USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 35
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
The legislature, in its efforts to relieve them, had created banks and at- tempted to make the paper issues of these institutions a practical tender in the payment of debts. The method of relief was by what were known as replevin laws. These gave to the debtor, after a tender of payment in bank paper, the right to a stay of execution upon judgments, on a tender of bond and security. The exact details of the methods provided by the statutes, by which the stay of execution was intended to be secured, are not important, for, whatever they were, the court of appeals (which consisted of John Boyle, chief justice, and William Owsley and Benjamin Mills, associate justices) held them to be un- constitutional, and upon that ground refused to enforce them. In 1824 an at- tempt was made by the legislature to remove the chief justice and his associates by an address to the governor, but in order to remove them the concurrence of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature was necessary.
The requisite "two-thirds" could not be obtained to the address, so the ex- pedient was adopted of repealing the law creating the court, and in that way getting rid of the judges. The repealing bill also provided for the appointment of other judges of the court; the governor approved the repealing act, and ap- pointed other judges, who, it was expected, would support the validity of the "relief laws." Chief Justice Boyle and his associates, Owsley and Mills, refused to recognize the validity of the repealing act or to surrender their records to the "new" court. The state had for a time two courts of appeals, and the people were divided into two parties, which, with great heat, supported the rival tribunals.
My father was a "new" court man, but Mr. Clay, who was then strong in the confidence of the people of Kentucky, and most of the other conservative men of the state supported the "old" court, and after a contest, characterized by great excitement, the "new-court" party was defeated. A majority of the legislature was elected favorable to the old court; this legislature repealed the law under which the new court was created. I have no doubt but that the new-
291
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
court party was wrong, but the names of Boyle, Owsley and Mills, sometimes sarcastically called the "three kings," were for a long time odious to me.
In 1831 my father and family left Kentucky for Illinois, leaving me, with my venerable grandparents, to follow them in October. My father settled on Pad- dock's prairie, about ten miles from Alton, and an equal distance from Edwards- ville, where he built a log house, which he occupied in the spring of 1832.
I cannot forbear quoting from my own memoirs, "The Recollections of an Earnest Life," an account of my own journey from our residence in Kentucky to Illinois :
"After passing Hopkinsville, the seat of justice of Christian county, Kentucky, we took the route from that place by way of Princeton, in Caldwell county, Kentucky, to Ford's ferry, on the Ohio river, and thence, after crossing the river, proceeded by Equality, Mount Vernon and Carlyle to Edwardsville. This road, which was then, as far as Carlyle, the great route from southern Ken- tucky, middle Tennessee and North Carolina to central Illinois and Missouri, was crowded with 'movers,' who were making their way, by all the then known methods of travel, from the handsome family carriage to the humblest ox cart. Many families traveled on foot, with a pack horse to carry their heavier mov- ables, or to provide for the transportation of the smaller children. Such modes of travel are never noticed now to any extent; the railroads of modern life make scenes such as are here described impossible.
"After passing along the road which still runs some three miles west of Mc- Leansboro, in Hamilton county, for a few miles, we came to Moore's prairie, the first we had ever seen, and as we advanced toward Edwardsville the prai- ries grew more extensive. The prairies then were scarcely marked by improve- ments, except very near the timber borders, for the early settlers dared not go out on the far-stretching plains. Many persons told us that the prairies would never be settled, and for years I believed that prairie land more than two or three miles from the timber was practically valueless.
"But the prairie in its natural state, was indeed 'a thing of beauty ;' some- times we would travel miles without seeing a habitation, or if houses could be discerned they would be situated at points of timber and at a greater or less distance from the roads; deer would be seen in herds, as if they had not learned to be startled by human presence. Nothing was more animating than the scenes to be witnessed as we journeyed over these long stretches.
"Perhaps the imagination had much to do in finding objects of interest on the prairies, but to me they were enchanting, and after years of familiarity with the magnificent, undulating acres of the great prairies of Illinois and other west- ern and northwestern states, now that they are all inhabited, dotted with cities, towns, villages and highly cultivated farms, they linger in my memory like a grand, restful dream."
The period to which I refer was one of great prosperity in Illinois; lands were entered, purchased from the United States at $1.25 per acre; popula- tion poured into the state and employment was abundant on every hand. I re- member that one winter, with a younger brother, we cut sawlogs on government land, and by that means earned forty-eight dollars. My father added the bal- ance needed, two dollars, and the amount of expenses at the land office, and I
L
292
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
entered forty acres of land in my own name, which, after attaining my majority, I conveyed to my father. The next spring and early summer I drove a prairie team, four yoke of oxen attached to a twenty-four-inch plow; I worked at home when needed, and finally, in the summer of 1834, my father "gave me my time." This expression may have an amusing sound to the boys of this day, who will hardly consent to give their fathers their time.
One evening, while my father and self and younger brothers were discus- sing the subject of education and matters of that kind, my father said to me, in ·reply to some expression of a wish to obtain a good education : "Very well, sir, you owe me four years of service yet; I will give you that ; go and get an edu- cation." I looked at him with an expression of surprise, no doubt, and asked in an excited, trembling voice, "When may I go, sir?" He seemed amused, and said, "Tomorrow morning, if you like." I remember that I left the room to conceal my feelings. After recovering my composure I returned to the room where my father was seated, and sat for some time in silence, when he said, with sighs of emotion, "I have no money to expend for your education, but a healthy boy as you are needs no help; you may go tomorrow morning. I give you your time. Do not disgrace me. May God bless you."
This scene still lingers in my memory. I had looked forward to the independ- ence of manhood with the eagerness of hope; I had reveled in dreams of results to be accomplished; I had imagined myself a successful farmer, or lawyer or a soldier-successful in every employment ; I meant when I got to be a man to be "rich, learned and happy." My brothers were to be happy and successful; and even then there would come into the picture a girlish face that was to figure in the successes which I imagined were to attend my entry upon the sphere of manhood.
Here was an offer made by my father to anticipate the day of my emancipa- tion, to "give me my time." I accepted his offer, and as he had said it, I knew he would not mention it again. That evening I talked to Roy and Frank, my brothers, who seemed to be as much elated with the prospect before me as I was. Next morning, after an early breakfast, I left home on foot, without money or additional clothes. Both seemed to me unnecessary, for was I not going out into the world a free man, where clothes and money were abundant and to be had by any one who would earn them?
The boys started with me, and they called the dogs, three of them, our con- stant companions ; they were to go with me to the top of the hill, a mile prob- ably from the house. We had crossed the creek when the dogs started a rabbit ; we waited for the dogs and then moved on.
My father was not at the house when I left, but he, too, had followed to a bluff we had passed, and from that point watched us. I did not then know why he stood watching, but I know now. When I reached the top of the hill, there we stood, reluctant to separate. After a while Roy said he knew where he could start a rabbit on his way home. He called the dogs and, without saying a word to me, ran off at his utmost speed, followed by Frank, and I was left alone with my newly acquired fortune, "my time," with all of its hopes and possibilities.
L
293
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
The boys ran until out of sight. I very well understood the reason why they ran, and would have been glad to follow and overtake them, but my destina- tion was Upper Alton, where there was a school recently established. It was understood to be a "manual labor school," and it was my purpose to enter that institution and pay my expenses by labor. I reached Upper Alton about one o'clock in the afternoon and had made up my mind before arriving there that it would be necessary at once to find work. I had no doubt but that I could do so without difficulty .. I needed no dinner; my dreams were more than food, but as I passed along the principal street, soon after entering the town, I saw a man named Haney plastering a new frame house for Dr. George Haskell and turned off to where he was superintending or making a bed of mortar. I asked him if he wished to hire some one to make and carry mortar. He said he did. I had never made mortar for a plasterer. He put a shovel into my hand and! told me how to manage the sand, the lime and other ingredients, watched me work a while, offered me seventy-five cents a day, told me where I could get board at $1.25 a week, went with me to the boarding house and agreed to be responsible for me. I worked that afternoon and continued to work until the job was done. I do not remember the exact number of days this required, but I do remember that when I was paid and had settled my board, bought a shirt and a pair of socks, I had all of five dollars left, which was, I thought, clothes and money enough for anybody.
I then entered the college, and for a while paid my board by my earnings on Saturdays. I also, with my elder brother, Elihu, took a contract to remove the trees from a street leading from Upper Alton to Middletown. The trees were large white oaks; we grubbed them up and were well paid for doing so.
I remained at school in a desultory way until the spring of 1835, when the country was filled with rumors of the "Texas revolution," as it was called. My failure to carry out my intention to unite with the volunteers, organized at St. Louis to join the "Revolutionists," was caused by an incident that seems now very ludicrous, but was at the time a crushing blow. I had volunteered, and my arrangements were made to join a few friends at Alton, take the steamboat, which it was expected would take us to St. Louis, where another boat was wait -. ing to start for New Orleans on our arrival.
I spent the night before the morning fixed for my departure at my uncles, two miles east of Upper Alton. I took .leave of my relatives and left the house filled with anticipations of the battlefields in Texas, and started on foot, with a small pack of clothing, to reach the boat and then off for the field of glory.
I had gone a mile, perhaps, after leaving Upper Alton when I was overtaken by John Maxcy, whom I knew to be a constable of Upper Alton. He spoke to me kindly, inquired where I was going. I told him to Lower Alton to take a boat for St. Louis, and from thence to Texas, to take part in the revolution. He handed me a paper, and said, "Here is something you have forgotten." To my astonishment the paper read :
"The people of the State of Illinois, to any constable of said county, greet- ing: We command you to take the body of John M. Palmer, if he be found: in your county, and bring him forthwith before me, to answer the complaint of, etc." I had never seen such a paper before; it commanded the constable to
L
1
4
294
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
arrest me, and to take me before the justice of the peace. The constable told me I could discharge myself by paying to him $4.50 and about $1.25 costs. I assured him that I had not forgotten the debt, but had arranged with my cousin, Isaac Palmer, to pay it for me. He said that might be all right but he must have the money or I must go back. Unfortunately, my whole stock of money did not exceed two dollars, so I went back, humiliated beyond measure.
I arranged the matter during the day but to get the money I had to promise to go to work; the steamboat lost a passenger and the cause of Texas an enthu- siastic supporter. I then went to work again, did not at once return to school but paid the money I had borrowed, and then, in the May following, occurred one of those incidents which so much resemble fiction that I cannot forbear re- lating it.
Many persons now living remember Enoch Moore, whose remarkable form so often attracted attention. In 1836 he kept a tailor's shop in Upper Alton. One day I stepped into his shop and saw hanging up a suit of clothes. The coat and pants were of some cotton goods, which I cannot describe, and the vest was figured like calico.
Mr. Moore saw that I needed clothes and that I looked at the suit with in- terest. He told me that he had made it for a person who failed to take it and offered it to me for $12. I had no money and told him so. He asked my name and when I told him, said he knew my father and added that he thought I could earn the money and pay for the clothes. I finally, with great hesitation, agreed to take them, and for the first time contracted a debt deliberately.
I have told the story of my arrest, which, I supposed was applicable to all debts. During May and early June I paid most of the amount and on the evening of July 3d I went to my father's with more than enough to pay the bal- ance due Mr. Moore. My father, who saw the amount I had, and which the "boys" were counting with great satisfaction, said: "Go tomorrow and pay Mr. Moore and then you will be a free man; now you are a servant."
On the next day I went, accompanied by my brother Roy, to Upper Alton on foot, paid Mr. Moore, and had money left; went on to Lower Alton, spent freely (twenty-five cents) for cake and beer of the old kind and reached my father's about sundown, a proud and happy boy.
In 1869, after I was inaugurated governor, I reminded Mr. Moore of the fact that he had sold me the clothes on credit and reappointed him secretary of the governor, ex-officio fund commissioner, to which a salary of $1,500 was attached.
In August, 1836, I was living in the south part of Macoupin county and at- tended house-raisings and other amusements of like character, and witnessed, and had opportunity for familiarizing myself with, the habits of the people, which were to me always interesting and amusing. The elections were then held on the first Monday in August, and although not a voter, I attended an election held at the house of a Mr. Wood, south of where Woodburn now is.
There were three judges and two clerks of the election, and the method of voting was viva voce. One of the qualifications required of a voter was resi- dence in the state for six months previous to an election. I remember that a man named Hoskins, whom I had not seen before, offered to vote, and when
.
295
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
asked how long he had lived in the state said he came here in the month of April previous; the senior judge, after telling him he had not been in the state long enough, hesitated a moment, then asked him if he had "had the chills?" He answered, "Yes, I had one yesterday, and feel one coming on me now." The judge said, "Put him down and let him go home ; the chills are as good as a six months' residence." His vote was recorded. It may be well enough to say by way of apology for the judges, that there was a large bottle of whiskey on the table, of which they had partaken liberally.
'Accepting the rule adopted by the judges, I supposed, for several years after- wards, that having the "chills" was equivalent to six months' residence in the state. In September I returned to Upper Alton, where I spent most of the win- ter in school, working, in payment of my board, in the family of Rev. Ebenezer Rodgers, a Baptist minister, who had lately come into the state from Missouri. . Mr. Rodgers was an Englishman by birth and the father of my friend, Colonel Andrew Fuller Rodgers, formerly of the Eightieth Illinois Infantry.
In December, 1838, I took a school for three months, east of Canton, Ful- ton county, and while engaged in that school I determined to study law. I read Blackstone's Commentaries and McNally on Evidence.
My school ending about the middle of March, I decided to visit my father, who lived in Madison county, and my eldest brother, who lived at Carlinville, Macoupin county. I took passage on a steamboat from Utica to St. Louis, crossed the river on a ferry, and walked to Carlinville, which I reached on the 26th of March, 1839.
I then entered the office of John S. Greathouse as a student. Mr. Great- house was one of the leading lawyers of the town and I had Coke on Littleton, with Hargrave and Butler's Notes placed in my hands for a beginning. I had read Blackstone's Commentaries much as every law student reads that excellent and learned work for the first time.
It will be interesting to students of the present day, when law books are so multiplied that general treatises on any subject are to be found in the book- stores, as special works on all important subdivisions of the law and reports are found in law libraries by the thousands, to know that the Reports of the Supreme Court of Illinois at that time were contained in one volume-Breese.
My preceptor, Mr. Greathouse, who was a well read lawyer, had in his office a few volumes of English Reports, Coke, Raymond and Buller's Nisi Prius, Starkie and McNally on Evidence, and Chitty's Pleadings, then a com- paratively new work. I have a few of these old books left still, but some of the most ancient and rare have fallen into the hands of the "filchers" of rare books who have always looted the careless collectors.
It may be useful to students to state for their benefit my methods of study. I read carefully, with a glossary of law terms, and made full notes; I did not, in my notes, as a rule, merely quote the language of the authors, but my effort was to grasp the subject and state it in my own language. My conceptions of the meaning of what I read were often inaccurate, but I think, on the whole, · the method was preferable to any other. It promoted brevity and terseness and aided in systematizing the knowledge acquired, and I think my experience justi- fies me in saying that knowledge of the law, acquired by the method I refer to,
296
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
is much longer retained and more easily and intelligently applied to practical use than it can be when the student merely masters the words of his author, or instructor. I may add here-for I will not return to the subject-that it is es- sential to a successful study of the law that a student should master the history of the people with whom laws originate. Laws are but expressions of the feel- ings, habits and necessities of mankind and can only be understood by a thor- ough familiarity with their history and with their applications and uses.
I was aided in my studies by the great promoter of diligence,-poverty; I was compelled to earn something and as there were some sales of land and the volumes of the record were few, I examined titles and prepared deeds, and soon found some employment before justices of the peace. It was not long before I found myself able to meet my expenses, which, with board at $1 or $1.25 per week, did not exceed $100 a year. The only interruption to my studies was that my friends insisted. that I should become candidate for county clerk, and I know that the leaders of my party, when they insisted upon my candidacy, had no expectation that I would succeed. After the election I pursued my studies with great industry and made great progress in the acquisition of the mysteries of the law, so that in December, 1839, I borrowed five dollars from a friend to pay my expenses, and, as Mr. Greathouse was going to Springfield in his own carriage, he invited me to ride with him, which I did.
I met Stephen A. Douglas soon after reaching the city and told him my business was to obtain a license to practice law. He, with that cheerful kind- ness which always characterized him and made him so popular-particularly with young men-made my application for admission, had himself and the late J. Young Scammon appointed a committee to examine me touching my qualifi- cations to practice law. He invited me to his room for examination, where I met Mr. Scammon. The committee treated me with great kindness, and made a favorable report. Mr. Douglas drew the license, made the motion for my ad- mission, and the license was signed by two justices of the supreme court, Lock- wood and Browne. I took the prescribed oath and signed the roll, and was then a lawyer, lacking nothing but learning, experience and clients. I had money enough to pay my hotel bills before leaving Springfield, and I "took no thought for the morrow."
After about two weeks I tried a case before a justice of the peace in Car- linville and got two dollars and half, and, as I had no wants, I paid two dollars of this to my poor landlord, Allison. During the first week in January I trav- eled about twelve miles to the head of Cahokia and tried a suit, for which I received five dollars, and after paying Allison four dollars of this, and fifty cents for my horse, saddle and bridle for the trip, I recovered my courage and in February started on foot to Edwardsville to attend the circuit court of Madi- son county, which was then in session, Judge Sidney Breese, afterward so dis- tinguished in the judicial and political history of the state, presiding. I had known Judge Breese when I was a boy, and the first law speech I ever heard was made by him. He met, and remembered me kindly, and soon after assigned me to the defense of a poor fellow who was indicted for larceny. I have often repeated the incidents of this trial and the conduct of Judge Breese toward me, to illustrate the wisdom of judges who treat young members of the bar with
RESIDENCE OF ATTORNEY KNOTT. CARLINVILLE
--
RESIDENCE OF GEORGE M'NEIL IN THE FIFTIES
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
297
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
kindness. Any lawyer may easily guess the character of the defense l made for this, my first client. I had never before appeared in the circuit court; my client was unquestionably guilty, and the jury so found after very brief hesitation. After the jury had found him guilty, I remembered that according . to "the books," after a verdict against a client it was the duty of a lawyer to make a motion for a new trial, and if that motion failed, to then move in arrest of judgment. Accordingly, I made a motion for a new trial for the usual for- mal reasons; I know I attempted to argue the motion, and although at the time I was so embarrassed by the surroundings that I then scarcely understood what I said, I was satisfied soon afterward when I heard the judge remark that I had made a most learned and forcible argument. When I concluded my speech, what- ever it was, I was confused enough but when Attorney General Kitchell finished his caustic and almost contemptuous reply, I was overwhelmed with confusion. The judge, however, rescued me; he noticed in succession the reasons I had assigned in writing for a new trial, and said that "the learned counsel had sup- ported these reasons with great force of argument." He stated what he said were the arguments I had used, confessed he was impressed with their force, and then proceeded to answer them with great deliberation, and concluded by saying that "the defendant had been ably defended by learned counsel and tried by an intelligent and impartial jury, and that he therefore felt constrained to overrule the motion for a new trial and render a judgment on the verdict."
I did not make a motion in arrest of judgment but I will confess that for a while after the judge concluded, I believed I had really used the arguments that he attributed to me and then repeated and answered, and though I afterward realized that both the arguments and the answers to them were the work of the judge, he made an impression upon me that still remains, and secured for himself my best personal services as long as he had occasion for them; and he left upon my mind an impression which I still retain.
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.