USA > Illinois > McDonough County > History of McDonough County, Illinois, together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of the representative citizens > Part 7
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The men of to-day, hardy sons of heroic sires, prominent in official or in commercial circles, also deserves a place in history, for "each day we live, we are making history," and the details of the rise and growth of the business in- terests of the county are not without their value in observations on the grad- ual rise of this section from barbarism and a wilderness to the teeming farm lands, interspersed with cities, towns and villages, as we now find it.
These old settlers must be gathered unto their fathers; the men so full of business and activity to-day must go down into the grave; the youth and bud- ding maiden, rise to manhood and womanhood, linger and decay, and even children that now linger 'round their parents' knee, give place to other people and other things. Then the value of history will be better understood, when all these actors upon the stage of life have lain down,
"With patriarchs of the infant world,-with kings,
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, All in one mighty sepulchre."
Then posterity will hail with gladness these annals of the times and deeds of their forefathers, that they may pattern after their noble sires.
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56
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
CHAPTER II.
GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES.
McDonough county is one of the western subdivisions of the state of Illinois, being contigous to Henderson and Warren counties, which bound it on the north, by Fulton on the east, Schuy- ler on the south, aud Hancock on the west. It comprises sixteen congres- sional townships, from 4 to 7 north, inclusive, of range 1 to 4 west of the fourth principal meridian, inclusive, and contains 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres. This forms a perfect square of twenty-four miles each way, divided into eighteen civil townships, whose size varies from thirty-six square miles downward. Of all this vast expanse of territory above, 300,000 acres are adapted to a high state of cultivation, and the balance, being covered by wood- land, marsh, slough or watercourse, is not without a surface value, while underlying every foot of it, the "dusky diamonds" of the coal measures may be found.
The surface of McDonough county is diversified with belts of timber and · pellucid streams. These streams take a southwesterly course without any excep- tion, the general trend of the land being in that direction. The principal streams are Crooked, Camp, Grindstone, Trou- blesome and Spring creeks. The head
waters of Crooked creek can hardly be determined. In Prairie City township rises a small stream which has been known for fifty years as Drowning Fork of Crooked creek. This stream passes down near the town of Bardolph, where it is joined by another fork, and the two combined form a considerable stream, which has been given the name of Crooked creek, from its being in fact what its name implies. In all the old maps published this stream is known as the Lamoine river-a French word meaning "the monk." It is generally surmised, though not certainly known, that in the very early settlement of this country, when the French Catholics oc- cupied it for the purpose of converting the Indians to the Catholic religion, the priests gave it this name. In the origi- nal field notes of the United States sur- vey for McDonough county it is marked Lamine river. In its tortuous course through the county, it passes through the townships of Prairie City, Bushnell, Macomb, Emmet, Chalmers, Colchester, Tennessee and Lamoine. In the early days a great many mills were erected upon this stream, but all have been torn down or left to the decay of time.
Camp creek has its head waters in New Salem township, emerging from
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57
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
which it courses through Scotland, In- dustry and. Bethel townships, uniting with Grindstone creek within the boun- daries of the latter.
Grindstone creek was originally named Turkey creek, from the fact that at cer- tain seasons, large flocks of wild turkeys were found there. A party of men from Schuyler county, finding upon its banks a good quality of stone for grindstones gave it its present name. Its head-waters 'are in Eldorado township. It passes through Industry, and joins Camp creek in Bethel township.
Troublesome creek is a small stream having its rise in Scotland township, from whence it passes through Chalmers, touching Tennessee, and then into La- moine township, where it joins Crooked creek. A government surveyor, after making vain efforts to effect a crossing, remarked that "it was the most troublé- some stream he ever saw." Its banks are almost perpendicular its entire length, although the stream is but a few feet wide, and without bridges, it is a very "troublesome creek."
Spring creek is another small stream rising in Sciota township, passing through Emmet, joining Crooked creek on the line dividing the two townships. As its name implies, its origin or source is from springs bursting forth from the earth.
A minute account of the soil, surface features, and lesser water courses, will be found in connection with the histo- ries of the various townships, further on.
Among the principal productions of the agriculture parts of McDonough county, are corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, buckwheat, and hay. Corn of
course take precedence, here as else- where, as being the most profitable and best adapted to the soil.
WEALTH.
The following tables will give some idea of the growth and development of the county, in a material respect. A table of the values of all classes of property for every year, were they obtainable, would be of great value, but in their absence, these reports will trace the increase of the people in wealth and property. The only reports we have of early years show that in 1830, the personal property of the inhabitants of the county was valued at $26,742. In 1835, the personal prop- erty had increased in value to $109,714.
1850.
Value of lands exclusive of town lots ... $982,350
town lots.
71,761
personal property.
346,669
Total valuation of the county.
$1,400,780
1856
No.
Valued at.
Horses
5,762
$417,604
Neat cattle.
15,969
265,407
Mules and asses.
348
31,352.
Sheep 11,282
16,613
Hogs 29,453
74,826
Carriages and wagons. 2,261
93,179
Clocks and watches. 2,252
16,186
Pianos 11
2,250
Goods and merchandise
121,479
Bankers property
80
Manufactured articles
3,411
Moneys and credits.
279,504
Bonds, stocks, etc
100
Unenumerated property
773,981
Aggregate $2,095,972
Lands .. $2,328,390
Town lots.
288,962
2,617,352
Real and personal property
.$4,713,324
Tax levied. $65,982.58
58
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
1858.
Value of real estate exclusive of
town lots $3,769,415
Value of town lots 615,654
Value of personal property 1,339,795
Value of railroad property.
482,936
Total valuation of the county $6,207,800
1861.
No.
Value.
Horses. 8,196
$265,842
Neat cattle 17,683
120,618
Mules and asses 690
27,349
Sheep
9,358
9,410
Hogs 47,483
102,807
Carriages and wagons
3,069
68,143
Clocks and watches
2,938
8,801
Pianos.
21
1,854
Goods and merchandise
66,667
Bankers' brokers' and stock jobbers'
property 30
Manufactured articles 6,306
Moneys and credits 134,426
Bonds, stocks, etc.
470
Unenumerated property 118,015
Aggregate. $930,738
Deductions 45,910
Total value of personal property ... $884,828
Railroad property ... ... $400,543
Lands, exclusive of town
lots 2,307,565
Town Lots
447,265
Total value of real property ... $3,155,373
Total valuation of real and
personal property ... .$4,040,201
Total tax levied 37,865.75
Acres in cultivation : wheat, 35,589 ; corn, 78,945 ; other products, 15,585.
1865.
Value of land exclusive of town
$2,514,854
Value of town lots.
523,888
railroad property. 183,137
etc. personal prop'ty,stock,
1,419,560
Total valuation of the county .. $4,641,439
1868.
Value of lands exclusive of town lots. $3,260,872
'Value of town lots.
66
738,463
railroad property.
306,793
personal property.
1,575,402
Total valuation of the county $5,881,530
1871.
Value of lands exclusive of town lots .. $2,812,610
Value of town lots.
438,689
66
railroad property.
350,308
66
personal property
742,678
Total value of property. $4,342,276
1873.
Value of lands
$10,721,833
town lots.
1,781,116
66
railroad
1,890,838
66
personal property
4,413,028
Total valuation of the county.$18,516,815
1875.
Value of farm lands, etc.
$8,817,400
town lots.
1,620,250
" railroad property.
738,862
66
" personal property
1,935,082
Total valuation of the county .. $14,947,390
1876.
Value of farm lands, etc. $8,532,325
town lots 1,493,394
66
" personal property
3,678,798
66
railroad property.
738,852
Total valuation of the county .. $14,443,379
1882.
Lands, except town lots $5,609,000
Town property. 1,025,087
Railroad property. 1,198
Personal property
2,634,434
Total assessed valuation $9,269,459 lots,
1884.
Lands, outside of town lots $5,193,116
Town and city lots. 1,079,505
Personal property 2,312,756
Railroad property
582,242
Total $9,167,619
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59
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
As will be observed, there is a vast on the basis of from one-third to one- fifth cash value, but that year was inaug- urated the present plan of making the increase in 1873, but this is readily ac- counted for by understanding that prior to that year the assessments were made , assessment on an estimated cash value.
a
CHAPTER III. -
GEOLOGY.
No apology is necessary for the quo- tation of the following article on the geology of McDonough county, from the report of A. H. Worthen, state geolo- gist. No man was more thoroughly conversant with the subject, or so able to treat of a matter which he had so ex- haustively investigated. No history of the county would be complete without it, and no one so qualified to give it as he:
. The geological formations appearing at the surface in this county comprise the quaternary, including the loess and drift; the lower portions of the coal measure, including the three lowest seams of coal; and the St. Louis and Keokuk divisions of the lower carboni- ferous limestones.
The entire area of this county, except the valleys of the streams, is covered with beds of quaternary age, ranging from thirty to a hundred feet or more in thickness, and presenting the same gen- eral features that have been given as characteristics of this formation in the reports of the adjoining counties. Good
1
natural exposures of these are but rarely found here, and the observer is com- pelled to rely mainly on such informa- tion as can be obtained from the well diggers, or others engaged in surface excavations, as to their thickness and - general character. In the railroad cut on the north bank of Crooked creek, just below Colmar, the following section of quaternary beds was seen: Soil 1 to 2 feet. Ash colored marley clay (loess) ... 8 to 10 " Reddish brown clay .. 5 4 Sand and gravel, partially strati- fied. 15 to 20 "
This exposure is considerably below the general level of the prairie, and the beds seem to have been subjected to some shifting process since its original deposition, giving to it the general char- acteristics of "modified drift." In the shafts of Colchester the drift clays gen- erally range from thirty-five to forty feet in thickness, and consist of buff or brown clays, with gravel and boulders, passing downward at some points into blue clays, or "hard pan." Boulders of metamorphic rocks, of various kinds,
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60
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
and of all sizes up to a diameter of two or three feet, are scattered in con- siderable numbers in all the gulches and streams that cut through the drift beds, and are most abundant in the lower part of the drift deposits. No indication of the presence of an ancient soil under- neath either the loess or drift, was seen at any of the points visited in this county; nor did we learn that it had been observed by any one else. The wells are seldom sunk to the bottom of the drift, and hence afford no indications of what may underlie the boulder clays. At Bushnell a boring for coal passed through 112 feet of these quaternary deposits before reaching the bed rocks, in the following order:
Feet
No. 1. Soil 2
No. 2. Yellow clay 12
No. 3. Sand 2 No. 4. Blue boulder clay 61 No. 5. Blue and yellow sand 35
Total 112
This is probably twice as much as the average thickness of the deposits in this county-the drill having evidently pene- trated an old valley, where from 60 to 70 feet of coal measure strata had been removed by erosion, and the valley thus formed subsequently filled with the transported material. The average thickness of the drift deposits probably does not exceed 50 feet.
COAL MEASURES. .
All the uplands in the county are un- derlaid by the coal measures except a limited area on Crooked creek, in the southwestern corner of the county, em- bracing nearly the whole of township 4
north, range 4 west (Lamoine), and the southwestern portion of township 5 north, range 4 west (Tennessee). The beds composing the lower portions of the coal measures, as they are developed in this county, give the following sec- tions:
Feet.
No. 1. Sandstone and sandy shales, partly ferruginous. 20 to 30
No. 2. Band of calcareous shale, with lentic- ular masses of dark blue limestone containing Cardiomorpha Missou- · riensis 2
to 3
No. 3. Coal No. 3 2 to 3
No. 4. Sandy shale and soft sandstone .... .35 to 40
No. 5. Bluish clay shale. filled with fossil ferns. 1/2 to 2
No. 6. Coal No. 2. 2
to 21/2
No. 7. Bituminous fire clay
No. 8. Gray clay shale 6
No. 9. Septaria limestone 3
No. 10. Variegated shales, purple, yellow and blue . 18 to 20
No. 11. Sandstone passing locally into
shale 10
No. 12. Coal No. 1. sometimes replaced with
to 15 slate or blue shale 1
to 3 No. 13. Fire clay, sometimes replaced by sandy shale 2 to 3
No. 14. Quartzose sandstone, conglomerate 5 to 20
These beds have a maximum thickness of about 150 feet, and consequently a boring anywhere in the county, carried down to a depth of two hundred feet from the surface, would pass entirely through the coal measures, and determine the amount of coal that could be found at that point. No coal seam is worked at the present time, except No, 2, or the Colchester coal; and it seemed to us quite probable that neither 1 nor 3 is developed in the county so as to be of any value to the industrial interests of its people. In the vicinity of Colchester, limestone and calcareous shale usually found above coal No. 3. out-crops in the brakes of the ravines west of the town, but no indications of the presence of coal was seen. The concretionary or
61
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
lenticular masses of dark blue limestone were found quite abundant here, and they afforded Cardiomorpha, Missouri- ensis in great numbers, associated with Discina nitida, Productus muricatus P. Prattenianus, Pleurotomaria sphær- ulata, Aviculopecten rectalaterarea, two or three species of small Goniatites, fos- sil wood, and the spine of a fish Listra- canchus hystrix. We also obtained from one of these limestone concretions, asso- ciated with the fossil wood above men- tioned, a fossil fruit, shaped somewhat like an elongated pecan nut, the rela- tions of which have not yet been deter- mined. These limestone concretions have been found in Fulton and Schuyler counties overlaying coal No. 3, and af- fording most of the species of fossil shells obtained from it here; so that there seems scarcely a doubt but that it here represents the horizon of that coal. It is quite probable that in the eastern, and especially in the southeastern por- tion of the county, coal No. 3 may be found sufficiently developed to be worked to advantage. The shale and sandstone above this coal, No. 1 of the foregoing section, we only saw in the vicinity of Colchester, where about ten feet in thickness of sandy, ferruginous shales overlay the limestone concretion above. mentioned. No. 4 of the foregoing sec- tion is well exposed on the ravines lead- ing into the east fork of Crooked creek, west of Colchester, but it is everywhere a sandy shale, with some thin layers of sandstone, but affords no material of any economical value. The calcareous shale associated with the limestone in No 2 of the above section is, at some points near Colchester, quite full of small fossil
shells, among which the Spirifer plano- convexus was the most abundant, asso- ciated with S. lineatus, Chonetes meso- loba, Productus muricatus, Pleuroto- maria, Grayvillensis, a small Macro- cheilus, and fragments of a Nautilus.
No. 5 of the above section forms the roof of the Colchester coal, and is a true clay shale at the bottom, and locally quite bituminous, becoming sandy higher up, and gradually passes into the sandy shales of No. 4. It contains ironstone concretions similar to those at Mazon creek and Murphysboro, though usually not so perfectly formed, and they con- tain fossil ferns of the same species found at those localities. The shales also are filled with beautiful ferns, in a remark- ably fine state of preservation; and this locality may be reckoned as one among the best in the state for collecting these beautiful relics of an ancient vegetable world. Two specimens of fossil insects and two or three species of shells have been found associated with the fossil ferns of this locality. The following list comprises all the species of fossil plants that have been identified at Colchester to the present time: Neuropteris hirsuta, N. tenuifolia, N. rarinervis, Alethopteris aquilina, Callipteris Sullivantii, Pecop- teris squamosa, P. villosa, P. unita, P. plumosa, P. chærophylloides, Sphenop- teris irregularis, S. trifoliata, Hymeno- phyllites alatus, H. Spinosus, H. splen- dens, H. Gutbierianus, H. thallyformis, Cordaites borassifolia, C. angustifolia, Spenophyllum Schlotheimii, S. emargin- atum, S. cornutum, Annularia longifolia, A. sphenophylloides, Asterophyllites equisetiformus, Calamites ramosus, C. approximatus, C. undulatus, Selaginites
62
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
uncinnatus, S. carifolius, Lepidodendron diplotegioides, L. simplex, L. obovatum, L. gracile, Ulodendron majus, U. ellipti- cum, Lepidophloios obcordatum, Lepi- dostrobus princeps, Lepidophyllum au- riculatum, Sigillaria monostigma, Stig- maria ficoides, S. umbonata, Pinnularia capillacea, Caulopteris obtecta, C. acan- tophora, Carpolithes multistriatus. Ow- ing to the thinness of the coal, the roof shales are removed in driving the en- tries to the mines, thus affording a fine opportunity for collecting the many beautiful fossil plants that they contain. The thickness of the coal at this locality varies from twenty-four to thirty inches, and at the level of the prairie it lies from seventy-five to ninety feet below the sur- face. On all the branches west of Col- chester the coal out-crops, and is worked by tunneling into the hillsides. The city of Quincy, as well as most of the small towns along the Chicago, Burling- ton and Quincy railroad south of Bush- nell, have for many years derived their supplies of coal mainly from the Col- chester mines.
In the vicinity of Macomb the Colches- ter coal seam has not yet been found of sufficient thickness to be worked. About a mile and a half southwest of the town a thin coal out-crops above the sandstone quarries of Mr. Stewart, which I am in- clined to regard as the Colchester seam, though it is here only about one foot in thickness. This may, however, be an out-crop of the lower seam number one, but from the appearance of the sand- stone I believe it to be number two, thinned out here to about one-halfits usual thickness.
In the vicinity of Colchester a very
good sandstone is found below the coal, and from ten to fifteen feet in thickness. It is number eleven of the foregoing section. This I believe to be the equiva- lent of the sandstone at Stewart's, and the old McLean quarries near Macomb. A section of the beds exposed in the vicinity of these quarries show the fol- lowing succession of strata:
Thin coal. 1 foot.
Shaly clay. 2 feet.
Thin-bedded sandstone 1 to 6 "
Massive sandstone. 10 to 12 "
Bituminous shale (coal No. 1).
4
Carbonate of iron .:
12
Fire clay.
1/
Bituminous slate or shale.
2/3
Shale. 5
The horizon of coal number one is here occupied by bituminous shales and a six inch band of carbonate of iron. In the vicinity of Colchester, at most of the out-crops we examined, the same horizon was represented by dark blue shales (No. 12 of the section previously given) containing nodules of iron ore inclosing crystals of zinc blende. On the southwest quarter of section 24, town 5 north, range 4 west, (Tennessee ) the following beds were found exposed in connection with coal number one.
Shaly sandstone. 4 feet.
Coal No. 1.
2 4
Fire clay-not exposed
.
Shaly sandstone. 16
St. Louis limestone. 6
Although we did not find this lower coal developed at any of the · exposures examined in the vicinity of Colchester, yet it was found by Mr. Horrocks at his tile and fire-brick kiln, not more than a mile from the town, and was struck in one of the pits sunk for fire-clay. It
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63
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HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
was found to be about a foot in thickness only, and was associated with an excel- lent fire-clay, and was here about forty- five feet below coal number two. Below Horrick's brick and tile kiln on the same stream a band of ferruginous sandstone, or rather sandy iron ore, was found, about six inches in thickness, filled with fossil shells, among which a large Dis- cina was the most abundant, associated with Hemipronites crenistria, Athyris subtilita, Spirifer opimus, S. Kentuck- ensis, and some other undetermined species. This was no doubt a local deposit, and probably represents the band of iron ore occurring in Schuyler and Fulton counties, associated with coal number one. This band of iron ore oc- curs just at the junction of beds num- bered 13 and 14 of the general section of the coal-bearing strata, on a preceding page.
On section 24, town 5 north, range 4 west [Tennessee ], southwest quarter of the section, a coal seam was opened as early as 1853, when we first visited this county, on land then owned by Mr. Lowry. The coal was from eighteen inches to two feet in thickness, overlaid by a few feet of shaly sandstone. Be- low the bed -of coal there was about sixteen feet of sandstone exposed, and a short distance up the creek a con- cretionary limestone is exposed, under- lying the sandstone. This I have no doubt is the lower coal (No. 1), and will no doubt be found at many points in the county, ranging from one to three feet in thickness.
At this time coal was also dug on Mr. Thompson's place, on the northeast quarter of section 16, town 4 north,
range 3 west [Bethel]. The seam at this point was thirty inches thick, but was only exposed in the bed of the creek, with no out-crop of the associate beds. This is also, without doubt, the lower seam, as the concretionary mem- ber of the St. Louis limestone was found out-cropping on the creek a short distance below where the coal was found. On the northwest quarter of section 33, town 4 north, range 3 west [Bethel], a coal seam was opened and worked in 1858 on land then owned by J. Stone- king. The coal was worked by "strip- ping" in the bed of a small creek, and the coal ranged from eighteen to twenty inches in thickness, and was overlaid by about two feet of gray shale.
These two lower seams also out-crop on Job's creek, near Blandinsville, and have been worked from the first settle- ment of the county. They out-crop also on nearly all the tributaries on the east fork of Crooked creek, and probably underlie at least seven-eighths of the en- tire area of the county. They seldom attain a thickness of three feet, how- ever, in this portion of the state, but they are nowhere more than one hun- dred to one hundred and seventy-five feet below the surface of the general level of the prairie. No. 3, if developed anywhere in the county, will probably be found in the eastern range of townships, and would be the first seam reached in sinking a shaft or boring from the prai- rie level.
At Bushnell, a boring for coal at the steam mill passed through the following beds, as represented by those in charge of the work:
64
HISTORY OF MCDONOUGH COUNTY.
1. Soil
2
feet.
8. Hard rock (limestone). 11
feet.
2. Yellow clay 12
66
9. Shale.
4
3. Sand 2
10. White flint
1
66
4. Blue clay with boulders 61
5. Blue and yellow sand. 35
12. Coal No. 1
3
66
6. Sandstone. 5
13.
Fire clay 612
7. Clay shale
11%
8. Black shale. 112
15. Clay shale 8
16. Sandstone 4
66
17. Dark gray shale. 8
18. Clay shale (light colored). 14
19. Limestone (St. Louis bed) 441%
227
In the foregoing sections the beds numbered from 2 to 18 inclusive belong to the Coal Measures, and include the two lower coals. No. 19 is undoubtedly the St. Louis limestone which outcrops on Spoon river just below Seaville, about eight miles east, of Prairie City. At Lawrence's mound, at an elevation considerably above the surface where the above boring was made, a coal seam three feet in thickness was found in digging a well, which was probably No. 3, occurring here as an outlier left by the denuding forces which swept it away from the surrounding region. It lay im- mediately below the drift, with no roof but gravel, and covered but a limited area of ground.
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