and McLean counties; Salt Creek, in Mason and Logan counties, and Kickapoo and Sugar creeks, in Logan and McLean counties. These, with many minor streams, and nameless tributaries, drain nearly the whole surface of this district. With the exception of the Illinois and Sangamon rivers, none of the streams have very extensive adjoining tracts of bottom land, and even along these rivers the bottoms are fre- quently of inconsiderable width, or wanting altogether.
"The principal kinds of timber found in the upland wooded tracts of this district are nearly the same as those already enum- erated as occurring in the adjoining counties, namely, the principal varieties of oak and hickory, black-walnut, butternut, maple, bass- wood, red-bud, sassafras, etc. On the river bottoms, and in low damp lands generally, the sycamore, buck-eye, black-ash, elm, etc., are abundant. The sandy ridges are generally covered with a growth of scrubby oak and black-jack, with a thin admixture of other species.
"The geological formations appearing at the surface in this dis- trict consist almost entirely of the Drift and later formations, the older rocks outcropping only at a comparatively few localities, in Tazewell and Logan counties. The underlying rock, however, as far as can be ascertained from these outcrops, as well as from artifi- cial exposures by shafts, etc., in various parts of the district, con- sists entirely of the different beds of the Coal Measure series.
"The Loess, the uppermost of the more recent geological forma- tions, appears only in the vicinity of the Illinois and Sangamon rivers, and consists here, as elsewhere, of buff or ash-colored marly sand, containing fresh-water shells of existing species. It is not everywhere equally well developed, and in various localities along the Illinois River, in Mason and Tazewell counties, it either does not appear or is not at all conspicuous. It may well be seen, how- ever, along the Sangamon River, in Mason County, where it ap- pears in the bald, rounded bluffs, with occasional mural appearing
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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.
escarpments covering their summits, which form so characteristic a feature in the landscape along the river below. In the northern part of Tazewell County, although this buff marly sand appears to some extent in the bluffs along the Illinois River, it is not by any means as well exposed, or prominent, as in the counties farther to the south.
"The Drift formation, which covers the older rocks in almost every part of this district, is here composed of beds of blue and brown clay, sand and gravel, and varies in thickness, in different portions, from fifty feet in the western part of Tazewell County, to 250 feet in the Bloomington shafts. It has been penetrated, how- ever, at comparatively but few points, and over the greater portion of this region its depth can only be approximately estimated. It seems probable, indeed, that it may be of this thickness over con- siderable portions of McLean County, as a boring at Chatsworth, in the adjoining portion of Livingston County, was reported to have penetrated to a depth of 250 feet before striking rock.
" The material of the Drift in this region appears to be gener- ally roughly stratified; alternating beds of sand, gravel and clay are frequently met with in wells and borings. The sand and gravel beds generally make up but a very small part of the total thick- ness, though sometimes single beds attain a very considerable thickness, as, for instance, at Chenoa, in the northern part of Me- Lean County, where a boring for coal passed through a bed of sand and gravel thirty feet in thickness, overlaid by forty five feet of the usual clays of this formation. Occasionally, also, a bed of black earth or vegetable mold, still containing pieces of wood, trunks of trees, leaves, etc., only partially decayed, is met with, and a bed of quicksand, containing fossil-land or fresh-water shells of existing species.
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