History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 34

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

they made use of the leave granted to withdraw their propo- sition.

The contents of it were made known to the people of the country through the press-the Spectator of June 20th, 1820, brought the following :

In compliance with a request of several respectable citi. zens of this county we have procured for publication, copies of the following papers:

" Edwardsville, 5th of June, 1820.

"GENTLEMEN,-Herewith are submitted propositions for the ercetion and completion of a Court-house und Gaol for the county of Madison, as a donation including fifty lots in the town of Edwardsville. We beg leave to refer you to the propositions themselves for the terms and the spirit in which they were made, with this addition that any security which may be required for their fulfilment will be cheer- fully given ; and the hope that the liberality of the offer and the high advantage resulting to the county from its acceptance, will operate as a sufficient inducement on your minds to adopt them.

BENI. STEPHENSON, T. W. SMITHI.

For themselves, Ninian Edwards and the other proprietors."

"To Hon. Samuel Judy, George Barnsback and William Jones, commissioners of the county of Madison

Impressed with the importance and necessity of the speedy erection of the public buildings for the county of Madison, the undersigned offer to the county commissioners in consideration of locating such buildings on lands belong- ing to them, and forming part of the town of Edwardsville, to cause such buildings to be erceted without delay, at their own expense, and to make a donation thereof to the county ; and to give in addition thereto, fifty lots in the said town, with a complete title in fee, with warranty, and for the use of the county, to be disposed of for the benefit of the same. They propose that the buildings shall be at least - feet in front and rear, and in depth - feet, two stories high, with sufficient rooms for the holding of the circuit and county commissioners' courts, as also convenient offices for the elerks and the sheriff's of the county; all of whose offices, it is respectfully suggested, should be contiguous to each other at the seat of justice, and to which it is pre- sumed those officers will che-rfully assent. The buildings to be of brick. The jail to be - feet square, the walls feet in thickness; windows well secured with iron bars, and to be finished within - months. In making the offer herein suggested, the undersigued are led naturally to an- swer a question which might be asked: they have no wish to conceal the motives which actuate them. They conceive it not only perfectly honorable but laudable, and that al- though it is one which may possibly enhance the value of their property at some distant period ; yet that the inhabi- tauts of the county are more immediately interested in its acceptance, than are those who are certain to be directly benefited thereby. The convenience of the inhabitants will be greatly promoted in the early establishment of the public buildings. The present state of them is such that

they unite not only expense with much inconvenience, but that they badly answer the purpose for which they were designed ; and the Gaol, in particular, as has been evinced by the repeated evidences of the fact, is wholly insecure and worse than useless, for the safe keeping of prisoners. The office for the clerks of the courts, is also an expense of con- siderable magnitude, which would cease in case of the ac- ceptance of the proposals here offered; and it is believed that it will be admitted on all hands, that the present state of the county, its growth and general prosperity requires that the erection of the public buildings should be no longer delayed ; but an obstacle, considered insurmountable, has continued to interpose to prevent it, viz :- the great tax, which it would require to be imposed on the citizens of the county, and at a time when, least of all others, they would be enabled to bear it; one, which, under the pressure of the times would be oppressive, and meet with great opposition ; and indeed it is impossible to say at what future day they would be willing to contribute a sum of six or eight thou- sand dollars for such purposes, as it is apprehended an amount, not short of that, would be required. If then, these difficulties do exist, and which it is believed will not be denied, ean the commissioners consistently with their duty, and the disposition they undoubtedly entertain for their fel- low-citizens, to relieve them from burthens, when they have the legal means, hesitate to accede to an offer which not ouly establishes their public bui dings upon a large and liberal scale, but has the additional advantage of throwing into the county treasury the means of reaping a revenue of large amount from the sales of the lots offered. thereby re- lieviog the people at the same time from the payment of a large sum of money ? The situation, which is on a square of 440 feet, is eligble for the court-house, and cannot be equalled by any that can be offered, and a sufficient quanti- ty of ground for the gaol will be given on which it may be erected.

The undersigned are persuaded that the great mass of the county are decidedly in favor of the proposition, and would consider its acceptance as the harbinger of peace, with refer- ence to a division of the county, which has been so much agitated by designing men from motives peculiar to them- selves, and as terminating a dispute so well caleulated in its tendency to disturb and divide those whose interests and feelings imperiously require should be united. Under this view of the subject, those propositions are submitted, sub- jeet to such modifiations as may be required to complete the general objects set forth.

Edwardsville, June 5th, 1820.

Benjamin Stephenson and T. W. Smith for themselves, Ninian Edwards and the other proprietors.

" The size of the buildings is left blank in order that the commissioners may iusert such a size as they shall deem necessary."

BENJ. STEPHENSON & T. W. SMITHI.

The other proposition to make a donation seems to have been drawn up in great haste; it is even without a date and could certainly never have been enforced by law.

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

It is worded as follows :

We the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Edwards- ville, hereby engage to furnish the amount of cash or other articles which may be necessary in building a court-house on the public square in the town of Edwardsville for the county of Madison which we hereby engage to build and make a donation of to the county of Madison aforesaid ; hereby engaging to pay and furnish the amount of cash or other articles by us severally subscribed.

Joshua Atwater, one half of any number of bricks not exceeding 70,000.

Walter J Sealy, the other half of the bricks.

Nathaniel Buckmaster, by Abraham Prickett, agrees to do the mason work of building the above house.

Abraham Prickett agrees to pay three hundred dollars in cash.

John T. Lusk makes a donation of three hundred dollars. D. Tolman, one hundred dollars in carpeuter work.

James Wright will furnish one hundred dollars in cash.

Myron Patterson will give one hundred dollars in carpen- ter work.

John York Sawyer, one hundred dollars.

John C Bruner & Co., one hundred dollars.

R. & Y. Page, three hundred dollars.

James Cox, one hundred dollars.

John Reynolds, thirty dollars.

Philip Pemberton, fifty dollars in carpenter work.

Thomas B. Stevens, twenty-five dollars.

Alsworth Baker, twenty -five dollars.

James Mason, one hundred dollars in lumber at the mill.

Paris Masan, one hundred dollars in lumber at the spot. W'm. P. McKee, twenty dollars in cash.

John Taylor, ten dollars.

Hail Mason, fifty dollars in 10 M. shingles.

Isaac Prickett, one hundred dollars in goods.

Jeptha Lamkin, twenty-five dollars in hauling.

The amounts above subscribed may have represented a value of perhaps $2500, and certainly no more.

It remains inexplicable why men like Col. Judy, Barns- back & Jones could not come to a decision so as to choose between the two propositions of donation. Mr. Jones was not friendly to Edwardsville, which circumstance may ac- count for his action ; but it is barely probable that Judy and Barnsback could have been intimidated aud prevented from taking action. At any rate, however, the matter was de- ferred, until after the election, and the reader will then learn how the matter was disposd of.

We return to the further proceedings of the court.

Piusa township was organized as such on the 7th of June, 1820. It began at the northwest corner of Wood river town- ship, thence due west to the Mississippi, thence up said river to the mouth of Illinois river until it strikes the mouth of the Macoupin, thei ce up the Macoupin to range No. 8, thence to the northeast corner of Wood river township. Joseph White, John G. Lofton and Josiah Cummins were appointed judges of election.

Apple creek township organized on the same day; began

at the mouth of the Macoupin, thence up Illinois river to the sectional line between towns twelve and thirteen, thence east to range line 8, thence along said line to Macoupin, thence down with it to the place of beginning. Thomas Carlin, Thomas Rattan and David Barrow were appointed judges of election.

With this order ended the labors of this-the first hoard of county commissioners. The coming election absorbed all thoughts. The press devoted all available space to political effusions and harangues, of which a few are here introduced to illustrate the spirit of those times.

GEORGE CHURCHILL'S ADDRESS.

To the Electors of the County of Madison.

Fellow-citizens : At the solicitation of many respectable citizens I have become a candidate for your suffrages at the approaching ekction, as one of the representatives of this county for the General Assembly of this state. In making this annunciation, respect for the public opinion and a just sense of propriety require from me a frank avowal of my political principles and a candid delineation of the course which I intend to pursue, if honored with a majority of your votes.

A republican by birth, by principle and by practice, I have never adopted the opinion that, in order to constitute a freeman he should have liberty to rob his fellow-man of his freedom. Considering slavery as derogatory to our na- tional character, -as inconsistent with the political princi- ples which we all profess to believe,-as a curse not only to the slave, but the slaveholder also, and so highly dangerous to the public tranquillity, I have deemed it my duty, when- ever occasion has required, to exert my best abilities in opposition to the progress and extension of a system of injustice so degrading to the character of our country and portending the most baleful consequences.

The most difficult task to he performed by the next legis- lature is the correction of the errors of their predecessors. These are so numerous that only a small proportion of them can be glanced at in the limits of an address. The tax law I consider exceedingly unjust and oppressive in its operation, as it lays as high a tax on the poor man's uncultivated land, for which only one instalment has been pa d, as upon the rich man's improved farm, for which the payment has been completed. The repugnance of this law to the constitution and the compact between the United States and this state is too palpable to require elucidation.

The injustice of the road law is perhaps still more glaring. That a mechanic or laboror who possesses no interest in the soil, should be required to pay a road tax of five dollars per annum, while the wealthy owner of extensive domains is exempted, on account of being fifty years of age, from paying any road tax whatever, is, in my opinion, equally contrary to the constitution, to justice and to sound policy. The power of impressment given to the supervisors of high- ways, though perhaps never carried into execution, ought not to be suffered to disgrace the statute book. Sheriff's are not by our present laws allowed a compensation for the

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

herculean task of collecting the taxes. This and many other circumstances of a similar nature call loudly for reform. Another question is likely to be agitated, of great local im- portance, and which in its consequences will greatly affect the interests of the state. As my sentiments on this subject differ from many of those for whom I have the highest respect, I deem it necessary to make them known, together with the reasons on which they are founded.

It will be recollected that at the last session of the General Assembly, a petition was presented for the erection of a narrow strip of land from the western edge of the county into a separate county, with the view of locating a county seat at some of the towns ou the Mississippi, and of thus accelera- ting the growth of such town, with the further view of remov- ing the seat of justice from Edwardsville, and of locating it at some town now laid off, or hereafter to be laid off, in the eastern part of the county. As it is expected that an at- tempt will be made at the next session to effect the same objects, I deem it proper to state that I am decidedly opposed to the contemplated division of the county, and to any altera- tion of its eastern, southern or western boundaries. The county of Madison, extending to the northern limits of the state, there can be no objection to the erection of new coun- ties in the northern part of the county, whenever the in- creasing population in that quarter shall render it necessary, leaving this county in a convenient form and with a re- spectable portion of territory.

I am opposed to the contemplated division because I con- ceive that the removal of the seat of justice from the place where it has been located by law would be a violation of the public faith. The owners of property in Edwardsville have purchased it at high prices, in the full reliance that the county seat was permanently to remain at that town. To remove it would destroy the confidence of the people in the good faith of the government, and would furnish a pre- cedent productive of the most alarming consequences. Once admit that a county may be divided, or a county scat re- moved,-not for the greater accommodation of the public, but merely to promote the growth of particular towns,- and you give the signal for townmakers and speculators to involve the state in disorder and confusion, to promote their own aggrandizement. As self interest is the ruling principle of mankind, each one who might think that his own interest would be promoted by the measure, would insist upon having a county seat located upon his own land.

The towns which might be converted into county seats would receive no solid advantage from that measure. Very few will purchase property or make improvements in such towns, when they are conscious that the county seat will be removed whenever an adverse faction may obtain the ascen- dancy. Let the proposed measure be adopted, and the legis- lature will have no time to devote to the enactment of wholesome laws for the benefit of the great mass of their constituents, but will find continual employment in carving out new counties for the accommodation of petty villages, and in adjusting the claims and settling the disputes of warring speculators. The election of candidates for repre-

sentative officers will be made to depend not upon their ability and integrity, but upon their places of residence and their predilections for, or antipathies against, particular towns and villages. Ignorance and imbecility will become the sole passports to the legislative hall; for men com- posed of higher qualifications will disdain to become the catspaws of avaricious speculators. In this manner the people will become divided into petty factions, the most bitter animosities will be engendered, and the general harmony of the state will be destroyed. This is not chimerical. Who that reflects on the nature of that spirit of speculation which has unfortunately taken such deep root among us, is not con- strained to acknowledge that all these consequences and many others still more to be dreaded, will inevitably follow the es- tablishment of the principle against which I contend? Simi- lar questions are this year in many other connties of this state, and similar means are resorted to for the promotion of the same grand object of all speculators, namely, self- aggrandizement. Does it not, therefore, behoove the inde- pendent farmers and mechanics, the efficient population of the state, to place their sovereign veto upon all attempts to promote the interests of the few at the expense of the many, and to build up private fortunes upon the ruins of the public tranquillity and the general welfare ?

Unjust as the proposed division would be to the owners of property at the present county seat, it is not less inexpe- dient as it regards this county, and, I may add, as it regards the inhabitants even of that part which is proposed to be erected into a new county. A reference to the map is suffi- cient to show that many of the citizens of the proposed new county reside ncarer to the town of Edwardsville than to either of the places in contemplation as the seat of justice of the new county. This inconvenience would soon be greatly increased, as the rapid growth of the settlements north of the contemplated county seat would, in a short time, require its removal further north-thus leaving the inhabitants of the south part of the proposed new county at a great distance from the seat of justice, although the same inhabitants reside but a small distance from the present county seat. The inconvenient shape of the proposed county (being in some places less than five miles wide), is another insuperable objection to the divisiou. And however numer- ous may be the advocates for the division, while each expects to have a county seat located at his own village, in his own neighborhood, or on his own farm, yet, as it is impossi- ble that they should all be gratified in this expectation, so it is obvious that a majority of those who now advocate would ultimately deprecate a division, were it to take place. The proposed division would also operate disadvantageously for the settlements in the northern part of the county, as it would have an obvious tendency to retard erection into dis- tinet counties.

These considerations appear to my mind to be entitled to sufficient weight to induce all real friends to the welfare and prosperity of the state to unite in opposition to a measure, which, however pure the motives, and however plausible the arguments of its supporters, cannot fail to produce the most pernicious effects. And I cannot but hope that the

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

patriotism and good sense of many who are now found in the ranks of the friends of division, will i duce them, after a calm deliberation upon its tendency, to spurn the idea of seeking the promotion of any imaginary interests of their own at the expense of the general welfare.

My sentiments on this subject are not dictated by self-in- terest. Having no property which can be particularly affected by the division, my opposition to it is the result of a firm conviction that such a measure would be a flagrant violation of the public faith, which every citizen is interested in preserving inviolate ; that it would be productive of great inconveniences, and would materially increase the public burdeos of this county ; and that it would constitute a pre- cedent highly dangerous to the future harmony, prosperity, and improvement of the state.

I have thus, fellow-citizens, endeavored to give you my ideas on the most prominent subjects likely to come before the next General Assembly. Other questions will necessarily claim their attention ; with respect to which I must content myself with promising the unwearied exertion of my best abilities in promoting the general prosperity. A cultivator of the soil, engaged in no schemes of speculation, and de- pending for a livelihood on my own industry, I have no interests to promote and no wishes to gratify but such as are equally the interests and the wishes of the great body of my fellow-citizens. To be honored with their confidence would be the source of my greatest gratification, and to deserve it is the object of my highest ambition.

GEORGE CHURCHILL. 1

Madison County, May 3, 1820.

The election was to be held on the first Monday of August of said year. The address of Mr. Churchill was followed by the appeals of others, who, however, had less to say. They all declared themselves to be opposed to a division of the county by any line running north and south.

Isom Gillham followed Churchill's example, and came out in brief address published in the Spectator on the 13th of June. He says : " From the view I have always taken of legislation, it is not like that of horse-swapping, where men generally are trying to get the advantage of one another." Mr. Gillham came out with his adders, in reply to a commu- nication of a " voter," to tell him, that people had no right of instructing the candidate before election, etc. " And, as to the cutting and carving of the state, or even this county, into small counties, it is a principle that I am very much opposed to."

Daniel Parkinson's address, published at the same time, is given verbatim et literatim, and, as his grammar and king's English are not very perfect, it is to be presumed that H. Warren, of the Spectator, did not favor Mr. Parkinsun's elec- tion.

William Ottwell announced himself a candidate on the 24th of July. In his address he denied the aceusation that Mr. Churchill and himself had " put their heads together " to defeat Captain Nathaniel Buckmaster.

Joseph Borough, the next candidate, was very brief in his 18

remark‹: "Fellow-citizens, you know who and what I ani," is about all that was said.

Nathaniel Buckmaster's pronunciamento is an ably writ- ten piece, confining itself to the question of dividing the county, to which the captain is opposed.

John F. McCullom came out in a few words, to defend himself against some accusations that had been circulated in the "Sangamo " country.

Some of the candidates for the office of county com- missioners followed the example of the assembly-men by publishing cards and lengthy addresses in the Spectator. They were : William L. May, Hail Mason, Curtis Blakeman, and Micajah Cox. The latter's address may find room here :

" Fellow-citizens: I now come before you as a candidate for your suffrages at the ensuing election, for county com- missioner, and as the people must undoubtedly be tired of election harangues, I shall trouble them but little. There is one question which appears to excite the public mind, viz: the erection of public buildings by donation instead of tax- ation. I am decidedly in favor of any lawful measure that can be adopted for the erection of the public buildings for the county of Madison, without taxing the people, and in favor of any advantageous donation for the use of the county, that will screen the people from a heavy tax. It is well known that the time of service, power and duties of the county commissioners are to be regulated and defined by law, and let them be who they may, they should always act with caution. And I can venture to say, that those who honor me with their votes, believing that they are voting for one that is not easily biased from his known duty when engaged in publie business, will not be deceived.

MICAJAI COX."

" P. S .- If elected, and it shall be considered lawful, Isball be decidedly in favor of having the public buildings in the southeast part of Edwardsville, as the site is the most eligible and healthy, and equally convenient."

The other candidates, of course, pronounced themselves also in favor of the " donation " plan, without committing theni- selves to the location of the buildings.

It should here be stated, that none of the gentlemen that came out with public addresses were elected. The success- ful candidates were: Amos Squire, James Tunnell and Abraham Prickett. At the election 1186 votes had been cast, to wit .: At Goshen (Edwardsville included), 231; Ridge Prairie, 242 ; Six Mile Prairie, 81 ; Greenfield ( Alton included), 115; Wood river, 86; Piasa, 65; Bounty Lands, 15; Apple creek, 76; Sangamo, 42; Fork Prairie, 89; Springfield, 50; Silver creek, 94.

The successful candidates for the general assembly were : William Ottwell, Nathaniel Buckmaster and Joseph Borough, who received 532, 518 and 633 votes respectively, Churebill had 449 ; D. Parkinson, 326; J. F. McCollum, 312; William Jones, 203; Isom Gillham, 189; P. Peters. 124, and Benjamin Steadman, 106 votes.

The vote polled for Churchill is, perhaps, the most inter- esting. Ile made the race principally as an outspoken anti- slavery man, which was fully understood by the voters.

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History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 34

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698