USA > Illinois > Massac County > History of Massac County, Illinois > Part 4
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Regarding boat-building in the West, Alvord says: "The first years of the Nineteenth Century saw a very remarkable era in the building of ocean- going ships on the Ohio. Before this industry was brought to an untimely end by President Jefferson's embargo policy, probably one hundred vessels were built in western shipyards; and from the report of tonnage duties collected at Fort Massac in 1802, it would appear that three ships of one hundred and fifty tons to six ships of seventy-five tons were built in that district. After 1807 there was a rearrange- ment of the administration of tax collecting, and all Illinois and the surrounding territory fell into the district of Mississippi." (21)
Among the products which passed through the Massac port were tobacco, flour, apples, pork, lard, venison, bear's meat, hams, country linen, saddles, saltpeter, shoes, potatoes, hemp, castings, iron, guns, nails, glass bottles, window-glass (as yet a scarce item) and the inevitable liquors-whiskey, beer, brandy and gin. (21)
People were stopped in the Fort Massac district not only for legitimate reasons for the collection of
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duties, but also often along the way by men from the Cave-in-Rock gang. This band of outlaws was a real and dangerous factor in the trade which came up or down the Ohio. It was the chief drawback in river traffic for many years. These robbers were so numerous and well-organized that it was no un- common event for them to rush out upon an unsuspecting craft and murder the entire crew. The Cave-in-Rock band terrorized the river country for many years before they were finally driven out. (33)
An attempt has been made to picture in some degree the character of the activity around Fort Massac around 1800. That day of early western stimulation can never return in the same way, but in this day Massac County does play an important part in the life of the region. Some of the forces are old ; some, like the Atomic Energy Commission, are new.
A MILITARY POST-During the first part of 1808 Captain D. Bissell was in command at Fort Massac with a company of infantry. It is also quite certain that a Captain Daniel Bird was in command a part of the year with forty men. Bissell's force included artillerists. In the official records it is recorded that on April 7, 1809, medicine and hospital supplies were sent the "late Captain D. Bissell, C. O. Fort Massac." He was superseded by Captain Sam Price in the latter part of the year, and who remained in command until 1812. (27)
On February 6, 1810 it was stated that only one
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company was stationed at the fort. During March, Captain Price was relieved temporarily by a Captain Gaines. In April several supply boats stopped at intervals to give medicines, hospital stores and pro- visions. Captain Estes was in command. (27)
As late as 1812 Fort Massac was repaired and used for defensive purposes during the war with Great Britain. It was then furnished with a new stockade, and occupied by the Illinois mounted rangers. They were intrusted with the defense of the border against the intrusion of hostile Indians and British soldiers. (27) The year 1811-12 was uncommon, what with war, the comet in the sky, the first steamboat, Tecumseh's conspiracy, and the earthquakes. A part of General Jackson's army camped at Fort Massac in 1812, on its way to New Orleans.
From 1810 to 1812 Henry Skinner was the physi- cian at the fort, with the rank of surgeon's mate. The supplies sent to Estes April 16, 1810, were the last received until May 4, 1811, when he received clothing, medicines and subsistence supplies suffi- cient for a company of artillery. (27)
Alvord says that only 36 men were stationed at the fort on June 6, 1811. (21) On August 14, 1812, more supplies were sent. A month later Colonel William P. Anderson was directed "to take charge of the defense of Fort Massac." He, in turn, ordered his inferior officer, Captain Phillips, to go there with his company of artillery. Both men were stationed
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together for some time during the war. Their ef- forts at recruiting men were quite successful, if the invoice of the goods shipped from Pennsylvania to Fort Massac can be regarded as an index. On De- cember 11, 1812, quantities of goods sufficient for 612 infantrymen and 90 artillerymen were sent. The supplies ranged from clothing and gun supplies to books, ink and paper. This was the largest garrison ever stationed at Fort Massac. During this time Colonel E. P. Gaines was also stationed there drilling the soldiers. (27) The old fort must have been a lively place then, with more than 700 soldiers there besides the surrounding settlers, who had been a nuclei of settlements for sometime.
Colonel Anderson wintered at the fort 1812-13, but moved to Cleveland on March 10. Captain Joseph was left in command and the garrison radi- cally reduced to only one company of artillery. A supply boat traveled by the post in June and left supplies for 90 men. (27)
By 1817 United States troops had been with- drawn from Fort Massac. The war of 1812 was over. Four years later Governor Shadrach Bond answered a letter of inquiry from General H. Wil- linson, of St. Louis, and said that he was of the opinion the fort was of little further value and would not need to be occupied again. (24)
Although Governor Bond saw no reason for maintaining the fort, yet for a period of thirty years it was mentioned as a desirable place for the estab-
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lishment of a military base and armory. Mention as such was made in 1818 by John C. Calhoun ; in 1823 by Monroe ; in 1824 by Colonel Richard M. Johnson ; in 1837 by Van Buren ; and again in 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1846 and 1850. House Document 133, 3rd Session 27th Congress, a report on sites, recom- mended Fort Massac as the best. A report dated Harper's Ferry, to the Secretary of War, January 28, 1842, further recommended the site. The Board of Army Officers gave a good description at the time of their personal examination and it was published in the preceding report. It contained a description of the topography, flora, fauna, situation of the fort, description of the river for several miles, and of the government tracts which had been laid out previ- ously for military purposes, and comprising the country around Fort Massac, Massac City, and Metropolis. (27)
Despite all the favorable reports the project for the armory fell through. After 1843, when Massac became a county, Congress perhaps had little further relations with the locality. However, in 1850, a fourth report was made which selected Fort Massac as more favorable on all accounts for such an estab- lishment, and recommended the addition of found- ries and machine shops capable of producing all supplies required by either the military or naval service of the United States. But nothing was done about it. (27) It is said that in 1856 the walls of the fort were still intact. The main building was 135
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feet square with a tower at each of the four corners. (34) Lusk says that in 1884 not a vestige of the works remained. (35)
Many other things might be said about Fort Massac during this period, but lack of space forbids it. (See chapter XVIII)
EARLY POLITICAL ORGANIZATION-Gen- eral Arthur St. Clair was appointed first governor of the Northwest Territory. On April 27, 1790, he issued a proclamation creating the county of St. Clair. Shortly after Knox County was created. Mas- sac was about equally a part of the two counties, ac- cording to the proclamation which read : "Beginning at the mouth of the Michilamackinack River, run- ning thence southerly in a direct line to the mouth of the little river [ Massac Creek] about Fort Massac, on the Ohio River, thence with the Ohio to its junc- tion with the Mississippi; thence-to the place of beginning." (36)
In 1795 the west part of Massac became a part of Randolph County. In 1812 Massac was made a part of Johnson County. In 1816 it became about equally a part of Johnson and Pope Counties. So it remained until 1843. The seat of justice was at the home of John Bradshaw in Elvira, Johnson County. (32)
On January 15, 1813, the townships of Big Bay, Cache, Massac and others were laid off. They were military districts which had been created by the gov-
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ernor for the defense of the settlers against hostile Indians. Captain Whiteside's company defended Big Bay, and Captain Fox's company that of Massac Township. The districts were very large, that of Massac including Massac County in its present form "with possibly a little part of Johnson and Pope. In 1814 that part between the 'ponds' and the Ohio River, in Massac, was created into one called Massac. The boundaries and names were changed from time to time." (32) It was much later that the townships took on a political character, such as they have today.
EARLY ROADS AND FERRIES-Many of the immigrants took the water route to the west as being the easier. However, by 1815 the overland journey was much improved. Roads and bridges had been built and ferries established at many points. Roadside taverns and villages began to ap- pear. (1) The first roads followed the trails made by the buffalo and Indians. These were little more than trails beaten out by the passage of men, wagons and horses. One of the first of these was the Old Massac Road. (37) It curved into Pope County, where it connected with the Kaskaskia Trace. Travel was on foot or horseback. The early traveler was practically a pathfinder over this road, despite the burns or blazes on the trees used to mark the trail. No accommodations were afforded because, as the pioneer Reynolds says, there was not a single house,
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in 1800, between Kaskaskia and Hull's landing on the Ohio, a few miles above Fort Massac. Mrs. Chapman's admirable history states that "Among the first things the county court [Johnson County] did September 13, 1813, was to order Isaac D. Wil- cox to open a road from Massac the nearest and best way to Wm. Style's in Center Township, and to make same passable for carriages." (32)
John Copeland and John Cooper reported on a road in 1824 to Wilcox's warehouse, near the Massac-Pulaski line. In 1824 perhaps three to seven miles of this road were worked. It took much time and labor on the part of the citizens. Three notches on a tree indicated a public road ; one notch, or blaze, a neighborhood road. (32)
By 1834 three stage routes passed through Fort Massac. One went across Pope County to Golconda ; one went to Cairo, where it connected with others ; and one went to Vienna, where it connected with others. (38)
In 1821 Isaac Wilcox established a ferry on his land on the Ohio, where his warehouse was being built. It was known successively as Copeland's Landing, Marberry Landing, Williamson's Land- ing, and Sharp's Landing. Tradition has it that most of the northern roads led to this landing. There was much importing and exporting of goods. The Metropolis ferry service began in 1824, when J. H. G. Wilcox established a ferry on his land near the
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site of the present ferry-landing. (32) Wilcox was still operating the ferry in 1843.
Meanwhile the new century had ushered in the age of steamboats. First to go down the Ohio was the New Orleans in 1811, followed by the Comet in 1813 and the Enterprise in 1814. Within another five years more than sixty steamers plied the Ohio. By 1832 the records show 230 steam craft of various kinds. (10) More will be said about river traffic in chapter XV.
As late as 1818 there were still few settlers located along the Ohio River itself. However, much land was in the hands of speculators. The town of Waterloo was one such dream-town projected by them. Lots were advertised to be sold on April 10, 1818. The location was nine miles below the Ten- nessee on the Illinois side of the river, which places it at or near present Metropolis. (39) Metropolis itself was founded in 1839, for which see chapter XVIII.
MASSAC COUNTY ORGANIZED-On February 8, 1843, by an act of the Legislature, Massac County was created, its territory being derived from Johnson and Pope Counties. There seemed to be an epi- demic of new counties in 1843. Pulaski, Moultrie, and Cumberland were three other counties created in the State, all less than one month after Massac.
The boundary line was described as follows : "Beginning at the Southwest corner of Johnson County on the bank of the Ohio River, and running
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MASSAC COUNTY COURT HOUSE
thence north with the range line dividing townships one and two, east of the third principal meridian, to Cache River, thence up to the center of the main channel of said Cache River to the township line dividing townships 13 and 14, thence east along said line, to the county line dividing the counties of Pope and Johnson, thence southeast so as to strike at the southeast corner of township 15 south, six east, thence three miles south, thence east to the Ohio River, thence down the Ohio River to the place of beginning shall constitute a new county to be called the County of Massac."
We quote O. J. Page : "The County Surveyor of Pope County, G. H. Hanna, was ordered to survey the line between Pope and Massac County before the first Monday in April. In the same act an election of county officers for the new county was ordered for the first Monday of April, 1843, and the county clerks of Johnson and Pope Counties were
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directed to issue notices of such election, and returns from the election were to be made to the Clerk of the County Court of Johnson County. The officers to be elected were: one sheriff, coroner, recorder, treasurer, probate justice of peace, school commis- sioner, three county commissioners, county sur- veyor, and clerk of the commissioner's court." (6)
The county board first met April 8, 1843. Lots were drawn for terms of office. The second meet- ing was April 17. Orders for highway reviews were given. Five precincts were formed-Jackson, Wash- ington, Metropolis, George's Creek and Wilconson- ville-judges appointed, and elections ordered. Fifteen road districts were formed. Appointments of supervisors, justices of the peace, constables, and overseers of the poor were made. (6)
The first officers were as follows: Sheriff, John W. Read; Coroner, Travis Wethers; Clerk of the Court, J. B. Hicks; Clerk, John W. Carmichael ; States Attorney, William Allen; Assessor, James Robinson ; Surveyor, W. C. Crow ; and County Com- missioners, G. G. Allen, J. Moody, and J. T. Collier. There were only 250 voters to elect the officers in 1843. (6)
The meetings of the county board were held in the Manville House, corner of Ferry and 2nd streets, Metropolis. Circuit court was held in the old Meth- odist Church. On April 29 the plan for the court house was drafted by Samuel Arnont. On June 6 Wilcox and McBane deeded two and one-half acres
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for a public square. The first county assessment was $36, one-half to be paid by the county and one- half by the State. The tax rate for 1844 was 50 cents per $100 valuation. John W. Reed was ap- pointed to take the first census, September, 1845. He found 1500 people. Included were a few free Negroes, the rest serving by indenture. (10)
CHAPTER VIII
THE REGULATORS AND FLATHEADS
Trouble between the law-abiding citizens and the malevolent elements began in Southern Illinois in 1831. The war between the Regulators and Flat- heads was filled with atrocious crimes and constant terror. O. J. Page gives only two pages to this in- ternecine struggle. He generalizes and says little because, as he avers, "It is better to cover with the cloak of charity and consign to oblivion's tomb." (6)
From 1831 to 1838 horse thievery, arson and counterfeiting were very prevalent. A man named Sturdevant began counterfeiting money in what is now Hardin County in 1831. He was finally driven out of the country by a band of prominent citizens. Such crimes were common in all counties bordering the lower Ohio in this period. Shortly afterwards, another form of crime arose: the kidnaping of the children of freed slaves. A man named Vaughn, who had as his accomplices Joe Lynn and Hiram Campbell, of Massac County, was the perpetrator of one of these outrageous crimes. It turned out that Vaughn had ordered the kidnaping and transporta-
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tion to St. Louis, where he was poisoned later by one of his own men, when just after the indictment one of the men of whom he had purchased the slave gave him a drink of whiskey.
Soon after the Vaughn affair, a Mr. Sides and his wife, of Pope County, were attacked and brutally knocked down in their house, $2500 in gold of the money of a freed slave taken, and the house set afire. A rain extinguished the fire before the couple were burned. While committing the robbery, one of the criminals left a knife made by a neighborhood blacksmith, by which the robber was identified. Thus exposed, he was arrested and tortured by the aroused neighbors until he gave the name of his associates to the number of a dozen. These, being apprehended and tortured, disclosed the names of many other confederates scattered through several counties. (12) (40)
It was at this point that the honest people formed a band of Regulators, which was, as Judge Hall says, "a kind of holy brotherhood whose duty it was to purge the community of its unruly members-Squire Birch, who was impersonated by one of the party, established his tribunal under a tree in the woods ; the culprit was brought before him, tried, and gen- erally convicted." (23) They had as their purpose not so much the punishment of wrong doers as to see that the courts properly executed the law. The Flatheads were, originally, the wrong doers. Gov- ernor Ford says: "The governor and judges of the
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territory, seeing the impossibility of executing the laws in the ordinary way, against an organized banditti, who set all law at defiance, winked at and encouraged the proceedings of the Regulators.
"These Regulators in number generally consti- tuted about a captain's company, to which they gave a military organization by the election of officers. The company generally operated at night. When assembled for duty, they marched armed and equip- ped as if for war, to the residence or lurking-place of a rogue, arrested, tried, and punished him by severe whipping and banishment from the territory. It was the opinion of the best men at the time, that -such proceedings were not only justifiable, but absolutely necessary for the existence of govern- ment." (40)
In case of undoubted criminals they were whip- ped and banished on the spot. Old offenders were frequently hanged at once to the nearest tree. Modes of torture applied to some were "to take them to the Ohio River, and hold them under water, until they showed a willingness to confess. Others had ropes tied around their bodies over their arms, and a stick twisted into the ropes until their ribs and sides were crushed in by force of the pressure. Some of the persons who were maltreated in this way, obtained warrants for the arrest of the Regulators." (40)
In most instances "lynch's law" proved suffi- ciently efficacious, yet there remained for many years a desperate and noted gang of ruffians in Pope,
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Massac, and other river counties, who resisted all efforts to dislodge them and set the government at open defiance. (12) In 1831 a large number of honest people attacked a fort in Pope County, with small arms and one piece of artillery. Three rogues and one Regulator were killed when the fort was finally taken by storm. (40) The Regulators took a very active part in the case of Mr. Sides, and after much stratagem succeeded in having six convicted. Four of these served long terms and died in the peni- tentiary.
After the execution of so many criminals, in no part of the State did such an unfortunate state of affairs continue to exist as in Massac County. One of the reasons for the creation of the new county in 1843 had been the hope that troubles in other coun- ties would not spill over into Massac. It helped not at all. It was not only overrun but actually con- trolled by vicious outlaws. Parrish says that the "courts and county and township officers were at one time actual participants in outlawry and the en- tire region was apparently a den of thieves. In 1846 this carnival of crime was at its height, the condi- tions such as to be now almost unbelievable." (12) The Regulators became so assertive that no person was free from accusation. Many atrocious crimes were committed-drowning, beating, burning, mur- der, and torture in various forms.
In the county election which followed it was claimed that some were Flatheads. Then began a
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period of civil war. Until 1850 affairs were in utter chaos. James A. Rose has written well on this phase of Illinois history. He said: "The conflict between the two factions had already reached the stage where all good men were not Regulators and all bad men were not Flatheads." (41)
A long series of outrages followed in which men upon the slightest imputation of being Flatheads were taken out and tortured. Some were beaten mercilessly ; some were strapped across logs and their backs beaten into a pulp; others were taken to the river and their heads held under water until they confessed or drowned. Still others disappeared mysteriously and were never heard from. "Gone to Arkansas" was the term applied to these sudden disappearances, meaning they had been murdered and their bodies left to float down stream.
In 1846 John W. Read was a candidate for re- election for sheriff. He had no sooner announced this than he was accused of counterfeiting and ordered to leave the county. Ford says : "Those who were suspected to be rogues all threw their votes one way and, it was asserted, thereby insured the elec- tion of a sheriff and other officers in the County of Massac, who were opposed to the proceedings of the Regulators, and not over-zealous in enforcing the laws. The County of Massac gave about five hun- dred votes, and out of these John W. Read, the suc- cessful candidate for sheriff, received about three hundred majority. His opponent was a wealthy citi-
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zen and, as it appeared, not very popular, but his in- fluence over his friends was almost unlimited. There was another unsuccessful candidate for county clerk, of the same description. These two put themselves at the head of their friends in Pope and Massac and, being assisted by large numbers from Paducah and Smithland, in Kentucky, they proceeded to drive out and punish all suspected persons, and to torture them, to enforce them to confess and disclose the names of their confederates. By this means the numbers implicated in crime were increased every day." (40)
The failure of the Regulators at the polls had the effect of their redoubling their energies as an organ- ization. They ordered the sheriff, county clerk, sev- eral citizens, and representatives in the legislature to leave the county. The sheriff afterwards returned and qualified for the office but, in this "reign of terror" no man could stand long, and he soon had to leave again. (12) (42)
At this juncture Ford says: "In this condition of things application was made in August, 1846, to the governor, for a military force to sustain the consti- tuted authorities of Massac. This disturbance being at a distance of 250 miles from the seat of govern- ment, there was but little communication, the facts concerning it were but imperfectly known to the governor, for which reason he issued an order to Brigadier-General John T. Davis, of Williamson
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County, to examine into it, and if he judged it neces- sary to call out the militia.
"General Davis proceeded to Massac, called the parties together, and, as he believed, induced them to settle their difficulties ; but he had no sooner left the county, than violence broke out afresh." (40)
Judge Moses says: "As the feud progressed, parties who at first stood aloof-including many from adjoining counties-became involved, not only through family connections, but also as partisans, on one side or the other, of the question of maintaining the supremacy of the law." (42) The great evil of lynch's law was that every one was threatened with summary punishment, rogue or honest man, who spoke against the proceedings.
Massac County court was held in the autumn of 1846 with Judge Walter B. Scates presiding. He criticized the lawless proceedings of the Regulators and as a result several indictments were returned. Some were arrested and committed to jail, where- upon Judge Scates was ordered to leave the county and never to return under penalty of lynching. He resigned on January 11, 1847. (42)
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