USA > Illinois > McDonough County > History of McDonough county, Illinois, its cities, towns and villages with early reminiscences, personal incidents and anecdotes and a complete business directory of the county > Part 14
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At this time coal was also dugon 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 as- sociated beds. This is also, without doubt, the lower seam, as the concretionary member 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 scam was opened and worked in 1858 on land then owned by Mr. J. Stoneking. The coal was worked by " stripping" in the bed of a small creek, and the coal ranged from eighteen to twenty inches in thickness, and was over- aid 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 settlement 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 entire area of the county. They seldom at- tain a thickness of three fect, however, in this portion of the State, but they are nowhere more than one hundred 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 prob- H-10
150
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
ably be found in the eastern range of townships, and would be the first seam reached in sinking a shaft or boring from the prairie 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 :
1. Soil 2
feet.
2. Yellow clay 12 ..
8. Sand . 2
..
4. Blue clay with boulders. 61
5. Blue and yellow sand 35 ..
5
7. Clay shale.
11/
8. Black shale 72 ..
9. Gray shale. 34
10. Limestone 9
11. Shale 1
163
The beds numbered 1 to 5 inclusive belong to the drift, and show an aggregate thickness of one hundred and twelve feet, in- dicating the existence of an old valley here, in which the Coal Measures have been cut away down to a point below the horizon of the Colchester coal, and which was subsequently filled with drift deposits, and consequently that coal which should have been found at a depth of fifty to seventy feet below the surface at this point, was not met with at all. The limestone No. 10 of the above sections is probably the bed overlaying the Seaville coal. The extent and direction of this old valley we have no data for determining at the present time, but it is probably a lateral arm of the Spoon river valley, and most probably trends southeast- wardly into the valley of that stream. At Prairie City a boring was carried down to the depth of 222 feet, passing through the following beds, as reported by Mr. T. L. Magee :
1. Soil and drift clays. . 36
feet.
2. Clay shale or " soapstone 16 ..
3. Black shale. 115
1/
60
4. Coal No. 2
5. Fire clay . 4
6. Shale and sandstone 12
7. Clay shale
38 ..
8. Hard rock (limestone)
11 ..
9. Shale.
4
10. White flint.
1
11. Coal No. 1
3
..
13. Fire clay
615
..
14. Hard rock
5
15. Clay shale
8
16. Sandstone.
4
17. Dark gray shale.
8
..
18. Clay shale (light colored).
14
6.
19. Limestone (St. Louis bed). 4413 6.
222
..
11. Shale. 10 ..
G. Sandstone ..
151
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
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 out- crops 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 immediately below the drift, with no roof but gravel, and covered but a limited area of ground.
At Macomb, a boring, carried to the depth of about 160 feet, failed to find any coal of sufficient thickness to be of any econo- mical value. From these experiments, it would seem that the lower coals in this county are not very uniform in their develop- ment, and probably neither No. 1 nor No. 3 will be found over any considerable area thick enough to be worked to advantage, while No. 2 is also too thin to be worked at some points, though it may be considered the most persistent and reliable seam to be found in this county.
St. Louis Limestone .- This division of the Lower Carboniferous series is probably nowhere in this county more than fifty feet in thickness, and consists, first, of a bed of light-gray concretionary or brecciated limestone, laying immediately below the lower sandstone of the Coal Measures; and secondly, of a magnesian limestone and some blue shales or calcareous sandstones, con- stituting what is sometimes called the " Warsaw limestone." On the east fork of Crooked creek, a little north of west from Colchester, the following sections of these limestones may be seen : No. 1 Brecciated light-grey limestone. 5 to 20 feet.
No. 2 Calcareous sandstone, in regular beds. 12 . No. 3 Bluish shale. 3 .
The magnesian bed, which usually forms the base of this group, is below the surface here and generally ranges from eight to ten feet in thickness. The brecciated limestone is very unevenly developed, and often varies in thickness in a short distance from five to twenty feet or more. It rarely affords any fossils ex- cept the common corals Lithostrotion, canadense and L. pro- liferum, silicious specimens of which are often found weathered out along the creeks where this limestone out-crops. No fossils were seen in the calcareous sandstone, but the magnesian lime-
152
IHISTORY OF M'DONOUGHI COUNTY.
stone that out-crops lower down on the creek, and underlies the blue shale in the above section, usually contains a variety of Bry- ozoans, among which are the Archimides Wortheni, Polypora Varsociense, Semicoscinium, Keyserlingi, etc.
Keokuk Limestone-This is the lowest rock exposed in the county, and is only found along the bluffs of Crooked creek, in townships 4 and 5 range 4 west (Lamoin and Tennessee). The upper part of this formation is usually a bluish calcareo argillaceous shale, containing silicious geodes either filled with a mass of crystaline quartz, or hollow and lined within quartz crystals, mammillary chalcedony, calcite and dolomite. Below this geode bed there is usually from thirty to forty feet of cherty gray limestone, the layers varying in thickness from a few inches to two feet or more, and separated by partings of shale. The limestone beds consist mainly of the remains of organic beings, the corals, the crinoids, and mollusca that swarmed in countless numbers in the primeval oceau; and the old quarries of limestone afford a rich field for the student wbo desires to become fully acquainted with the varied and peculiar organic forms of this period. South of Colmar the grade of the C., B. & Q. railroad cuts into the upper part of this limestone to the depth of several feet, and from the material thrown out from this cut we obtained many specimens of the characteristic fossils of this limestone in an excellent state of pres- ervation. The upper layers of the limestone had been freely ex- posed to the erosive action of the water during the drift period, and many of the silicious fossils were found completely weathered ont from the shaly limestones, and in a most perfect state of pres- ervation. Among the fossils found at this locality were many specimens of Laphrentis dalii, Spirifer Keokuk, S. lineatus, S. sub-orbicularis, Agaricocrinus, Americanus, Actinocrinus bi-tur- binatus, Cyathocrinus stellatus, Archimides, Owenana, Hemipro- nites crenistria, Phillipsia, Portlockii, several species of fish teeth, etc. The lower portion of this limestone is usually below the level of the creek bottoms, but the upper portion is well exposed on the main creek in township 4 north, range 4 west (Lamoine), and on the east fork in township 5 north, range 4 west (Tennessee). In the region south of Colmar the geodiferous shales and the St. Louis limestone have all been removed by denudation before the depost of the drift, and the boulder clays now rest directly upon the upper part of the Keokuk limestone. A complete section of
153
IHISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY
all the limestones below the coal measures in this county would show the following order of succession and thickness : Light gray brecciated limestone. 5 to 20 feet.
Calcareous sandstone. . 12 +
Magnesian limestone and shale. 10 to 12 .
Geodiferous shales of the Keokuk bed. 20 to 30 "
Light gray cherty limestone. .30 to 40 +
ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.
Coul .- As may be seen from a perusal of the foregoing pages, a large portion of this county is underlaid with coal, and although the seams that are found here are much thinner than some of those that outcrop in Schuyler and Fulton counties, yet they have not only furnished an abundant supply of coal for home consumption, but for many years have furnished many thousands of tons annu- ally for shipment south and west to the adjoining counties. The shipment from Colchester alone for the years 1866 and '67 was about 500,000 tons per annum, and the product of the mines have been constantly on the increase. The coal obtained here is of an excellent quality, if taken out at some distance from the outerop, where it has not been exposed to atmospheric influences. The coal is tolerably hard, bright, and comparatively free from pyrite, and breaks freely into cubic blocks when mined.
An analysis of this coal by Mr. Henry Pratten, as reported in Dr. Norwood's " Analysis of Illinois Coals," gave the following results :
Specific gravity
1.290
Loss in coking.
41.2
Total weight of coke
58.8
100.0
ANALYSIS.
Moisture
5.4
Volatile matters
35.8
Carbon in coke.
56.8
Ashes (light gray).
2.0
100.0
Carbon in coal. 60.10
This analysis shows this to be one of the best coals in the State, and its freedom from pyrite has always made it a favorite coal with blacksmiths of this and the adjoining counties. The coal from the lower seam is usually harder than that from the Col- chester seam, and less uniform in quality. Its thickness is also more variable and frequently the coal is wanting altogether, and
154
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
its place occupied by bituminous shales. Nevertheless, it some- times attains a thickness of three feet, as at Seaville, in Fulton county, and the coal obtained there is of a fair quality. It is quite probable that this seam may be found in some of the eastern townships in this county as thick as it is at Seaville, and if so, it. might be worked to advantage, as its depth below the surface would probably nowhere exceed two hundred feet.
No. 3, if found at all in this county, would be met with in the uppermost layers of the bed rock, and immediately underneath the boulder clays, except at a few points, where it might be over- laid by a few feet of sandstone or sandy shale. It is less persist- ent in its development, however, than either of those below it, but its proper horizon may be readily recognized by the dark blue limestone and bituminous shales that are nearly always present, even when there is no development of the coal itself.
A boring carried down to the depth of two hundred feet would probably pass entirely through the Coal Measures in any portion of the county, and in the western part the subordinate lime- stone would be reached at a depth of one hundred and fifty feet or less, when the light gray brecciated limestone of the St. Louis group is reached, it is useless to bore further in search of coal, and this limestone is so decidedly different in its appearance from any of the limestones in the lower part of the Coal Meas- ures, that an expert would find no difficulty in identifying it, even by the smallest fragments taken up by the sand pump. Hence it forms a reliable guide, both where it out-crops and where it may be reached by the drill, and determines the point below which no coal can be found.
Fire-Clay .- The fire-clay under the Colchester coal has been used by Mr. Horrocks, at his kiln west of the town, for the man- ufacture of drain tile, fire-brick, etc., but recently he has obtained a better quality of fire-clay by sinking a shallow shaft down to the lower or No. 1 coal, which, at his kiln, is about forty-five feet below the Colchester seam. The horizon of this lower coal fur- nishes an excellent article of fire and potter's elay in various por- tions of the State, and it may, no doubt, be found at many points in this county, besides the one where it is at present worked.
Iron Ore .- There is a band of iron ore, very generally devel- oped in connection with coal No. 1, and indications of its presence were observed at several points in this county, though not in suf-
155
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
ficient quantity to justify an attempt to work it at the present time. On the creek below Horrock's brick kiln it is about six inches thick, but too sandy to be of much value, even if the quantity was greater. On the creek west of Macomb, a band of very pure iron ore occurs, about six inches thick, and it is quite probable it may be found somewhere in the county of sufficient thickness to be of some economical importance. In Schuyler county, there are two or three bands of ore associated with the same coal, attaining there an aggregate thickness of about two feet, and yielding on analysis about 52 per cent. of protoxide of iron. The ore is au argillaceous carbonate of iron, and compares favorably in quality with the best Pennsylvania ores.
On Mr. D. C. Flint's place in Mound township, a deposit of bog iron ore of good quality is found, which is reported to be sev- eral feet in thickness, but the area covered by it has not been as- certained. Should it prove sufficiently extensive and pure as the sample sent to my office, it is a valuable deposit.
Building Stone .- The central and the western portions of the county have an abundant supply of free stone from the sandstone bed intervening between coals No. 1 and 2. This is usually from ten to twelve feet in thickness, the upper part thin-bedded and quarrying out in thin, even slabs, suitable for flags, while the lower part is quite massive, and splits evenly. At Stewart's quar- ries, two miles west of Macomb, there is about twelve feet in thickness exposed in the face of the quarry. The rock is a rath- er coarse grained sandstone, nearly white in color, and furnishes a very durable material for foundation walls, and is also easily cut and may be advantageously used for all ordinary architectural purposes.
At these quarries the rock is very massive, but at the old Me- Lean quarries, about a half a mile to the westward of Stewart's, the sandstone is more regularly bedded, the layers varying from four to twelve inches or more in thickness. This sandstone is equivalent of that on the T., P. and W. Railroad west of Seaville, in Fulton county, and is very similar in quality. Some of the beds seem to be sufficiently even-textured for grindstones. The magnesian and arenaceous beds of the St. Louis group will afford the best material for culverts and bridge abutments that can be found in the State, as they are scarcely at all affected by the action of frost and moisture. The gray limestones of the Keokuk series
156
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
make a durable building stone if protected from water, but split to fragments on exposure to ordinary atmospheric agencies. The brecciated limestone will make an excellent macadamizing mate- rial for the construction of turnpike roads, or for ballasting our railroads.
Limestone for Lime .- Good limestone for burning into quick- lime may be obtained from the lower division of the Keokuk, and from the brecciated bed of the St. Louis group. Where the former is used, it should be selected with some care, as a portion of the beds contain too large a per cent. of argillaceous or silicious matter to slack readily when burned, and would yield only an inferior quality of lime. The light gray semi-crystalline layers are the best for this purpose, and will make a quicklime of good quality. The breeciated limestone is, however, in many respects the best rock in the county for this purpose, as it is usually a nearly pure carbonate of lime in its composition and can be burned at less expense, and makes a quicklime of superior quality. This limestone may be found on most of the tributaries of Crooked creek, and on the east fork as far north as the vicinity of Colchester.
Sand and Clay for Brick .- The sub-soil, where it is predicated upon the marly beds of the loess, supplies these materials in nearly the right proportion for the brick yard ; and when defi- cient in sand, this may be easily supplied either from the creek bottoms or sandy beds interstratified with the drift clays. These materials are so universally distributed that there is scarcely a neighborhood in the county where they may not be readily found at hand.
Soil and Agriculture .- There is not much variety in the general character of the soils in this county, and there is no considerable portion of its surface that will not bring good crops of the various cereals usually cultivated in this latitude, without other stimulants than those contained in the soil itself. The prairie soil is a dark, chocolate-colored loam, appearing nearly black when wet, and produces excellent crops of corn, wheat, oats, barley and grass, and where a proper rotation of crops has been the rule, no per- ceptible decrease in the annual product has been observed, even on lands that have been under constant cultivation for the last twenty-five or thirty years. The timbered lands are generally confined to the creek valleys, and broken ridges adjacent thereto.
157
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
The soil on these timbered ridges is usually thin, but they are excellent fruit lands, and will produce fair crops of wheat, oats and clover, but they require manuring if subjected to long con- tinued cultivation. These thin soils are predicated upon the boul- der clays, and the timber growth is mainly black and white oak and hickory; and their uneven surface does not retain the vege- table and animal matters that are annually deposited upon them, but on the contrary, these are swept away by the annual rains into the adjacent valleys, while on the level prairies they are re- tained, and add from year to year their fertilizing properties to the soil. The bottom lands on Crooked creek are very limited in extent, and are mostly subject to overflow. They afford some fine timber, the varieties of which have been enumerated on a pre- ceding page.
158
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
CHAPTER XV.
TEMPERANCE.
MeDonough county, like every other organized territory, has had its "temperance revivals," its seasons of drunkenness and seasons of sobriety. As stated in the first part of this work, one of the first acts of our Board of County Commissioners was the licensing of taverns, places where intoxicating liquors might be sold. Then, everybody drank ; not to do so, was to set yourself above your neighbor and become his judge, a state of things which was not to be encouraged. When the first barrel of whisky was brought to Macomb there were but two ministers of the gos- pel residing in the place, and both got "gloriously drunk " when it was tapped. The first license was granted to a preacher, and for years this class took their toddy along with other folks. Notwithstanding we are told now that whisky in those days was very pure, it made a surprising number of drunkards, and when the Washingtonian movement swept over the country it is not to be wondered at that this county was struck by a huge wave and driven along with the tide.
In the winter of 1841-42, two gentlemen from Quincy, Illinois, came to the county seat, proclaiming themselves missionaries of this movement, secured the Methodist Episcopal church for lec- turing purposes. On the first evening of meeting a large concourse of people assembled to hear what they had to say, as they seemed to be setters-forth of a new doctrine, strange to their ears. A chairman was desired for the occasion, and with great difficulty one was obtained, and he only on the promise made him by the speakers that they would not urge him personally to sign the pledge. The speakers held forth to a wondering audience, keep- ing them alternately laughing and crying, as the ludicrous or sorrowful side of the drunkard's life was portrayed. At the con-
159
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
clusion of the addresses, those who desired to do so were invited to sign the pledge. The chairman of the meeting was the first to affix his name to the document, followed by many others, some of whom, we know, have been consistent temperance men ever since.
Open temperance organizations were wholly adopted for carry- ing on the temperance work until the year 1848, when a charter was obtained for a Division of the Sons of Temperance, at Ma .- comb, an organization which at that time was being extensively introduced all over the country. This was a secret organization, composed of males eighteen years old and upwards. In a short time this organization had its Divisions all over the county, two very strong ones existing in Macomb at the same time. In the latter place, in conjunction with two other parties, these Divis- ious erected what at that time was regarded as a very fine build- ing, on the south side of the square, the lower part to be used as store rooms, and the upper part as a hall for the meetings of the Divisions. From some cause the Divisions weakened and soon sus- pended, their hall was sold, and in a few short years that which was erected for the purpose of advancing the interests of temper- ance and morality was converted into a den for making drunkards.
When the Sons of Temperance began to wane, the Good Tem- plars sprang into existence, and, in this county at one time, we believe, there were eighteen or twenty lodges, with a membership of nearly two thousand. This order differed from the Sons of Temperance in that it admitted both men and women, receiving as members all above the age of fifteen years. A good work was accomplished by them, the effects of which will last throughout eternity.
Other organizations have existed at times, both open and secret, each working with some effeet in its peculiar field of labor. Con- nected with the Sons of Temperance was the Daughters of Tem- perance, designed for the wives and daughters of the Sons ; also the Cadets of Temperance, for youths. The Temple of Honor also flourished for awhile. This was an organization combining the benevolent features of the Odd Fellows and Masons, with temperance as a cardinal virtue. The Good Templars for awhile had under their control a very effective juvenile organization, called the Cold Water Templars, which instilled temperance prin- ciples in the minds of many children, which, it is hoped, will be as lasting as eternity. Various other temperance organizations have
160
HISTORY OF M'DONOUGH COUNTY.
existed at different times and in different places, each endeavoring to accomplish a special work.
In 1854 the temperance men ran a candidate for member of the Legislature, Hon. L. H. Waters, who was elected by a small majority. This, we believe, is the only instance where a candi- date was ever put forward by temperance men for a general office. For a number of years past, in our cities and towns, the temper- ance men have either put forward recognized temperance men for the local offices, and voted for them as such, or have been content to vote direct upon the question of license or no license, allowing the political parties of the day to nominate such men as they chose, while pledging them to carry out the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.
Although intemperance exists among us to an ordinary extent, in common with the rest of the country, we know it has greatly decreased within the last thirty years. We do not believe that, according to population, there are one-fourth as many drunkards in our midst as there were at an early day. This leads us further to declare we do not believe the efforts put forth by temperance people have been a failure in times past. That organizations have lived and flourished for awhile and then gone down, prove no- thing. All these organizations are but human instrumentalities, and are brought forth by the necessities of the hour. Their de- sign is to accomplish a certain purpose apparent at the time. It is not to be expected that they will be as enduring as the hills, or like the church, so strong that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against them." If they shall accomplish a good work for the time being, well and good. If it is found there is a radical defect in their organizations necessitating change, let it be made, and let let us not imagine, because they are defective and have not accom- plished all the good their most sanguine supporters anticipated, that nothing has been done. All over the country can be found sober, honest, and good men, who, but for the efforts put forth by the members of some temperance organization that has ceased to exist, would now fill a drunkard's grave. Then, we would bid God-speed to every effort of temperance men and women, know- ing that as temperance increases our country will become more and more prosperous.
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