USA > Illinois > Macon County > History of Macon County, Illinois, from its organization to 1876 > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
North west
14 5| 7 14
17
16 20 16
14 18 24
19
11
8
6
6 16 11 19 19
284
Calm
13 11 |10:10,14
7
4
2
4
1
1
2
3
1
1
1
0
0
0
91 1988
Clear
32,32
17
19 38
12 36
27
|23
37
28
19
26
32
18 29
41 29
I
14 134
617
Fair
18 24 32
26 27
18
26
15
11
7 26
16
26
31
24
34
28
19
19
14
17
458
Partly cloudy.
14 19 22
17
16 17
25
12
16 17 17
16
23
16
23 16 12
12 30 17
50
27
512 1937
EXPLANATION OF TABLES, ETC.
Clear indicates no clouds, or not more than one-tenth cloudy.
Fair, two to four tenths, inclusive.
Partly cloudy, five to eight-tenths of clouds.
Cloudy, nine-tenths and upwards.
Regula's observations are taken at 6.48 A. M., 3.48 and 10.13 P. M., each day, Decatur mean time, which corresponds with Washington, D. C., mean time of 7.35 A. M., 4.35 and 11 P. M., that being the hour at which all observations are taken at Regula's Signal Ser- vice Stations, corrections being made for local time to correspond therewith.
Other observations of the instruments, direction of the wind, etc., are taken as may be demanded. It will be seen, by Table 2, that 1988 observations of direction of wind were noted, and but 1937 of aspect of the sky ; the difference is caused by observations taken during the approach of storms, when the wind has shifted often, while the aspect of the sky has remained unchanged and not mentioned. In Table 1, in column mean of sea- sons, nine months and of year, the mean of the barometer, thermometer and hygrome- ter are given, while in the other footings in said columns the range, difference and sums are given.
The minus mark, thus -, placed before figures pertaining to the [thermometer, indi- cates below zero
350
Cloudy
26 18 19
31 12
|13
23
35
42
|31
16
42
15
14 25 14
12 13 12 15
Total.
151
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
SUMMARY OF THE NINE MONTHS ENDING DEC. 31, 1875.
Highest observed thermometer 95, 3.48 P. M., July 16.
Lowest
-4, 6.48 A. M., Dec 17
Difference.
99 deg.
Highest daily mean thermometer
Lowest ¥
87.2, July 16. 3.25, Dec. 17.
Difference
83.95 deg.
Highest monthly mean thermometer.
77.63, July.
Lowest 66 66
39.63, November.
Difference
Highest observed barometer
Lowest
38.00 deg. 30.646, 10 A. M., Nov. 24. 29.261, 7.35 A. M. May I.
Difference
1.385 inches.
Highest daily mean barometer Lowest
30.558, November 21. 29.391, May 7.
Difference
Highest monthly mean barometer
Lowest 66
1.167 inches. 30.055, November. 29.868, July.
Difference
.187 inches.
Last freeze of spring, May 16; ice one-thirty-second of an inch formed. Last white frost, May 17; no ice. First frost and ice in fall, September 21; ice thickness of letter paper. First cold day of fall, freezing during entire 24 hours, November 16. First snow, December 7. River frozen over for first time, December 17th; on 19th ice was four inches thick. All ice and frost had disappeared on the 21st. Latter part of December was warm and pleasant; on the 30th and 31st frogs were heard croaking in numerous ponds near the city ; and at adjoining railroad stations, some farmers plow- ing on the 30th.
Heaviest fall of rain in 24 hours, on May 23d, on which day 4.60 inches fell from 3.24 P. M., to 10.10 P. M., of which 2.08 inches fell in 31 minutes, viz: from 3.24 to 3.55 P. M.
No snow storms during these nine months. Light snows fell on eight days, during the months of April and December; as will be seen by reference to table 1, less than two inches fall.
152
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
SUMMARY OF THE YEAR 1876.
Highest observed thermometer 94, 2 P. M., July 19.
Lowest
-12, 6.48 A. M., Dec. 9.
Difference 106 deg.
Highest daily mean thermometer 86.25, July 19.
Lowest -2.66, Dec. 9.
Difference
88.91
Highest monthly mean thermometer 78 July.
Lowest
19.9, December.
Difference
58. I deg.
Highest observed barometer 30.536, Dec. 4th. Lowest 66 29.113, March 16.
Difference
1.423 inches.
Highest daily mean barometer 30.446, Dec. 3.
Lowest
29.378, March 16.
Difference
1.068 inches.
Highest monthly mean barometer
30.129, December.
29.852, June.
Lowest
Difference .277 inches.
Last freeze of spring, May 1; thin ice formed. Last white frost observed in city, May 3d; no ice. May 23d, a light white frost was reported from some low lands in the country.
First white frost in fall, September 27th; no injury done to veg- etation. First killing frost, with thin ice, October 7th. First ice of any thickness, October 15; 1/2 inch thick. First cold day, freez- ing during same, November IS. First snow, November 14. River frozen over on the Sth of December; from that to 31st ice formed to thickness of 10 inches.
During the winter of 1874-5, ground was frozen to an average depth of 38 inches; winter of 1875-6, 6 inches; and thus far in winter of 1876-7, 12 inches.
153
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
HIGH WATER.
It is said said that the greatest rain-fall that has occurred in this country was in the year 1835. There was no record kept of the amount that fell by any of the methods of to-day, and all we have to judge by is the high water in the river and creeks. The Sanga- mon is said to have been higher than at the breaking up of the deep snow in the spring of 1831, or at any time since. The rains commenced falling in the early spring, and continued throughout the early summer. There have been, perhaps, other seasons just as wet, but the streams were never so high at any other time. There were a great many hard rains, and a storm of rain, thunder and lightning occurred in the early part of July, that, for severity, has scarcely ever been excelled. It extended throughout the west, as far as information extended. Our prairies, then undrained, resembled an immense lake, and fish were abundant in almost every locality, It may not be known to many, but it is a well attested fact, that the large ponds upon our prairies, in early days, contained fish, large enough for domestic purposes, almost every spring, and that, too, when the ponds would annually dry up entirely. How the presence of such fish was to be accounted for surpassed the comprehension of ye old settler, except that they were " rained down when small." During this year but little in the way of crops was attempted to be raised. Hogs were fattened in the fall upon the mast, and those that were not killed for food had to subsist during the winter upon the acorns. With them it was lit- erally " root hog or die." Cattle wintered upon buds, the trees being cut down for that purpose. Eighteen hundred and forty-two and 1858 are also notable as years of great rain-fall. During the early history of the county, when there were no bridges, much diffi- culty was experienced in getting from place to place in the spring time, on account of the high waters. The people, however, were nearly all expert swimmers, and it was seldom that life was lost from the high water. We are sometimes at a loss to know why ferries were established and licensed on the Sangamon; but it should be remembered the river " was up " a great deal longer in those days, when the land was not improved, and when there were no drains to carry the water off rapidly. The water then had to seek the natural drainage, and its course was retarded by many obstructions. We are disposed to believe -20
154
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
that the elements "cut more capers," in the shape of deep snows, sudden changes, severe storms, when this whole western country was a wild waste. They say civilization is a great leveler ; and perhaps it has had something to do in toneing down the ele- ments. And we had no signal service bureau then, charged by the government with the duty of looking after those matters. "Old Probabilities " didn't then put out his daily weather bulletin at the corner of the postoffice to warn us of the approaching " cold snap," so that we were then often caught without any oil in our lamps, so to speak.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY SETTLERS.
For true and genuine hospitality, the pioneers of this western country were remarkable. This, no doubt, is attributable, in part, to inherent characteristics of the people, but largely so to the pecu- liar surroundings and circumstances in which they were placed. The sympathetic emotions of man become more and more obtuse as he is placed in situations of independence. Selfishness is not wholly a characteristic of the individual. Cosmopolitan ideas are assumed as wealth and independence place a person beyond the demands of succor and help from others. The requirements of want and deprivation are calculated to make one feel kind and hos- pitable to all. Napoleon, as an exile at Helena, was not the austere commander at Austerlitz and Mount Tabor. The haughty child of fortune may, and often does, become, when old age and misfortune have overtaken him or her, the very embodiment of kindness and universal friendship. While the wants and necessities of pioneer life are few and simple, yet their supply is none the less exacting. Hence, we find the pioneers of Macon county, governed by the same law, and manifesting the same spirit of generosity that actu- ates the human breast, under similar circumstances, everywhere. Chapter after chapter of individual acts of kindness might here be re- lated, of those who took part in the early settlement of this county, if we only had the space to devote. No doubt lessons of profit might be learned therefrom by us, in this golden age of steam, of im- provement, and civilization. We sometimes laugh at what we call the simplicity and old-fogy notions of our fathers; but what- ever we may say on that point, of their generosity, their devotion to each other, of their friendship, of their kind treatment of stran- gers, as well as acquaintances and neighbors, the less we say, by
155
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
way of comparison, the better. To divide they were always willing; and to give all, in cases of extreme sympathy, was not uncommon. To charge a stranger for a night's loding was an act of gross impropriety not to be tolerated.
Twenty miles was a short distance to ride, over the then bad roads, to see a sick neighbor. It was never too cold or wet to lend assistance to the needy. If a neighbor, by sickness or other mis- fortune, was unable to plant his corn, sow or reap his wheat, they all "turned in" and assisted or did it for him. It was never too far to go to assist a " new comer " to " raise " his house, or help rebuild one destroyed by fire. The tools of one man were almost property in common. The refusal to lend almost any article of personal property, was an act of hostility that the whole neighborhood re- sented. They did not all drink, but among those who did, a re- fusal to drink with a friend was the unkindest cut of all; it was an act of social ostracism. Another peculiarity of the early pioneers was the readiness they manifested in resenting real or imaginary wrongs or insults. They are said to have been always ready for a fight. The court dockets show that they were as ready for a legal contest, and the amounts involved seems to have had but little weight in the institution of legal proceedings. It was the wrong they sought to correct, and not the amount involved that determined whether they would resort to litigation or not. Slander suits were quite common. Of the four suits brought at the first term of the Macon county circuit court, two were for slander; and of the six at the next term, four were for the same thing.
From the results arrived at, in the cases mentioned, we presume the suits were not very meritorious; yet it is a well established fact that in those early days the people were very jealous in guarding their reputations and that of their families. Character was not to be assailed without just cause. Aside from the fact that in sparsely settled communities every person knows every other person's busi- ness, and is for that reason perhaps more disposed to talk, we do not believe the tongue of slander is more energetic or more dis- posed to injure, under such surroundings, than in densely populated districts; and probably not so much so. The disposition to resent insult, real or 'seeming, is, however, more marked. There was another characteristic of the pioneers that it is proper to mention in this connection, and which we still see among the survivors, and
156
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
that was the implicit confidence reposed in each other in their promises and business relations. It is true their contracts were few and simple, and their business transactions by no means complica- ted, yet there was usually the most implicit confidence reposed in the honor and integrity of those with whom they dealt. A man's promise upon his honor was sure to be met, no matter what sacri- fices were required. His word was as good as his bond, if the last cow or hog had to be given up to make it so. Promissory notes were given sometimes, but the person required to give one thought it was a slight reflection upon his integrity. He looked upon it as a transaction tinged a little bit with suspicion and doubt in the mind of the payee, and he usually managed to "take up" that note as soon as possible. He regarded it as a dangerous instrument, and he breathed freer when he had borrowed the money from a neighbor and got his name torn off the note. Of course, there were excep- tions to these characteristics, but the general rule, nevertheless, pre- vailed. The old credit system, existing in early days in this coun- try, grew out of the confidence reposed in the public by the mer- chants. The necessities of the times, growing out of the scarcity of money, the lack of markets and the few commodities for sale or exhange, of course, had mueh to do with making a credit system the only system. The merchants bought on long time and sold on long time, and usually at profits that would justify it.
We should make one remark further in this connection, with reference to the state of society during the early settlement of the county. Notwithstanding on muster-days, holidays and Saturdays, when the people generally came together, there was always more or less quarreling or fighting, yet there was none of the reckless lawlessness we find in some parts of the country. It was seldom the parties resorted to knives or pistols; that was gross cowardice. When two men became enraged, or disputed about anything, there was no resort to the "code of honor," now, happily almost entirely banished from the United States, but it was settled in the fisticuff style, and the fellow that was beaten said so, and they quit, shook hands and were friends again. Those who were privileged, by reason of opportunity, to see the fight, looked on as spectators, anxious to see who was the best man, and exerted themselves, not to part the combatants, but to see that they had a "fair fight." It was a common remark made by the early settlers that such and such
157
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
a man would rather fight than eat. But, while they were disposed to be "on their muscle," and fighting was quite common among these pioneers, there was seldom anything more serious resulting than a black eye or a swollen nose, or a few bruises that lasted but a few days. The first murder that ever occurred in the county was that of Wesley Bohrer, who was murdered by Samuel Huffman, in 1846, seventeen years after the organization of the county. There was but little of the outlawry and bloodshed that has disgraced other portions of the country in the early days, or later days, for that matter. It is said that but one challenge for a duel was ever given and accepted, and that the result of that was not very san- guinary, more laughable in fact than bloody.
"HARD TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS."
None but those who have experienced them can duly appreciate the difficulties to be surmounted, the hardships to be met and en- dured, the deprivations and wants experienced that are incident to pioneer life. We talk of the depressions in trade; we bemoan the scarcity of a circulating medium; we talk of the absolute stagna- tion of the markets for this produce or that; we become enraged at the excessive charges for freights and transportation; we talk of poverty and starvation staring us in the face; we hear political as- pirants proclaiming from the rostrums (the stumps of pioneer life) the absolute necessity of the naked, starving, downtrodden oppres- sed people arising in their might and throwing off the yoke of op- pression, or hurling from power this administration or that, which they insist is dragging the people down to poverty and ruin. There yet live in this county men who not only have seen trade depressed, but absolutely no trade; have seen money so scarce that letters from friends had to remain in the post office for days and weeks for want of money to pay the postage; who have hauled their wheat to Chicago, St. Louis and Springfield, in wagons drawn by oxen, over roads termed highways that did not deserve the name of cart- ways, and when they reached their destination could get but little more than half enough for a bushel of wheat to buy a yard of calico; who have been compelled to live for weeks upon hom- ney, and if bread at all it was bread made from corn ground in hand mills or pounded up with mortars; whose children have been destitute of shoes during the entire winter; whose families had no
158
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
clothing except what was carded, spun, wove and made into gar- ments by their own hands; schools, they had none; churches, they had none; afflicted with sickness incident to all new countries, sometimes the whole family at once; luxuries of life, they had none; conveniences of modern life, they had none; the auxilliaries, improvements, inventions and labor-saving machinery of to-day they had none; and what they possessed was obtained by the hardest of labor, and the sweat of individual exertions; yet they bore these things without murmuring, hoping for better times to come, and often too, with but little prospect of realization. These were times that tried mens' souls. We often hear it remarked by these old settlers and pioneers that it will do for the young men to go west to the new countries and help build them up, but for them there is no anxiety to try the vicissitudes incident to the early settlement again. They have been there. To them there is no novelty about the thing enticing enough to induce them to leave a home of comfort.
We hear people talk about the old fogy ideas and fogy ways, and want of energy of the old men who have gone through the experiences of pioneer life. Sometimes, perhaps, such remarks are just, but, considering the experiences, education and whole life of such men, such remarks are just as well unsaid. They have had their trials, misfortunes, hardships and adventures, aud shall we, now as they are passing far down the western declivity of life, and many of them gone, point at them the finger of derision and laugh and sneer at the simplicity of their ways? Let us rather cheer them up, revere and respect them, for beneath those rough exteri- ors beat hearts as noble as ever throbbed the human breast. Sena- tor Oglesby, in his fourth of July address of 1876, surrounded by the few remaining pioneers, paid them a most glowing tribute of respect. He said that we of this generation could never duly appreciate the great sacrifices of those people. They had toiled on and on through adversity and untold trials, that we their distant and re- mote successors might enjoy the fruits of their sacrifices. He said it was a serious question of the hour, and one that addressed itself to each of us, whether or not we are not so swallowed up in materialism, so wrapped up in personal gain and the acquisition of filthy lucre, as to lose sight of the sturdy women and men who laid the founda- tions of the republic and placed in the solid earth the corner stones upon which had been reared the fabrics of our material and politi-
159
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
cal prosperity. He made further prediction, which, he said, had haunted him for years, as he had contemplated the condition and tendencies of our affairs, which was this: that when we as a peo- ple in the vain pursuits of life, struggling for wealth, distinction and fame, allowed the love of the past to die out in our hearts, then the republic would have taken its first downward step.
As it is in our political affairs and the enjoyment of our civil and religious liberties, so it is with our material comforts. We are blessed with a rich soil, splendid harvests, medium climate and many other things that make us a contented, prosperous and happy people; but we owe much to those who opened up these aven- ues that have led to our present condition and happy sur- roundings. Unremitting toil and labor have driven off the sickly miasmas that brooded over our swampy prairies. Energy and per- severence have peopled every section of our wild lands, and changed them from wastes and deserts to gardens of beauty and profit. Where but a few years ago the howling wolves made the night hideous with their wild shrieks, now is heard only the low- ing and bleating of domestic animals. But fifty years ago the wild whoop of the Indian was heard where now is heard the engine and rumbling trains of cars, bearing away to the east and to the old world the products of our labor and soil. Then the savage built his rude hut on the spot where rises the dwellings and school-houses and church spires of civilized life. Transformation indeed! And all done not through the chimerical process of Kubla Kahn, but the incessant toil and aggregated labor of thousands of tired hands and brave hearts, and the impulses of such as make any country great. No, we will not forget what we owe to the pioneers of our country. They had their faults, but who does not? If charity be an attribute of the human heart, let us throw around them that mantle as one by one they depart. Let us drop a sympathetic tear over their last resting places as they are gathered, we hope, to a better land, where the rude blasts of winter do not penetrate their abodes, and where storms and winds and sickness and fatigue are unknown.
What will another half century accomplish? These old men who are yet lingering among us as connecting links of the past with the present, what do they think as with their dim eyes they view the scenes that surround them? They have seen the old and
160
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
new worlds connected with cords that pulsate with the life of in- dustry and progress. They have seen the oceans bound together with metalic bonds, and the whole country traversed with high- ways of commerce. They have seen the nation rise in majesty and become an influence felt and respected throughout the world. They have seen the spirit of liberty grow up and assert itself to its pres- ent commanding influence. They have seen the initiation of that principal of universal brotherhood which dictates the settlement of international disputes by arbitration, rather than a resort to war. They may yet see the same spirit of equity and fairness assert itself in the adjustment of our own domestic affairs. They may live to see the machinery of government so adjusted as that no jars and thunderings of civil war will be felt and heard upon the result of presidential contests. They have seen the religious intoleration that existed to some extent in the early history of the country al- most entirely obliterated, so that all men everywhere worship ac- cording to the dictates of their own consience, as it was designed they should. They have seen what we are pleased to term the civilization of the nineteenth century permeating every department of human experience, and asserting its influence in all directions for the general good of mankind. They have seen complete revolu- tions in almost every branch of industry. They have seen the steamboat and railroad supplant the old-time methods of travel. They have seen the reaper and mower and corn-planter succeed the sickle, scythe and hoe. They have seen their households in- vaded by Howe and Wheeler & Wilson and Singer, and all that long list of labor and time saving machinery that have driven away the stitch, stitch, stitch, so truthfully portrayed by Hood. They view the surroundings with the same strange, wondering as- tonishment as did Rip Van Winkle on his return from his long sleep in the mountains. Again we ask, what will the next half century accomplish? With the advantages that surround us, what is ex- pected of us? With the capital we have, what shall be expected as our increase? The late Senator Harris frequently remarked to his students of the grave responsibilities resting upon them with the advantages they posssessed. He said, though then near 70 years of age, he could scarcely realize that he was not a young man, the opportunities the times brought were so enticing, so fraught with interest to every one who sought to lead a life of usefulness.
161
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY.
With tears in his eyes he dismissed his students with the motto for each, that :-
"'Tis infamy to die and not be missed."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.