USA > Illinois > Macon County > History of Macon County, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 10
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 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
At all gatherings jumping and wrestling were indulged in, and those who excelled were thenceforth men of notoriety. Cards, dice, and other gambling implements were unknown. Dancing was a favorite amusement. It was participated in by all.
At their shooting-matches, which were usually for the prize of a turkey, or a gallon of whisky, good feeling generally prevailed. If disputes arose, they were settled often by a square stand-up fight, and no one thought of using other weapons than fists. They held no grudges after their fights, for this was considered un- manly. It was the rule that, if the fight occurred between two persons, the victor should pour water for the defeated as he washed away the traces of the fray, after which the latter was to perform the same service for the former.
To illustrate the ready ingenuity of the early settlers, devel- oped by their poverty, and remoteness from places where neces- saries could be purchased, we borrow an anecdote, from " Ford's History of Illinois," related of James Lemon, a well-known
pioncer of Monroe county, and an old-style Baptist preacher. A farmer by occupation, " He manufactured harness as they were required. Being one day employed in plowing a piece of stubble ground, on turning out for dinner, as was his wont, he left the harness on the beam of the plow. His son, not differing from the proverbial minister's boy, perhaps, who had assisted him by removing the clogging straw from the plow with a pitch-fork, remained behind long enough to conceal one of the collars, that he might have a playing spell while his father was occupied in making another. But his plot failed ; on returning after dinner and missing the collar, his father reflecting a few minutes prompt- ly divested himself of his leather breeches, stuffed the legs with stubble, straddled them across the neck of the horse for a collar, and plowed the remainder of the day bare-legged, requiring the assistance of his truantly inclined boy all the time." At this day to provide for such a mishap, half a day would have been spent in going to town after another collar, and the boy would probably have gained his point.
Pioneer Mills .- Among the first were the " band mills." A description of one will not prove uninteresting. The plan was cheap. The horse power consisted of a large upright shaft, somnc ten or twelve feet in height, with some eight or ten long arms let into the main shaft and extending out from it fifteen feet. Auger holes were bored into the arms on the upper side at the end, into which wooden pins were driven. This was called the "big wheel," and was as has been seen, about twenty feet in diameter. The raw hide belt or tug was made of skins taken off of beef cattle, which were cut into strips three inches in width ; these were twisted into a round cord or tug, which was long enough to encircle the circumference of the big wheel. There it was held in place by the wooden pins, then to cross and pass under a shed to run around a drum, or what is called a " trunnel head," which was attached to the grinding apparatus. The horses or oxen were hitched to the arms by means of raw hide tugs. Then walking in a circle the machinery would be set in motion. To grind twelve bushels of corn was considered a good day's work on a band mill.
The most rude and primitive method of manufacturing meal was by the use of the Grater. A plate of tin is pierced with many holes, so that one side is very rough. The tin is made oval, and then nailed to a board. An ear of corn was rubbed hard on this grater whereby the meal was forced through the holes, and fell down into a vessel prepared to receive it. An improvement on this was the Hand mill. The stones were smaller than those of the band-mill, and were propelled by man or woman power. A hole is made in the upper stoue, and a staff of wood is put in it, and the other end of the staff is put through a hole in a plank above, so that the whole is free to act. One or two persons take hold of this staff and turn the upper stone as rapidly as possible. An eye is made in the upper stone, through which the corn is put into the mill, with the hand in small quantities to suit the mill, instead of a hopper. A mortar, wherein corn was beaten into meal, is made out of a large round log three or four feet long. One end is cut or burnt out so as to hold a peck of corn, more or less, according to circumstances. This mortar is set one end on the ground, and the other up, to hold the corn. A sweep is prepared over the mortar so that the spring of the pole raises the piston, and the hands at it force it so hard down on the corn that after much beating, meal is manufactured.
The picture here drawn of the pioneers, their modes of living, their customs, and amusements, while lacking entire complete- ness, we fcel is not inaccurate and untruthful.
40
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
CHAPTER V.
GEOGRAPHY, AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES, AND RAILROAD FACILITIES.
ACON is the central county of Illinois, the exact geo- graphical center of the State being some seven miles north-west of Decatur. The fortieth parallel of latitude crosses the northern part of the county, and the twelfth meridian of longitude west from Washington bisccts it north and south. Measured in section lines, it extends north and south twenty-seven miles, east and west seventeen miles, containing an area of about 578 square miles, or 369,920 acres, and is divided into seventeen legislative townships. It is bounded on the north by De Witt ; on the east by Piatt and Moultrie ; on the south by Moul- trie, Shelby and Christian ; on the west by Christian, Sangamon and Logan counties. Decatur, situated near the center, is the capital of the county, and is distant from Chicago 175 miles, and from St. Louis 113 miles.
Form .- The county is rectangular in form, with a narrow projec- tion on the west, and a slight indentation on the south-east.
Population .- According to the census of 1880, the county con- tains a population of 30,407, composed of persons of English, Ger- man, Irish and Swedish descent, with a few of the colored race.
Topography .- The surface of the country is mostly flat or level, with gentle undulations in the regions of the various water courses, along which the land is broken, low sand and clay hills intervening, some of which, especially on the Sangamon River, in the vicinity of Decatur, rise gradually to a height of ninety feet above the sur- rounding surface. By far the larger part of the county consisted originally of prairie, the timber being limited to a belt from two to three miles wide along the Sangamon River, a similar strip along Big Creek, and a somewhat narrower belt near Friends' Crcek. Some of this timber is of excellent quality, as will be fully shown in the chapter on the Flora of the county.
Hydrography .- The county is well supplied with natural water- courses, the largest and most important being Sangamon River, which enters the county on the east and flows southwesterly to the central part, where it bends slightly northward, winding partly around the city of Decatur, and flowing out of the county in a north-westerly direction. By means of the Holly system of water- works, situated on this river about a mile south of the center of Decatur, the city is supplied with an abundance of most excellent water. The northern part of the county is watered by the Lake Fork of Salt Creek, Friends' Creek, with its several tributaries, Jones' Fork, and Stevens' Creek ; the central part by Stevens' Creek and Sangamon River; the southern part by Mosquito Creek, Big Creck, Dry Branch and Long Grove Branch. Most of these streams are tributaries of the Saugamon River, and afford most excellent drainage to the surrounding country. In parts of the county, remote from these natural water-courses, an extensive sys- tem of tiling has been lately introduced, whereby the numerous ponds and inland lakes, which originally covered thousands of acres of fertile grain-producing lands, have been drained, and their dry beds, by the skill of the progressive husbandman, made to bloom and bear rich harvests of all the important cercals. This tiling, which has been in general use only some five or six years, is made out of a species of fire-clay, of which extensive beds are found in . the county. The average cost of laying tiling is twenty-five cents per rod; the average depth to which it is laid in the ground is three and a-half feet. The price of tiling varies according to diameter, as follows :
Tiling 3 inches in diameter, per 1000 fect, $15
4
18
5
66
66
66 .
66
25
6
35
7
66
45
66
8
66
66
66
55
10
66
90
During the past year the demand for this system of drainage has been so great that the local factories have been unable to fill all orders, and, consequently, much tiling has been imported from other parts of the state. As the benefits of tile draining become better understood and appreciated, and its importance more fully realized, by the farmning community generally, it will be still more extensively used, and millions of wealth thereby added to the agri- cultural interests of the state. A rather remarkable circumstance connected with the recent draining of some of the lakes in this county is the fact that in these bodies of water, which are several miles distant from any permanent stream, and which, during the dry season a year ago, entirely disappeared, their beds becoming dried and baked, great numbers of fish embracing most of the com- mon varieties, and large enough for table use, have been captured. The most plausible theory respecting their presence is that during the intervening freshets these fish, like mountain trout, have made their way up the numerous little brooks, that, in the rainy season, flow down the valleys from the lakes into the Sangamon River and other adjacent streams.
PERENNIAL SPRINGS
abound in different parts of the county. On the farm of John Good in the vicinity of Bethel church, four miles north-west of Decatur, is a boiling spring, upon the surface of which bubbles of carburetted hydrogen gas with peculiar white mineral flakes or scales are con- stantly cscaping. The water of this spring is unusually cold and, though slightly tinctured with sulphur, is very pleasant to the taste. The ground around it for an acre or more in extent is wet and spongy. In the fair grounds at Decatur and on the farm of Capt. Allen, three miles south of the city, are several most excellent springs. Those south of the city contain traces of several minerals, the most prominent of which is iron. On the premises of Mr. John Imboden, adjoining the Decatur cemetery, is a mineral well thirty feet deep, which has an average flow, throughout the year, of eigh- teen gallons per minute. An analysis of this water, given by Dr. J. V. Z. Blancy, of Chicago, is as follows :
" One Litre of water taken. Whole amount of solid matter found by evaporation to complete dryness, .4833.291 grammes in 1 Litre of water, which is equal to 27.116,251 grains in 1 W. S. gallon of 221,780 cubic inches.
" This solid matter consists of chloride of Magnesium .0474,506 grammes in 1 Litre, or 2.66197866 grains in 1 gallon.
Sulphate of Lime, .0365190 grains in 1 Litre, or 2.04871590 grains in 1 gallon. Carbonate of Lime, .02068595 11.60481795 =
Silica .175
9.8175 66
Iron and Alumina .0175
.98175
=
Total .4833291
27.11476251
"Carbonic Acid Gas uncombined and held in solution, 70.44 cubic inches."
Soil .- In depth and richness of soil, this county is perhaps unsurpassed by any in the state. It is situated in the most fertile part of the famous " Grand Prairie," which includes within its limits, by far the most productive lands in North America, rivaling,
66
66
41
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
in native agricultural resources, the far-famed valley of the Nile or the great "granary of Europe" in the region of the Baltic Sca. The soil of the prairie lands-and these constitute about seven- eighths of the county-is a black peaty loam from thirce to ten feet decp, and commonly termed "vegetable mould," from the fact that for untold ages extending back to the great drift period, immense accumulations of decayed vegetable matter have from year to year and from century to century been fertilizing these vast trecless plains, thus preparing them to yield abundant crops for the dense population already here, and the still denser population yet to be. On the Sangamon hills extending three or four miles East and West from Decatur, the soil has a light yellowish color, with reddish-brown clay containing sand and gravel, intermixcd. North and South from the river, the arenaccous and argillaceous soil of the timber changes rapidly into the deep rich black soil of the prairie. This county contains very little land that is not suscep- tible of cultivation, and that will not yield rich returns for the labor of the husbandman.
Agriculture .- Nothing is truer than the rather trite saying that " the success of the farmer is the success of the country." His mission is to create wealth. The surplus products of his labor form constant additions to the wealth of the State and help to swell thie capital of the nation. When farming fails, famine flourishes, poverty prevails, commerce ceases, and progress is paralyzed. In this country abundant crops arc the rule ; failures, the exception. The chief occupation of the people is farming and stock-raising. The lands, both timbered and prairie, are capable of producing the finest crops. In the northern part of the county especially, most excellent corn crops are annually raised, the average yield of this cereal in that region being sixty-five bushels per acre, and often far exceeding this number. Oats, barley, and rye grow luxuriantly, rarely failing to yield largely. The potato and other tuberous plants are successfully cultivated, and, when free from the depre- dations of bugs, and other noxious insects, not only afford ample supplies for home consumption, but contribute much to the exports of the country. All varieties of grapes, berries, currants, and com- mon garden vegetables grow well, and, in favorable seasons, produce more than enough to meet the demands of the local markets. But wheat, especially the winter variety, is considered a very uncertain crop. New land and that adjacent to the timber belts produce fair crops of this important cereal. The land near the South line of the county is much better adapted to wheat-raising than that in other parts. The soil generally, though very rich, seems to be too loose to protect the roots of the wheat during the winter, and, con- sequently, in the process of freezing and thawing, the wheat is gradually ejected from the ground and dies. However, for the last two years, (1879 and 1880), wheat has done well in this county, the average per acre being upwards of twenty five bushels, making a favorable comparison with that in other parts of the State. These two extra crops are probably due to the climatic peculiari- ties of the last two winters, and to the improved methods of planting the seed. In years to come, as the soil grows inore compact, and the science of agriculture becomes more exact, wheat will probably be as certain a crop in this county as corn and oats are now. Blue grass, timothy, red-top, and clover are the principal cultivated grasses, and afford rich pasturage for stock, and the finest quality of hay for market. The black soil of the prairie seems especially well adapted to the growth of timothy, and the same may be said of the other grasses in connection with the thinner soil on the hills and uplands along the larger water-courses. The acreage of pasture and meadow has been largely increased within the last decade, indicating a tendency on the part of farmers
to take advantage of the great facilities nature has here furnished for stock-raising. Within that time, the quality of stock has also been much improved, as the numerous herds of fine cattle, to be seen in the broad pastures, sufficiently attest. The horses, sheep, and logs arc of far finer quality now than they were a few years ago, showing progressive spirit and enterprise on the part of farmers in keeping with all other branches of industry. Of late years fruit of all kinds has received increased attention. Apples, peaches, pears, cherries and other less prominent fruit have been found to do well, and, when carefully cultivated, yield abundant supplies. Soil, climate, geographical position, water supply, trans- portation facilities, and the intelligent, enterprising spirit of tlic people, combine to make this one of the finest counties in the State.
Mounds .- No artificial mounds have yet been discovered in the county. The absence of these structures is probably due to the fact that when that mysterious "lost race," known as mound builders, occupied in great numbers the southern and western parts of the State, as the multiplication of mounds in those regions attest, the land in this portion of the State was yet under water. There are in the county several natural mounds, of which the one near the town of Blue Mound south of Decatur fourteen miles is probably the most prominent. It covers an area of some fifteen acres, and rises to an altitude of sixty feet above the flat surface of the prai- rie. This mass has been found by excavation to be composed mostly of gravel and sand, proving it, beyond doubt, to belong to the ancient drift period. Another of these mounds is situated two miles north of Decatur, and covers with its base about forty acres. It rises fifty feet above the surrounding level and, like the one at Blue Mound, is made up chiefly of sand and gravel. A large mound a little east of Decatur covers some forty acres and has an elevation of eighty-five feet. These and other similar formations in this county have been supposed by some to have been constructed by the mound-building race as places of worship, and consequently to belong to the class known as " temple mounds," of which the most remarkable representations on the continent are situated in the vicinity of Cahokia Creek near East St. Louis.
RAILROADS.
As introductory to the subject of railroad facilities in Macon county, a brief summary of the railroads of the world will not, it is thought, be inappropriate. The locomotive steam engine, as is well known, was invented by George Stephenson, of England, and was first successfully operated, September 27th, 1825, on a short road built from Stockton to Darlington. In 1830 there were only twen- ty-three miles of railroad in the United States. During the follow- ing year a railroad was constructed from Albany to Schenectady, N. Y., a distance of sixteen miles, and put in successful operation. From the latter dates the introduction of railroads in the United States and also in America. To show what rapid progress has been made, by the various countries on the globe, in this great system of transportation, which has already revolutionized the world, and rendered the Nineteenth Century famous in the annals of time, the following official statistics of 1879 are submitted :
COUNTRIES.
MILES OF ROAD.
TOTAL COST.
COST PER MILE.
United States.
81,814
$ 4,319,145 669
$ 52,774
Canada
4,929
317,795,468
64,474
Mexico
403
38,816,154
96,318
Central America & West Indies ...
618
53,679,830
87,022
South America.
5,967
573 009,701
96,029
Europe.
93,791
10,408,152,951
110,971
Asia
7,930
616,719,454
77,774
Africa.
2,106
112,577,836.
53,456
Australasia ..
2,665
183,273,154
63,771
Grand total
197,617
16,485,015,775
83,419
6
42
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
RAILROADS OF ILLINOIS.
The first line of railroad projected in Illinois was the Northern Cross Railroad, extending from Quincy to Danville. This was chartered in 1837, and upon it the first locomotive that ever ap- peared in Illinois, was placed in the winter of 1838-9, running from Meredosia to Jacksonville. In 1842 the road was completed from Jacksonville to Springfield, and three trips were made per week from the latter place to Meredosia, on the Illinois River. The track was of the old flat-rail style, which was made by nailing thin strips of iron on two parallel lines of timbers placed at the proper distance apart, and running lengthways of the road. The engine, as well as the road, soon became so impaired that the former had to be aban- doned and mules substituted as the motor power. It was during this incipient state of western railroad development that the writer, then a mere youth, witnessed one of these mule-motor trains in transit between Jacksonville and the Illinois river, and was duly impressed with the grandeur and solemnity of the occasion. How- ever, such locomotion was destined to be of short duration ; for the State soon afterwards sold the entire road at a nominal sum, and thus for a short time was suspended one of the first railroad enter- prises in Illinois. But in the West a new era-one of prodigious industrial activity and of far-reaching results in the practical arts- was dawning, and within thirty years from the temporary failure of the road mentioned, this State had outstripped all others in gigan- tic internal improvements, containing at present as shown below, more miles of railroad than any other State in the Union. Accord- ing to the official report of 1879, Illinois has 8,624 miles of railways, constructed and equipped at a cost of $380,779,971, thus surpassing Ohio (the next greatest railroad State) by 2,391 miles of road, New York by 2,800 miles, and Pennsylvania by 2,941 miles. It may be of interest to the reader fifty years hence, to make a similar, though more extended, comparison.
RAILROADS OF MACON COUNTY.
All the railroads that enter this county eonverge and either pass through, or terminate at, Decatur, making this city one of the most important railroad centers in the State. The first railroad built through the county was the
GREAT WESTERN,
whose name has since been successively changed to Toledo, Wabash and Western, Wabash, and WABASH, ST. LOUIS AND PACIFIC, the last of which it still bears. The Great Western was an extension of the Northern Cross Railroad, which has been previously men- tioned. To this road, whose cars first entered Decatur in April, 1854, more than to any other, the county owes the subsequent rapid development of its agricultural and other resources. It was con- structed without any peeuniary aid from the county, and running through some of the finest portions of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, it soon became the popular highway of travel and traffic between the East and the West. Under its new name-Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific-and management, it has rapidly extended its lines east and west of the Mississippi river, comprising at present two great di- visions, the eastern and the western, whose termini and lengths of lines are as follows :
EASTERN DIVISION.
Toledo, Ohio, to St. Louis, Mo., 436 miles.
Decatur, Ill., to Quincy, Ill., 151
Bluffs, Ill., to IIannibal, Mo., 50
Maysville, Ill., to Pittsfield, Ill., 6
Clayton, Ill., to Keokuk, Iowa, 49
Logansport, Ind., to Butler, Ind.,
93
Edwardsville, Ill., to Edwardsville Crossing,
10 miles.
Bement, Ill., to Chicago, 151
Deeatur, Ill., via Champaign to Havana, Ill., 131
l'eoria, Ill., to Jacksonville, 83
State Line, Ill., to Warsaw, Ill.,
227
Total miles cast of the Mississippi river, 1381
WESTERN DIVISION.
St. Louis to Kansas City,
277 miles.
Brunswick, Mo., to Council Bluffs, Iowa, 224 "
Roseberry, Mo., to Clarinda, Iowa, 22
Moberly, Mo., to Ottumwa, Iowa, 131
North Lexington, Mo., to St. Joseph, Mo.,
76
Centralia, Mo., to Columbia, Mo.,
22
Salisbury, Mo., to Glasgow, Mo.,
15
Ferguson, Mo., to Biddle street, St. Louis,
10
Total miles west of Mississippi river, Grand total, 777 2158 miles.
The " main line " of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway runs nearly on an east and west line through the county, crossing the townships of Niantic, Harristown, Decatur and Oakley. The Decatur and St. Louis branch bears in a south-westerly direction from Decatur, passing through the townships of Deeatur, South Wheat- land, Blue Mound and Pleasant View. The latter road was chartered as the Decatur and St. Louis Railroad, to which the county of Ma- con, in 1870, voted $100,000 in eight per cent. bonds. In 1873, the county voted to the Decatur and Monticello Railroad, $25,000; Friends' Creek township voted to the same road, $20,000, and like- wise Decatur township, $25,000. This road was afterwards called the Champaign, Havana and Western, and, in August, 1880, passed under the control of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific. It starts at Deeatur and runs in a north-easterly direction, crossing diagonally the townships of Whitmore and Friends' Creek, in this county, and at Champaign making important connections, east and west. The engine-house of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, located at De- eatur, contains twenty-two stalls, and gives employment to a large number of men. The receipts of the road from freight and passen- ger traffic at Decatur average, at present, about $25,000 per month, and are constantly increasing. The disbursements to employees at this point amount to several thousand dollars per month. The principal lines of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific have steel rail tracks, well ballasted road-beds, and altogether constitute one of the greatest railroad systems in the West. The second railroad built through this eounty was the
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.