USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 6
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return to Boston on the 14th of June, when the corner stone of Bunker Hill monu- ment is to be laid-a ceremony sacred to the whole Union, and in which I have been engaged to act a peculiar and honorable part."
The General arrived at St. Louis on the steamboat Natchez, April 28. An immense concourse entered the boat at the landing to greet and honor the patriot and hero. The greeting of the General in St. Louis was a most hearty and loyal one, well worthy of the patriot and his hosts. April 30th the Natchez took Gen- eral LaFayette and a large concourse of distinguished visitors down the river to Kaskaskia, where the entire population assembled to bid him welcome. A din- ner was prepared at the hotel, kept by Colonel Sweet, and the entire company of distinguished guests was entertained. In the evening a grand ball was given in his honor at the large and commodious house of William Morrison. At the ball was a squaw whose father had served under General LaFayette in the Revo- lutionary war. To identify herself she had brought a letter written by the Gen- eral to her father many years before, and which the father left to the daughter as a precious legacy.
General LaFayette after the ball went to Nashville but returned in a few days to Shawneetown, where he was again greeted with enthusiasm on the part of the citizens that brought tears, and his answer to their address of welcome was given with much emotion. At his departure a salute was fired, after which he returned to the east.
WHY SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WAS CALLED EGYPT.
Charles Robertson in the Chicago Journal, under date of February 8, 1872, says that the southern part of the state was called. Egypt from the following: "Fifty years ago, or in the summer of 1821, there was not a bushel of corn to be had in all central Illinois. My father settled in that year twenty-three miles west of Springfield. We lived for a time on venison, blackberries and milk, while the men were gone to Egypt to harvest and procure breadstuffs. The land we improved was surveyed that summer and afterward bought of the government by sending beeswax down the Illinois river to St. Louis in an Indian canoe. Dressed deerskins and tanned hides were then in use and we made one piece of cloth out of nettles instead of flax, cotton material, well for a decade, until the deep snow of 1830."
Thus the southern part of Illinois received the application of "Egypt," as therein indicated, because, being older, better settled and cultivated, it gathered corn as "the salt of the sea," and the settlers in the central part of the state, after the manner of the children of Israel in their wants, "went to Egypt to buy and bring from thence that they might live and not die."
THE "SUCKERS"-WHY SO NAMED.
Why all native Illinoisans are called "Suckers" originated at an early date and there are two versions, both of which we will give our readers and they can select from the two which to them seems the most probable and correct.
In 1804 Governor Harrison bought of the Sac and Fox tribes a tract of land at the mouth of the Fever river, where Galena is now located, fifteen miles
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square. It was called "lead lands," for upon the tract in many places lead had been found, and several mines opened, and it is said that the origin of the name "Sucker" as applied to the native miners and the Illinoisans was first heard and used in those mines. George Brunk of Sangamon writes: "Late in the fall of 1826 I was on board a steamboat bound down the river, when a man from Mis- souri stepped up and asked, 'Boys, where are you going?' The answer was 'Home.' 'Well,' he replied, 'you put me in mind of suckers; up in the spring, spawn, and all return in the fall.' " The name stuck to the Illinoisans and when Judge Sawyer came up to the mines on circuit court duty, he was called the "king of Suckers." Those who stayed at the mines over winter-most of them from Wisconsin-were called "Badgers." The next spring the Missourians poured into the mining region in great numbers and the state was said to have taken a "puke," and the offensive appellation of "Pukes" was applied to all the miners from that state.
JUDGE DOUGLAS TELLS WHERE THEY GOT THE NAME OF "SUCKER."
It was on the occasion of a pleasant entertainment of Judge Douglas at Peters- burg, Virginia, that he gave the following humorous account of the term "Suck- ers," as applied to Illinoisans ; the account is valuable further and confers a proud distinction upon Illinois, in that it clears up all doubts regarding the discov- ery of that important and inspiring beverage called "mint julep"-a very mo- mentous question that for years has been covered with obscurity and beset with very many doubts, but in the light of the facts then disclosed by the learned judge, happily placed at rest. It is not improbable that a glass of the animating beverage served to quicken the memory of the honorable senator from Illinois on that occasion.
Judge Douglas said: "About the year 1777, George Rogers Clark applied to the governor of Virginia and suggested to him that as peace might be declared at any time between the colonies and Great Britain, it would be well for us to be in possession of the northwest territory, so that when the commissioners came to negotiate a treaty, we might act on the well known principle of law that possession was at least nine parts, each party holding all that they had in pos- session. He suggested to the governor to permit him to go out to the northwest. conquer the country and hold it until the treaty of peace, when we would become possessed of it.
"The governor consented and sent him across the mountains to Pittsburg. From there he and his companions floated down the Ohio on rafts to the falls, where Louisville now is. After remaining there a short time they again took their new rafts and floated down to the salines, just below the present site of Shawneetown, Illinois. Here they took up their march across the country to Kas- kaskia, where the French had an old settlement and by the aid of a guide they reached Oquaw and encamped near Peter Menard's house, some little distance from the town. You see, I am well acquainted with the locality. (Laughter.) Next morning Clark got his little army of ragamuffins together, for they had no army wagons with supplies, no sutler and no stores, and by this time looked ragged enough, and took up his line of march for the little French town of
Commercial Hotel
Main Street
Gillespie Street Scene
Christian Church
Methodist Church
VIEWS OF GILLESPIE
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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Kaskaskia. It was summer and a very hot day, and as he entered the town and saw the Frenchmen sitting quietly on their little verandas in front of their houses, sucking their juleps through straws, he rushed upon them, crying 'Sur- render, you suckers, you.' (Great laughter.) The Frenchmen surrendered, and from that day to this Illinoisans have been known as 'Suckers.' (Applause.)
"That was the origin of our cognomen, and when George Rogers Clark re- turned to Virginia he introduced the julep here. (Laughter.) Now, I want to give you Virginians fair notice that when they claim the honor of a Jefferson, of a Madison, of a Marshall, and of as many other distinguished sages and patriots as the world ever saw, we yield; when you claim the credit of a cession of the northwest territory, that out of it sovereign states might be created, we yield; when you claim the credit of never having polled a vote against the democratic party, we yield; but when you claim the glory of the mint julep, hands off, Illi- nois wants that." (Shouts of laughter and applause.)-Ill. Reg., September 9, I860.
POLITICS AND POLITICIANS.
The manner of conducting political campaigns in the days of yore was similar in some respects to that of more modern times and yet in other respects radically different. Politics entered into some of the campaigns to a great extent and yet in others they were almost entirely ignored. Governor Ford in his history of Illinois says of those days: "Up to the year 1840, I can say with perfect truth that considerations of mere party, men's condescensions, agreeable carriage and professions of friendship had more influence with the great body of the people than the most important public services." These considerations have always been of more consequence in a majority of cases than any public services ren- dered, no matter how valuable those services may have been to the people or country.
There were many adventurers among the old pioneers, with whom govern- mental affairs had but little thought. When aroused to the exercise of the great privilege of a citizen-the elective franchise-by demagogues interested in some intrigue, no other consideration entered into the act of the voter than to either help a friend or punish an enemy. There were no great political questions to divide the people prior to the early '30s. They called themselves whigs and democrats without the least thought or care regarding any of the questions of public policy, tariff or any of the great questions that were brought forward at a later date.
The use of whisky for electioneering purposes was almost universal and the custom of "treating," as it was called, during a political campaign was indis- putable to success. It was a common custom for the candidates to go to the sa- loons and leave orders to treat free all who came on certain days, called "treat- ing days," at their expense. "Treating days" were usually on Saturday and then the voters for miles around would all congregate at the saloons, many of them get drunk and often engage in rough and tumble fights. The candidates would usually be there, too, and in some shady grove put forth their claims for office. The favorite platform from which their speeches would be made was the stump of some large tree, and hence the phrase of "stump speech." The vital Vol. I-4
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questions "having been discussed," the meeting would break up and the audience disperse to their homes to sober up and get ready for the next "treating day."
The real pioneers of that day were the leaders in all such meetings and sports. They were in many instances extremely ignorant, governed by passionate preju- dices and usually opposed to every public policy which looked to the elevation of society. They arrayed themselves in buckskin breeches, leather moccasins, raccoon caps and red shirts, belted at the waist, and with a large knife in the belt, hence they were called "butcher boys." They would proclaim their great bravery upon every occasion and swear that they were "half horse and half alli- gator," meaning that they could not be overcome in combat.
Such to a great extent were a large number of the early settlers of southern Illinois. When in liquor they were veritable demons but at home, when away from the influence of drink, were quiet and peaceable and good neighbors.
SALT MAKING.
The making of salt in the early history of the Illinois country is one of the most interesting subjects of the time. The salt springs, or "salines," as they were called, were located near Equality, in Gallatin county. When dis- covered, there was every indication that they had been worked by a prehistoric race, long before the whites had penetrated the Illinois wilds. The evaporating kettles used by them were found near Equality and near the Negro Salt Springs. The kettles were between three and four feet in diameter, made of clay and pounded shells, and were molded in a kind of basket work, or cloth, which left the impression upon the outside of the kettle and looked like artistic hand work. Nothing is known as to how long the springs had been worked by the Indians but there was every appearance that they had been used in the process of making salt for ages.
In 1812 congress assumed control of the springs, and on the 12th of Feb- ruary, that year, an act was passed setting apart six square miles of land to sup- port the Equality salines. They were then leased to work, and slaves were em- ployed to perform the work, they having been brought from Kentucky and Ten- nessee for that purpose. Many of these negroes, by extra work, saved enough money to buy their freedom and from these are descended the large number of those who resided in Gallatin and Saline counties before the Civil war. There was a monopoly in the salt trade after the act of leasing the springs and the common price of it was five dollars a bushel, and even at that price a ready mar- ket was always found in all the adjoining country. People would come hundreds of miles and carry it away in sacks on horseback. When Illinois was admitted into the Union, these salines were ceded to the state and thenceforward they were state property and ceased as such, February 23, 1847. By an act of the general assembly, the saline lands were all sold to the school trustees of the township. They have since been very productive, producing when worked to their fullest capacity, 200 barrels of salt per day.
IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE.
The wonderful improvements made for cultivating the soil are most marvel- ous and are to be seen on every hand. Seventy-five to eighty years ago the plows
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were made with moldboards of wood and these were sometimes covered with straps of iron to prevent wearing out too rapidly. In those days plows were about the only implement used in stirring the soil. Harrows with wooden teeth were used for covering the grain after sowing but they were poor affairs and easily broken. Corn was planted wholly by hand, the barefooted boys and girls dropping the seed, which was then covered with a hoe. Sickles were about the only implements used in cutting the grain, although grain cradles were introduced about that time. Grass was always cut with a scythe and raked together with the hand rake. Wheat and all kinds of grain were tramped out with horses. The bundles were laid with the heads inward in a circle, the horses were driven around on it until it was trampled out and then the grain winnowed and cleaned in the wind.
But all this has been changed and that, too, for the benefit of the farmer. Gang and sulky plows of steel now turn over the sod and thus increase the capacity for human labor and greatly decrease its severity. Machinery has been utilized to drill in the grain, cut and bind it, thresh and winnow it, and also cut, pitch and load the hay and put it into stacks.
The farmers were at first slow in adopting the inachinery for farm work but it gradually gained in favor until now it has almost superseded labor by hand. The farmer guides from his seat behind his team and the machinery performs the labor and that, too, much quicker, far better and more satisfactorily than it could possibly be done by hand.
PROGRESS IN THE STATE.
Illinois has made wonderful progress as a state in internal improvements, agriculture and commerce. In 1837 the first railroad was built in the state. It was but six miles in length, with small cars drawn by horses or mules; the rails were but wooden joists, laid on .ties, and upon the joists strap iron was spiked with spikes made by the local blacksmiths. From that small beginning the rail- roads in the state have been extended until 1903, when the last report was made and there were 11,502 miles in operation, permeating every part of the state. The mileage of railroads exceeds that of every other state in the Union, the near- est approach to it being the state of Texas, with 11,256 miles. Pennsylvania has 10,784 miles, the Empire state 8,180, while all New England has but 7,609 miles, or only about two-thirds as much mileage as the state of Illinois. In population it ranks as the third state in the Union, while in 1830 it was the twentieth.
In agriculture it has made even greater progress. When the state was ad- mitted into the Union in 1818 it had a population of about 50,000, with some 11,500 farms and 70,000 acres of land under cultivation. In 1820, two years after it was admitted as a state, 260,000 bushels of corn were raised in the whole state, 63,000 bushels of oats, and no broom corn; while by the last census we find there were 398,149,140 bushels of corn, 180,105,630 bushels of oats, and 60,665,560 pounds of broom corn, equalling 3,330 tons. In 1820 there was not a gallon of fermented liquor made in the state, while in 1904 there were 4,632,- 726 barrels of it made, just about a barrel for every man, woman and child in the state. The same year there were 41,787,891 gallons of distilled spirits or liquors
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made, or about ten gallons for every man, woman and child in the state. This far exceeds any other state, for even Kentucky, which is said to use up all the surplus corn and rye into whisky, only produces 23,114,735 gallons-a little more than one-half of what Illinois produces.
There is another thing in which Illinois exceeds all other states, and that is in the number of war pensioners, there being 71,647 in the state, to whom the government annually pays more than $10,000,000.
DISCOVERY OF COAL.
The first mention made in the history of the state of coal or finding it here, was by Father Hennepin in his journal. It was in 1679, when on a visit to the Illinois country with La Salle's party. He says: "Having arrived in the Miami country and while they were seeking for a portage by which they could reach the Illinois river, La Salle, while exploring the country, became separated from the rest of the party, and, as he did not return, searching parties were sent out after him. When found, his face and hands were black with the coal and the wood that he had lighted during the night, as it was cold."
The Miami country, as then understood, was in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Illinois river, where it is formed by the junction of the Kankakee and Des Plaines. After giving an account of how they reached the Illinois, he says : "There are mines of coal, slate, iron and lumps of pure red copper, which are found in various places, indicating that there are mines and perhaps other metals and minerals, which will one day be discovered."
These references clearly indicate the location of extensive coal mines in Will and Grundy counties, which have furnished such vast quantities of coal to the people of the state.
In 1720 Father Charlevoix arrived at the junction of the headwaters of the Illinois. Lower down the river, at the junction of the Illinois with a river that flows from the Mascoutens, the place is called Charboniere, "because they find many coals there." That was in what is now La Salle county, the river named being the Fox.
.In 1773, Kennedy in his journal speaks of being near the site of the old Kaskaskia Indian town at Utica, in La Salle county. He says: "On the north- western side of this river is a coal mine that extends. for half a mile along the middle bank of the river, which is high."
Beck, in a book issued by him in 1823, says: "Coal is found in great abun- (lance in different parts of the state; it is of good quality and is very valuable on account of the scarcity of timber. Since the time of Father Hennepin's first mention of coal in the state the coal industry has grown and flourished to such extensive proportions that it is now one of our leading industries."
From a summary recently furnished by the secretary of the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics it appears that there are now more than 1,000 mines in the state and that nearly 40,000,000 tons of coal are mined annually by 59,230 em- ployes. There are 102 counties in the state and of these fifty-six have coal mines that contribute to the vast amount of coal consumed by the people of the
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state every year, and of the 56,000 square miles of land in the state, 36,000 contain coal.
TEMPERANCE.
About the year 1840 a great tempérance movement was inaugurated in the east and it soon spread to Illinois. The temperance people called themselves "Washingtonians," and the movement was quite popular in some localities in the east for several years but met with a chilly reception in most places out in southern Illinois among the pioneers. It was all right down there among the women and children but the lords of the soil would have nothing to do with it.
A society was organized in the small village of Troy, Madison county, a few miles south of Edwardsville, and a committee was appointed to go out among the farmers and solicit them to join the society. The chairman or spokes- man of the party was the minister of the little church in the village. On one of their trips around the neighboring towns, they came across an old farmer who had taken his whisky straight for many a year. He was informed of the society and its object and very kindly asked to join it. The old fellow was indignant to think they should want him to join such an organization, and would not listen to them but they pleaded with him and told him of the misery and ruin whisky was causing in the country and added that if the men would join the society it would close up the dram shops and then no one could get any liquor. "What," said the old fellow, "close up the dram shops? I would have you know, sir, that my brother keeps a dram shop up there in Edwardsville, and you want me to help ruin him, do ye? No, I'll see you d-d first, and that I won't." And with that the old fellow turned on his heel and left them, boiling with indigna- tion to think they should ask him to do an act that would aid in ruining his brother's business.
BEE TREES.
The characteristics of the old pioneers are very forcibly illustrated in an anecdote related by the late Robert S. Blackwell, the author of "Blackwell on Tax Titles." Mr. Blackwell said that "the old pioneers were great bee hunters, and had the custom of appropriating to the finder all bee trees on whose land soever they happened to be growing. When they discovered a bee tree, without leave or license, they entered upon the land, cut it down and made themselves masters of the honey. The owners seldom ventured to complain and when they did, the juries were sure to punish their presumption with costs of suit.
"Well, one of the old settlers to whom I allude came to my office one day and stated that he had felled a bee tree upon his neighbor's land. He alluded to the old custom of conferring title by discovery, and that suit was threatened, asking my advice in the premises. I replied that he had committed a trespass. and advised him to compromise the affair .. He left the office in high dungeon, saying as he was departing, 'This country is getting too d-d civilized for me.
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I'll make tracks for Oregon or some other country where an old pioneer can get justice.' "
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE BUFFALO.
When Illinois was first visited by white men, the prairies were one great pasture for countless herds of buffaloes. Father Marquette and his companion, Louis Joliet, when reaching the Illinois country on their voyage down the Mis- sissippi, saw upon the banks of that stream vast herds of the animals. On their return, and while going up the Illinois, the animals were everywhere to be seen, and as one of the father's records, they were so numerous as to be countless.
The flesh of the buffalo furnished the natives with the greater part of their food, their skins with clothing, bedding and tents, their sinews for bows, their bones for implements and ornaments, while their hair they wove into a fabric for dress; hence, this disappearance of the buffalo from the country. Deprived, then, of the many necessities of life, the exact time when they disappeared or left the country is unknown but from the best accounts that can be obtained it was about 1780 they were seen swimming the Illinois river in vast herds. As late as 1778, but a year or two later, there was a big snow storm that covered the ground to the depth of three feet, and upon the top was a thick crust of ice that would bear a man. The next spring a few buffaloes, poor and emaciated, were seen going westward, but in many places hundreds of carcasses of the dead animals were to be found lying on the prairie. What few were left went across the Mississippi and it was seldom that one was seen east of that river after that time. Forty years afterward the skulls and bones were to be seen in places extending for miles.
CHEVALIER HENRY DE TONTY.
Few of the writers of the early history of Illinois give much of an account of the life of this most faithful and intrepid companion of La Salle in his early voyages and explorations in the Illinois Territory. When referred to, he is spoken of as the "Faithful Tonty;" that he was a Frenchman by birth, and had lost a hand in battle. It is our purpose, however, to here give some accounts of his early life and history.
Chevalier Henry De Tonty was born in Naples in 1650. He was a son of Lorenzo Tonty, a banker and prominent man of that city. He received an ex- cellent education for those times and when eighteen years of age he entered the French army and served one year. It was an active one, however, for he was in seven campaigns and although he entered the service as a cadet, yet he was successively promoted as captain, and at Messina, Spain, he was placed in charge of 20,000 men.
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