USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 18
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Such articles of apparel as could not be manufactured were brought to them from the nearest store by the mail carrier. These were few, however. The men and boys, in many instances, wore pantaloons made of the dressed skin of the deer, which then swarmed the prairies in large herds. The young man who desired to look captivating to the eye of the maiden whom he loved, had his "bucks" fringed, which lent them a not unpleasing effect. Meal sacks were also made of buckskin. Caps were made of the skins of the wolf, fox, wild cat and muskrat, tanned with the fur on. The tail of the fox or wolf often hung down the top of the cap, lending the wearer a jaunty air. Both sexes wore moccasins, which in dry weather were an excellent substitute for shoes. There were no shoemakers and each family made its own shoes.
The settlers were separated from their neighbors often by miles. There were no churches or regular services of any kind to call them together, hence, no doubt, the cheerfulness with which they accepted invitations to a house raising . or a log rolling or a corn shucking, or a bee of any kind. To attend these gath- erings sometimes they would go ten miles or more.
Generally with the invitation to the men went one to the women to come to a quilting. The good woman of the house where the festivities were to take place would be busily engaged for a day or more in preparation for the coming guests. ' Great quantities of provisions were to be prepared, for dyspepsia was unknown to the pioneer and good appetites were the rule and not the exception.
The bread used at these frolics was generally baked on Johnny or Journey cake boards, and was the best corn bread ever made. The board was made smooth, about two feet long and eight inches wide. The ends were generally rounded. The dough was spread out on this board and placed leaning before the fire. One side was baked and then the dough was changed on the board, so the other side was presented to the fire. This was Johnny cake and was good if the 'proper materials were put in the dough and it was properly baked.
At all log rollings and house raisings, it was customary to provide liquor. Excesses were not indulged in, however. The fiddler was never forgotten. After
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the day's work had been accomplished, out doors and in, by men and women, the floor was cleared and the merry dance began. The handsome, stalwart young men, whose fine forms were the result of their manly, outdoor life, clad in fringed buckskin breeches and gaudily colored hunting shirts, led forth the bright eyed, buxom damsels, attired in neatly fitting linsey woolsey garments, to the dance, their cheeks glowing with health and eyes speaking of enjoyment, and perhaps of a tenderer emotion.
In pioneer times the corn was never husked on the stalk, as is done at this day, but was hauled home in the husk and thrown in a heap, generally by the side of the crib, so that the ears, when husked, could be thrown direct into the crib. The whole neighborhood, male and female, were invited to the shucking, as it was called. The girls, and many of the married women, engaged in this amusing work.
In the first place two leading expert huskers were chosen as captains, and the heap of corn divided as nearly equal as possible. Rails were laid across the pile so as to designate the division; and then each captain chose, alternately, his corps of huskers, male and female. The whole number of working hands present were selected, on one side or the other, and then each party commenced a contest to beat the other, which was in many cases truly exciting. One other rule was that whenever a male husked a red ear of corn, he was entitled to a kiss from the girls. This frequently excited much fuss and scuffling, which was intended by both parties to end in a kiss. It was a universal practice that taffia or Monon- gahela whisky was used at these husking frolics, which they drank out of a bottle, each one, male and female, taking the bottle and drinking out of it, and then handing it to his next neighbor, without using any glass or cup whatever. This custom was common and was not considered rude. Almost always these corn shuckings ended in a dance. To prepare for this amusement fiddles and fiddlers were in great demand, and it often required much fast riding to obtain them. One violin and a performer were all that was contemplated at these innocent rural games.
Toward dark and the supper half over, then it was that a bustle and con- fusion commenced. The confusion of tongues at Babel would have been ashamed at the corn shuckings, the young ones hurrying off the table, and the old ones contending for time and order. It was the case, in nine times out of ten, that but one dwelling house was on the premises, and that used for eating as well as dancing.
But when the fiddler commenced tuning his instrument the music always gained the victory for the young side. Then the dishes, victuals, table and all, disappeared in a few minutes, and the room was cleared, the dogs driven out, and the floor swept off ready for action. The floors of these houses were some- times the natural earth, beat solid, sometimes the earth, with puncheons in the middle over the potato hole, and at times the whole floor was made of puncheons.
The music at these country dances made the young folks almost frantic, and sometimes much excitement was displayed to get on the floor first. Generally the fiddler on these occasions assumed an important bearing, and ordered in true professional style, so and so to be done, as that was the way in North Carolina, where he was raised. The decision ended the contest for the floor. In those
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days they danced jigs and four handed reels, as they were called. Sometimes three handed reels were also danced. In these dances there was no standing still ; all were moving at a rapid pace from the beginning to the end. In the jigs the bystanders cut one another out, as it was called, so that this dance would last for hours. Sometimes the parties in a jig tried to tire one another down in the dance, and then it would also last a long time before one or the other gave up. The cotillion or stand still dances were not then known.
The bottle went round at these parties as it did at the shuckings, and male and female took a dram out of it as it passed around. No sitting was indulged in, and the folks either stood or danced all night, as generally daylight ended the frolic. The dress of these hardy pioneers was generally in plain homespun. The hunting shirt was much worn at that time, which was a convenient working or dancing dress. Sometimes dressed deerskin pantaloons were used on these occasions, and moccasins, rarely shoes, and at times barefeet were indulged in. In the morning all went home on horseback or on foot. No carriages, wagons or other vehicles were used on these occasions, for the best of reasons-because they had none. Dancing was a favorite amusement and was indulged in by all.
The amusements of those days were more athletic and rude than those of to- day. Among settlers in a new country, from the nature of the case, a higher value was set upon physical than mental endowments. Skill in woodcraft, supe- riority of muscular development, accuracy in shooting with the rifle, activity, . swiftness of foot, were qualifications that brought their possessors fame. Foot racing was often practiced, and often the boys and young men engaged in friendly contests with the Indians. Every man had a rifle, and always kept it in good order. His flints, bullet molds, screwdriver, awl, butcher knife and tomahawk were fastened to the shot pouch trap or to the belt around the waist. Target shooting was much practiced and shots were made by the hunters and settler's, with flint lock rifles, that cannot be excelled by their descendants with the im- proved breech loaders of the present day.
At all gatherings jumping and wrestling was indulged in, and those who ex- celled were thenceforward men of notoriety. Cards, dice and other gambling implements were unknown. Dancing was a favorite amusement. It was par- ticipated 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 often settled by a square stand-up fight, and no one thought of using other weapons than fists. They held no grudge after their fights, for this was consid- ered unmanly. It was the rule, that if a 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.
Among the first of the pioneer mills were the "band mills." The plan was cheap. The horse power consisted of a large upright shaft, some ten or twelve feet in height, with some eight or ten long arms let into the main shaft and ex- tending 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
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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 crossed and passed under a shed and 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 a grater. A plate of tin was pierced with many holes, so that one side was very rough. The tin was 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 pro- pelled by man or woman power. A hole was made in the upper stone and a staff of wood was put in it, and the other end of the staff was put through a hole in a plank above, so that the whole was free to act. One or two persons took hold of this staff and turned the upper stone as rapidly as possible. An eye was made in the upper stone, through which the corn was 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, was made out of a large round log, three or four feet long. One end was cut or burned out so as to hold a peck of corn, more or less, according to circumstances. This mortar was set one end on the ground, and the other up, to hold the corn. A sweep was prepared over the mortar so that the spring of the pole raised the piston and the hands at it forced it down on the corn so. hard that after much beating, meal was manufactured.
CHAPTER IX.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE A PRIMITIVE LOG BUILDING-MEN OF NOTE HELD FORTH THERE-SECOND BUILDING SOMEWHAT MORE PRETENTIOUS THAN ITS PREDE- CESSOR-HERE LINCOLN, DOUGLAS AND MANY OTHERS WHO BECAME OF NA- TIONAL NOTE FOREGATHERED EARLY CRIMINAL RECORD.
FIRST COURT HOUSE.
The county, being organized and electing officials to look after its business affairs, needed a place of its own, wherein the county officers might perform their duties. Or, in other words, a place was needed in which to hold court, of- fices for the board of commissioners and other officers, and a safe repository for public documents. The commissioners' and district courts had been held at the homes of certain of the settlers, but the business of the county was growing and the necessity of a courthouse became more and more apparent. Hence it was, "at a county commissioners' court begun and held at the house of Ezekiel Good, in and for the county of Macoupin, on Monday, the seventh day of September, A. D., 1829."
"Present : Theodorus Davis, Sr., Seth Hodges, Commissioners.
"It is ordered by the court that the building of a courthouse for said county of the following description, namely : to be built of hewn logs, 18x24 feet. The logs to face one foot on an average; the house to be two stories high. The lower story to be eight feet between floors and the second story to be six feet below the roof ; to have one door below, with one window below and one above; door to be cased and to have a good strong plank shutter ; the windows to contain twelve lights or panes of glass, eight by ten; two good plank floors, to be jointed and laid down rough; roof to be double covered with boards; weight poles to be shaven ; cracks to be lined on the inside with shaven boards and crammed on the outside with mud and straw or grass, well mixed together ; all to be completed in a strong manner by the first Friday after the second Monday in April next, will be let on a credit of six, twelve, and eighteen months, to the lowest bidder on the 19th inst; the undertaker to give bond with approved security for the per- formance of his contract, and that the clerk of this court advertise the same."
Seth Hodges received the contract for the building of the courthouse, and filed the necessary bond required by the commissioners. The building was duly completed according to contract, and the commissioners held their first court in the new courthouse on the 17th day of July, 1830.
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The courthouse was accepted by the commissioners, and at the September term, 1830, Seth Hodges was allowed the sum of $48.33 1/3, and at a subsequent term of the court he was allowed $57.33 1/3. Among the items included in the building and furnishing the courthouse were benches and bar $23, which fur- nishes an interesting comparison with the furniture of the court room and judges' chair of the present magnificent structure.
The commissioners on the 25th of March, 1835, appointed James C. Ander- son, Isaac Greathouse, Stith M. Otwell, John R. Lewis, and John Wilson agents for the county of Macoupin, to borrow a sum of money not under five or ex- ceeding seven thousand dollars, at a rate of interest not exceeding eight per cent per annum, for a term of years not under six nor over ten-to be applied to the erection of a brick courthouse. The commissioners approved the bond, June 1, 1835.
THE SECOND COURTHOUSE.
The second building erected as a courthouse had an atmosphere about it never attained by its successor. It was build on ground dedicated by its donor for that purpose and its walls echoed and reechoed many times the eloquence of a Lin- coln, a Douglas and other great legal lights that have long ceased to shed their radiance upon an admiring public. Men of national renown, in the days of "rid- ing the circuit" attended court in this historic old building.
The court adopted the following as the plan of a courthouse in the town of Carlinville and county of Macoupin: "The square of the house fifty feet ; wall to be of stone, four feet, two feet under ground, of rough stone, and the other of two feet hewn stone, all to be laid with good lime mortar, two feet, six inches thick; the balance of good hard burnt stock brick, laid with good lime mortar, in workmanlike manner, two and a half bricks thick first story, and two the second, each story to be fourteen feet in the clear; the lower floor to be even with the top of the stone wall, to have four posts with a door, and two windows in the lower story and three windows in each front in the upper story, each window to be twenty-four light, 10x14, and the door to be made in accordance with a plan given by Dr. J. R. Lewis; the first door in the east to be made permanent and the judge's seat to be placed against the same. The lower part to be divided into a court room and lobby, separated by a bannister four feet high, passing through the house from north to south, parallel or nearly so with the near side of the north and south doors, to the judge's seat, two flights of stairs running from the court room over each door to the center space of upper story, and to be one chimney.
"December term, 1836. It is ordered by the court that Harbird Weatherford and Jefferson Weatherford, two of the undertakers to build the courthouse for this county be allowed the sum of $1,500 to be due and payable on the Ist of March, 1839, and if not punctually paid when due to draw interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum from the time the same becomes due and payable until paid.
"June term, 1837. It is ordered by the court that in the plan of the court- house in this county that the stone caps be dispensed with and that brick arches be turned, and also that the sills for the windows of stone be dispensed with and
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OLD COURTHOUSE ON PUBLIC SQUARE, 1869
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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walnut sills be received in their place, and also that $175 be deducted from the price of building said house. Two of the undertakers of the house being present and giving their consent to this order by J. Greathouse and J. Weatherford.
"March, 1840. The court house officially received. . $550 deducted from pay- ment thereof for defalcations in completing of the work.
"1838. A fence costing $230, built round the courthouse to each corner, and each chimney to have two fire places, one above and one below; the upper part to be laid off with a passage in the center, corresponding with the center win- dows, ten feet wide; the east side of said passage to be entry room and the west to be laid off in three rooms of equal size. The roof and cupola to be built in ac- cordance with the said plan of Dr. J. R. Lewis, James C. Anderson and Thomas Corr as commissioners to let out the said building to the lowest bidder, payable out of the county in the following payments: $2,000 payable the Ist of March, 1839; $4,000 payable the Ist of March, 1840; $4,000 payable the Ist of March, 1841; and the balance provided the amount does not exceed the sum of two thousand dollars, payable the Ist of March, 1842. County orders to be issued to the order of said commissioners, and said orders to bear eight per cent interest ' per annum, from the time due until paid, if not punctually paid, and said court house to be built in the center of the public square, of the said town of Carlin- ville, and the same to be finished according to the said plan, against the Ist of January, 1838. Ordered publication of said building be published in the Alton Telegraph four weeks."
On the completion of the third and present courthouse, the old building was sold at public auction by the authorities, and brought a little over $700.
JURISTS OF EARLY RENOWN.
Here sat upon the bench with dignity and impartiality-Stephen T. Logan, a man who won lasting renown as a learned lawyer and unapproachable jurist. He was preceded, however, by Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, whose character was stainless. It was said of Judge Lockwood that as a jurist he was the peer of the ablest of his contemporary associates on the bench.
There was also William Brown, who was appointed by Governor Duncan as judge pro tem. of the first judicial district, upon the resignation of Judge Logan in 1837. He was a native of Kentucky, a man of culture and agreeable manners and at the time of his elevation to the bench but twenty-five years of age. He was followed on the bench by Jesse B. Thomas, John Pearson, William Thomas, of Jacksonville, David M. Woodson, of Carrollton, in 1848; Edward Y. Rice, who studied law under General John M. Palmer and was elected to the bench in 1857 ; H. M. Vandeveer, of Taylorville, in 1870; and Charles S. Zane, of Spring- field, in 1873; William R. Welch, in 1877; Jesse D. Phillips, of Hillsboro; Judge Phillips resigned in 1893 and was succeeded by Robert B. Shirley, of Carlinville, the number of the districts having been changed and Macoupin placed in the fifth.
In the apportionment of 1897 the number of judicial districts was increased from thirteen to seventeen and Macoupin county was assigned to the seventh. Judge Shirley succeeded himself on the bench and is the present resident judge.
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LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS.
IWhen southern Illinois formed one vast judicial district many able lawyers appeared at this court as the state or prosecuting attorney. Among them may be mentioned George Farquer, a half brother of Governor Ford, in the early '30s; John J. Hardin, within the same period; Stephen A Douglas, the "little giant," in 1835 and 1836; Jesse B. Thomas, who afterward was elevated to the bench, likewise D. M. Woodson; John S. Greathouse, in 1841-2, the pioneer lawyer of Carlinville ; John Evans, in 1843-4; C. H. Goodrich, 1845-6; William Weer for short time as an appointee ; Henry Dusenburg, 1847-8; C. H. Goodrich, 1849-52; Cyrus Epler, 1853-6; James B. White, 1857-64; C. M. Morrison, 1865-69; Horace Gwin, 1870-72; S. T. Corn, 1873-80.
At this bar appeared members of the legal profession who eventually became of world-wide reputation. Abraham Lincoln, in "riding the circuit" was fre- quently called to the Macoupin sittings of court and there are men still living in Carlinville, who can remember seeing him upon his visits. He was considered a good lawyer and a shrewd one. In his cases he was uniformly successful. As is well known by the student of history, Douglas and Lincoln's rivalry did not be- gin at the opening of their political career. They rarely appeared on the same side of a case; the rule was to find them opposing each other in the courts in the interest of contending clients. The fact that such men as Lincoln and Douglas practiced at the Macoupin bar, if only as itinerant lawyers, gives to the local history of the profession a flavor all its own.
The eloquent and heroic E. D. Baker, of Springfield, also appeared here, as did also U. F. Linder, John J. Hardin and many others who made great reputa- tions and thereby honored the profession of their adoption ; but to enumerate them all would be tedious and, most likely, profitless to the general reader.
COUNTY JAILS.
It was, of course, even though the county was new and sparsely settled, nec- essary to have a place in which to confine the unruly and criminal class. Carlin- ville was the county seat and the building of a county jail could not be avoided. Consequently, at the March term of the commissioners' court, in the year 1832, it was ordered that a county jail be built of the following description :
FIRST JAIL. -
"To be built of hewed timbers, the outside wall to be started one foot under ground, to be eighteen feet square, built of logs, hewed to square ten inches; the floor to be laid with hewed timbers, to square twelve inches, two thicknesses and crosswise, the whole to be only twelve inches above the surface of the ground; the inside wall to be built of hewed timbers, to square eight inches, and started on the floor the middle wall to be started at the same place as the inside one, and built of hewed timbers, to square six inches, to be let down outwise, the inside and middle wall to be raised seven feet high; the second floor to be laid with timbers to square ten inches, to be laid on said walls, and said floor to be laid with two-
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inch plank crosswise, to be jointed and laid down rough; then the middle wall will be discontinued, and the other two to be continued seven feet higher, leaving an open space between them of six inches; third floor to be seven feet from the second, and laid with hewed timbers, to square twelve inches, said timbers to ex- tend outside of the wall nine inches at each end; roof to be shingled with walnut shingles, to be made five-eighths of an inch thick and four inches wide, on an average; rafters to be three by five inches at the plate and three square at the top, to show four inches to the weather ; to be sawed and to be set two feet from the center ; two center plates framed on the top to be eight by twelve inches, where- on to set the rafters, with conduits or eave troughs, to be black walnut ; one out- side door in the upper story, to have two shutters, one to open on the outside and the other on the inside, to be two feet six inches wide and five feet high, to be made of two thicknesses of plank, plank to be one and a half inches thick, nailed on crosswise, to be strapped with iron, straps to be half-inch thick and three inches wide, to be riveted on the door not exceeding six inches apart, the spaces between to be filled up with nails with large heads, to be driven in and clinched on the inside; hinges to be strong and suitable to the door; hatchway two and a half feet square, to be made as the outside door, and put in the middle of the second floor, hung on strong hinges, to be fastened with a large hasp and pad- lock ; platform four feet square, bannistered round, with a stepladder extending from the ground up to it; two windows below, one foot square each, with iron bars one inch square, to be two inches from center to center, and let in the mid- dle wall, bars to be crossed in the windows, and two windows above, to be the same size as the lower ones, and made with bars as below, only single instead of crossed; all the timbers to be of white oak and over cap; to be completed in a strong and workmanlike manner, on or before the Ist of September, 1833. One payment of two hundred dollars to be made at the March term, 1833, to the un- dertaker, the same amount to be paid in annual installments, until the full amount shall be discharged; be sold on the first Monday in June next, to the lowest bid- der, the undertaker to give bond, with approved security for the performance of his contract, to the county commissioners of this county and to their succes- sors in office, conditioned for the faithful performance of his contract, on or before the first day of September, 1833; also that the clerk of this court adver- tise the same in three public places in this county.
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