USA > Illinois > Mercer County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 68
USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 68
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JOHN MORRIS was born in Somersetshire, England. May 27, 1816. His father and family came to America in 1840, arriving at New York on July 3. They came to Ohio, where the subject of this sketch bought a farm near Cleveland. On March 1, 1847, he was married to Miss Emeline C. Hicks, at Zanesville. In 1851 Mr. Morris and family came to Illinois, by way of the lakes to Chicago, and thenee by teams to Mercer county, locating near Keithsburg. His father died here in 1856. in his sixty-eighth year. After residing in Mercer county five years. Mr. Morris moved to Warren county, but again returned to Mereer in 1865, and bought a farm in section 9 in Greene township. to which he has added, by purchase, other land in the vicinity of Viola. Their children, named in the order of their ages, are: Vic- toria M., Edwin and Edmond (who are twins), George W., Clara, Eugene (deceased), Elwood J., Ida S., and Cora M .: besides the above named, three sons and one daughter have been buried in infancy.
A. B. Frazier
70
COMPANY E, NINTII REGIMENT.
COMPANY E, NINTH REGIMEMT.
The Ninth Illinois Regiment was one of the six regiments organ- ized at Springfield for the three months' service. The regiment was mustered into service April 28, 1861, and ordered to Cairo, where it remained during the three months' service in the brigade commanded by Bridadier G. M. Prentiss.
July 26 the regiment was mustered into the three years' service by Capt. Pitcher, U.S.A. About 500 of the three months' men re-enlisted for three years, and on September 1, 1861, the regiment numbered 1040. September 5, 1861, the regiment was ordered to Paducah, where it passed the winter. During the winter expeditions were made to Milburn, Mayfield, Viola, Calloway Landing, and elsewhere in Kentucky. Three hundred men of the ninth, under command of Maj. Jesse J. Phillips, surprised and attacked a force of 200 rebel cavalry at Saratoga, Lyon county, Kentucky, killing eight, wounding several. and taking thirty-six prisioners, besides many horses and equipments.
On February 5, 1862, the regiment moved up the Tennessee river to Fort Henry, and was in the 1st Brig., 2d Div., Army of the Ten- nessee, Col. John McArthur commanding the brigade and Gen. C. F. Smith commanding the division. The brigade moved up the left bank of the Tennessee river, driving the rebels from Fort Heiman and cap- turing all camp equipages and stores there. February 12 they moved to Fort Donelson, and were engaged in that battle with eight com- panies, sustaining a loss of 35 killed, 166 wounded and 6 prisoners. The part taken in this action by Col. McArthur's brigade, of which this regiment formed a part, has no place in any official report of that action. His brigade, which formed a part of Gen. Smith's division, was detached to the support of the first division, commanded by Brig. Gen. McClernand, and was engaged on the right of our army during the fighting of Saturday, February 15, where most of the severe fight- ing took place.
February 22 they moved up the Cumberland river and occupied Clarksville. February 27 they moved to Nashville, and returned March 1. March 6 they embarked for Paducah and up the Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing, where they disembarked March 19. The regi- ment was engaged at the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, and sustained a loss on the 6th of 61 killed, 287 wounded and two prisoners. Out of the twenty-six officers of field, staff and line, twenty-one were killed or wounded. The second brigade was commanded by Brig .- Gen. John McArthur and the division by Brig .- Gen. W. H. L. Wallace.
40
702
IHISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
During the advance upon Corinth the brigade was commanded by Brig .- Gen. J. R. Oglesby and the division by Brig .- Gen. Thomas A. Davies. On the evacuation of Corinth the division, attached to the third army corps (Maj .- Gen. John Pope commanding), pursued the re- treating enemy to Booneville, twenty-five miles south. They remained in camp at Corinth from Jure 13 to August 16, and at Rienzi, fifteen miles south of Corinth, until October 1. The brigade was engaged at the battle of Corinth, October 3 and 4, and sustained a loss of nine- teen killed, eighty-two wounded and fifty-two prisoners. After the engagement the regiment was ordered, one battalion to Danville and one to Rienzi, from whence they were ordered to Corinth November 27. December 13 the regiment was ordered out on a reconnoissance to Gemtown, Saltillo, Tupelo, and Marietta, Mississippi. The brigade (9th reg. Ill. Vol. Inf., 81st Ohio Inf., 1st batt. Stewart's Ill. Cav., and two guns of Tanrath's battery), commanded by Col. Aug. Mersey, captured seventy-eight prisoners and a large number of horses and mules.
As originally organized, Alexander G. Hawes, of Belleville, was captain of Co. E, which was largely raised in Mercer county. William D. Craig, of Aledo, was first lieutenant, and Roswell B. Patterson, of Belleville, was second lieutenant. The first and last named served in their respective offices until the experiation of their terms in 1864. Wm. D. Craig was promoted June 8, 1862, to the office of first assist- ant surgeon, and retained that position until the expiration of his term, Angust 20, 1864.
Near the expiration of their term, the regiment was reorganized and consolidated, and Thomas C. Kidd, of Springfield, was chosen captain of Co. E, Thomas F. McClintock, of Aledo, first lieutenant, and Wm. P. Reese, second lieutenant. David D. Bigger, of Henderson, was surgeon ; Charles B. Fleming, of Keithsburg, was second lieutenant of Co. A, and was afterward promoted to first lieutenant. For some time before and after the consolidation, the regiment followed the fortunes of Sherman's bummers, as they were styled, through to Savannah. and northı through the Carolinas. In all the 9th is credited with being in 110 battles and skirmishes. Thirteen of Mercer county's best citizens, members of Co. E, gave their lives as a sacrifice for their country's salvation.
703
COMPANY (, TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY.
COMPANY C, TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY.
This company was made up largely of men from Millersburg and vicinity. The rest of the company was from Bond county. It was organized August 23, 1861, and mustered into service the same day. George W. Keener, of Bond county, was elected captain, Thomas L. Vest, of the same county, first lieutenant, and James A. Dugger, of Millersburg, second lieutenant. Dugger was, upon the resignation of the captain, and again of the first lieutenant, promoted to each posi- tion, and in the office of captain he was serving when he was killed, July 16, 1863. James H. Comer, of Millersburg, served awhile as second lieutenant, and James Manies and John McAllister, of the same place, each served as first lieutenant. This company was, how- ever, considered a Bond county company, and in the main was officered by men from that county. Seventeen members, formerly residents of Mercer county, were either killed or met their death from disease contracted in the army.
The 26th regiment was partially organized at Camp Butler, August 31, 1861, and were ordered to Quincy for the protection of that place. Their first arms were as primitive as could be desired, being simply hickory clubs. During the latter part of the year they changed their munitions of war to something but little better, the old English mus- ket. These did quite well, however, as they were not called upon to put them into active use until three other companies (the original num- ber being seven) were added. The marches, engagements, skirmishes and privations, from that time forth, were all that the most heoric could desire. At New Madrid the regiment was first engaged, after which Fort Pillow, siege of Corinth (Co. G of this regiment being the first to enter after evacuation), Iuka, siege of Jackson (where Captain Dugger was killed), Mission Ridge, were scenes of conflict in which the regiment was engaged. At the last named place the regiment suffered greatly, losing in killed and wounded one-tenth of the regi- ment. On June 1, 1864, there were only 515 men present ready for duty, of whom 463 re-enlisted as veterans. After a home furlough the regiment went on the Atlanta campaign, thence to Savannah, and finally through the Carolinas, and participated in the grand review at Washington. The general features of the marches and engagements are so fully given in this book, in the course of other regiments, that details and repetition are not considered advisable at this time.
704
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
PREEMPTION TOWNSHIP.
Than the township of Preemption, as the traveler now beholds it, it would be hard indeed to conceive a place which affords scenes of greater beauty, homes indicative of more thrift, or resources more avail- able and giving stronger assurance of wealth and luxury ; so diversi- fied is its surface, so various its products. In the north are broad, fer- tile prairies, occupied by prosperous farmers, who have expended no little money in beautifying their homes. Indeed, the gently undulat- ing prairies invite irresistably to expend time and taste in ornamenta- tion, so fully do they reveal and enhance every touch of beauty given them. They have accordingly been studded with fine residences, set amidst ornamental trees and shrubs and full-blooming orchards ; their rich acres enclosed with neatly trimmed hedges, whose dark-green con- trasts harmoniously with the broad fields of waving grain.
In the south the surface is sharply broken and covered in places with a heavy growth of jack-oak and hazel, but well adapted to pur- poses of grazing. Here also are found large quantities of excellent coal and building stone. The Edwards river affords perfect drainage to the entire township, besides adding to its varied beauty of scenery by the deep gorges and precipitous ravines cut by its numerous tribut- aries.
Very different, but scarcely less beautiful, must have been this favored section when, in 1835, JJohn Farlow and Hopkins Boone, in short succession, with their families, entered and set about preparing homes. Then the prairie stretched away to the north, brightened with the gorgeous hues of native flowers ; about him was the deep silence of a large white oak forest and all the rudeness and lonliness of the un- trodden wilderness. At their doors flowed the beautiful but treacher- ons Edwards river, its banks now rising rough and precipitous, now spreading out into broad, fertile bottoms. Instead of the busy sounds of labor, the cheerful voices of friendly neighbors, were heard the howl of the wolf, the cry of the wild-cat, the hateful rattle of the rattlesnake. Instead of herds of cattle, deer roamed the prairies and started from the thickets ; instead of the cries of domestic fowl were heard the whir of the grouse's wing, the whistle of the quail, and the call of the wild turkey, while multitudes of geese and ducks covered the ponds in the bottoms of the Edwards river. Yet with all its rudeness, its beauty and promise must have foreshadowed to the mind of the pioneer the present prosperity and wealth of Preemption township. For nearly a year John Farlow and Hopkins Boone had no neighbors, there being
705
PREEMPTION TOWNSHIP.
no family between them and Rock river on the north, and but one between them and Monmouth on the south.
In the following spring there came into the settlement, with their families, Rev. John Montgomery, a Presbyterian minister, and James Boone, from Pennsylvania, and from Indiana, Gabriel Barkley, Christopher Miller and Rev. Joseph Jones, a Baptist preacher. But they were still isolated from any considerable settlement, for there was no road, the only line of communication being an Indian trail leading from Monmouth to Rock Island, which could be traveled only on foot or on horseback; there was no postoffice, no convenient market, no mill. But this state of affairs did not long continue ; the natural ad- vantages of the location attracted settlers and the increasing population and production demanded increased facilities for the transfer of emi- grants and the transportation of erops to market.
In 1832 a road had been laid out from Beardstown to Galena, fol- lowing the main route to the lead mines located at the latter place. This road, however, was impassable by wagons on account of the river banks being so cut out by the swift currents of the streams, until in 1837 the county built across the Edwards river, on section 34, a trestle bridge, covered with oak plank. The only other regularly laid out road previous to 1840 was the state road, leading from New Boston, Mercer county, to a town in Henry county, now defunct, named Rich- mond.
In 1838 there came into the northern part of the township Benjamin Clarke, David Little, John Beirbean, and Charles Minick, settling on section 1 and 2, and E. J. Farwell, on section 14. Only those who went through the trials of these early times can appreciate their se- verity. Now railroads intersect the county in various directions ; hard roads and good bridges make stations easily accessible ; mercantile enterprise brings the products of the best mills and factories to one's very doors. Not so at the early days of which we write. Then the settler must go long distances to mill with his grist, and there wait his turn to have it ground. The particular settlers of whom we write, were obliged to go to Monmouth to mill, fording on their way both the Pope creek and the Edwards river. To market their produce they must go miles away over the prairies to New Boston, or to the town of Stevenson, now Rock Island. Had the prices of their crops brought been proportionate to the labor of getting them to market, or had the cost of the necessaries of life been correspondingly low, their hard- ships, though still great, would have been much relieved. Unfortun- ately, neither condition existed ; witness the following schedule of prices : Wheat, twenty-five cents per bushel, to be paid for in goods
706
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
(at what prices we shall presently see) : corn, if one could sell at all. ten cents per bushel : dressed hogs weighing 200 pounds and upward. $1.50 per hundred ; hogs of lighter weight at a less price. Mr. Boone relates, as a fair illustration, this incident : learning that a certain merchant at Andalusia, Iowa, was paying $2 per hundred for good dressed pork, and needing some salt, he and his hand spent a day at killing and dressing such hogs as he had ready for market. Proceed- ing by a laborious route to Andalusia, he sold his pork, 450 pounds, for $9. Recrossing the river at Davenport, to Rock Island, he bought his salt, paying therefor $9. or 450 pounds of dressed pork. In 1837 these settlers obtained a postoffice, located at the residence of Hopkins Boone. the second in the county, called the Farlow's Grove postoffice. The postage was twenty-five cents a letter, just the price of a bushel of wheat. The mail came at long intervals and irregularly, carried on horseback along the old Indian trail. As the county grew, the postal facilities increased, till now the office, removed since to the village of Preemption, receives and sends daily mails. With the growth of the farming interests, the development of the mineral resources has kept equal pace. The demand for stone has steadily increased with the population. The quarries have furnished the stone for most of the cellars and wells of the township. Shortly after the settlement of the township, coal was found cropping out in various places. It has proved to be of good quality. abundant in quantity. easily accessible. One vein is five feet in thickness. The depth of the veins below the surface varies from twenty-five to seventy-five feet. This industry has far outgrown the demands of the township and surrounding country. and the railroad. built by Mr. Cable, finds lucrative employment in conveying to other points the surplus production of this and Richland Grove township mines. This brief sketch but very insufficiently indi- cates the great resources of the township. Perhaps the best indication of what is in store for its citizens in the future will be a statement of its present wealth, acenmulated in less than a half century since the first settler pitched his tent within its limits. The population has increased to 1,410 in 1880. In 1881 the assessed value of lands was $362, 743 : of town lots, $1.170 ; of personal property. $125.164. But this can be hardly more than an earnest of what is yet to be attained here in point of wealth. Besides all this there has grown up a busy village with excel- lent buildings and enterprising merchants. The first hotel, opened by H. E. Wright in 1854, has given place to the excellent house of Mrs. Robt. Hammond. The business of blacksmith shop of Norton Griffith. established in 1853, the wagon shop, opened by W. C. Gray in 1855. has been augmented by the beautiful drug store of Dr. Jas. II. Seyler,
707
PREEMPTION TOWNSHIP.
the extensive general store of Wm. Hammond, Mr. Brigg's grocery, the large mill operated by Mr. Carver, the lumber yard, and the creamery, controlled respectively by J. E. Otto, and D. W. Little. From this list must not be omitted the name of the veteran merchant, Mr. Phillip E. Stevens, successor with Mr. Wright to Messrs. Whar- ton & Crawford, the first general merchants of the township.
The titles to the lands occupied by the early settlers upon the traet lying between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, upon the security of which depended so largely the prosperity and peace of the settlement, were not established without difficulty and the exercise of much de- cision and courage on the part of the pioneers. At the time the settlers came the land had not been offered for sale, and there were no preemption or other laws to protect the settlers in their claims and improvements. Two classes of persons sought to take advantage of this to reap profits of the frontiersman's sacrifices and labors, -the claim-jumper and the moneyed speculator. The former sought to obtain a claim upon land already occupied and improved by settling upon it; the latter by bidding against the settlers at the public land sales. This conflict of claims had been the fruitful source of serious difficulties and the occasion of some murders. To prevent any such trouble, the settlers of Preemption and some other townships formed an association for mutual protection. One of their number, Mr. Hop- kins Boone, was chosen recorder, and the claim of each settler duly recorded, according to its location on the prairie; each settler, more- over, being limited in the size of his claim to a reasonable amount of land. Previous to the sale of the lands of this township, two claims were "jumped." In both cases the settlers at once sent a committee and ordered the parties to "leave the diggins." They left. The land of Preemption township came into market October 30, 1844, the last of Mercer county to be sold. The fact that prior to this sale the set- tlers of this township held their homes under the preemption law, gave it its name- Preemption.
For voting purposes, this section belonged to the Richland Grove precinet. It is related that at the presidential election of 1836, the people of this precinet gathered to vote ; but vainly had they come, for no one knew who were the electors. Converting their disappoint- ment into a resolve that some one in the settlement must take a news- paper thereafter, they had a neighborly chat and went home. That they were so far neglected by the solicitous politician is most con- vincing proof of their complete isolation. The first election in the township was held the following year, at Hopkins Boone's residence. The township organization was effected in 1854. The officers elected
708
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
at this and the successive elections are given in the following list, furnished by the courtesy of Mr. Thomas L. Johnson, appointed, at the last town meeting, clerk. in place of Mr. R. J. Stewart, during the latter's illness :
J'ate of Election.
SUPERVISOR.
TOWN CLERK.
COLLECTOR.
ASSESSOR.
1854
David Little.
J. H. Trego
H. E. Wright.
Samuel Dow.
1855
David Little.
J. H. Trego
H. E. Wright.
Samuel Dow.
1856
David Little.
R. W. Kile ..
A. N. Hickok.
B. F. Fletcher.
1857
John Whitsitt.
J. W. Fletcher
James Connolly.
B. F. Fletcher.
1858
John Whitsitt.
P. E. Stevens
P. E. Stevens
J. S. Mathews.
1859
John Whitsitt.
J. W. Fletcher.
James Connolly.
B. F. Fletcher.
1860
John Whitsitt.
D. A. Clarke.
James Connolly
B. F. Fletcher.
1861
H. Boone.
D. A: Clarke.
James Connolly
B. F. Fletcher.
1862
H. E. Wright.
D). A. Clarke.
Robert Officer.
B. F. Fletcher.
1863
J. (. Wright.
D. A. Clarke.
James Connolly
James Connolly.
1865
A. N. Hickok
D. A. Clarke.
James Connolly
W. Bradshaw.
1866
A. N. Hickok
D. A. Clarke ..
James Connolly
W. Bradshaw.
1867
A. N. Hickok
D. A. Clarke.
Leander Stiles ..
James Connolly.
1868
David Little.
Win. Hammond.
James Connolly
Wm. W. Johnston.
1869
David Little.
Wm. Hammond.
James Connolly.
J. Weaver.
1870
W'm. H. Johnston
Win. Hammond.
James Connolly
A. Kendall.
1871
W'm. H. Johnston
W'm. Hammond.
James Connolly
A. Kendall.
1872
Wm. H. Johnston
Wm. Hammond.
S. T. Briggs.
A. Kendall.
1873
Wm. H. Johnston
R. J. Stewart.
Leander Stiles.
J. Weaver.
1874
Wm. H. Johnston
R. J. Stewart
Leander Stiles.
L. D. Willard.
1875
Wm. II. Johnston.
R. J. Stewart.
Leander Stiles.
L. D. Willard.
1876
Wm. H. Johnston
R. J. Stewart.
Leander Stiles.
J. L. Smith.
1877
Wm. H. Johnston
R. J. Stewart.
S. T. Briggs
Leander Stiles.
1878
Wm. H. Johnston
R. J. Stewart.
Leander Stiles.
Thos. L. Johnston.
1879
Wm. II. Johnston.
R. J. Stewart.
Leander Stiles.
Thos. L. Johnston.
1880
Wm. II. Johnston
R. J. Stewart
W. H. Johnston
Fred Anthony.
1881
S. F. Everett
R. J. Stewart.
George Gray
F. W. Rathbon.
1882
S. F. Fverett.
R. J. Stewart
J. II. Dunn
F. W. Rathbon.
1864
J. C. Wright.
D. A. Clarke
James Connolly
H. Boone.
The life of the pioneer was not undarkened by domestic sorrow, nor unbrightened by domestic joys. The minister of the little settlement early found occasion to share the sorrows and the joys of his neigh- bors, to offer the consolations of religion to the bereaved, to extend his congratulations and god-speed to those who in marriage had united heart and hand to subdne the wilderness, and make it blossom as the rose.
Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins Boone first claimed the pastor's tender ser- vices in the burial in this lonely place of their infant son. They, too, were the first to hail the birth of a child, a daughter, who lived to grow up in the old homestead, to assist her parents in their hardships. and, with Mr. Geddes, to make another home.
With all their hard labors, these pioneers still found time to woo and win the fair daughters of their neighbors. Scarcely the second winter passed since John Farlow built his cabin on the banks of the Edwards river, when (in a figure) the first wedding bells called to the marriage of Susan, daughter of James and Hannah Boone, to Dr. Joseph S. Mans, of Pekin, Illinois. In 1838 another daughter became the helpmeet of Mr. Alfred Perry.
709
PREEMPTION TOWNSHIP.
Rapid and absorbing as has been the material development of this township, the claims of religion have not been neglected. Among the first settlers was a Presbyterian minister, Rev. John Montgomery, who became pastor of the first church in the community, organized at Farlow's Grove in 1839, with the following constituent members : Elder John Linn and wife, Elder Robert Stewart, wife and two daughters, Elder Barrows and daughter, Samuel Whan and wife, . Mrs. H. Boone, Mr. Black and wife, and others. In 1843, John Montgomery, now deceased, was followed in the pastorate of the church by Thomas S. Vale, a very talented man from Princeton college. He remained until about 1846, when he was succeeded by Rev. L. B. Crittenden, who continued as pastor till about 1850. About this time, Mr. John Whitsitt, who had been ordained as elder in 1845, removed his membership to Rock Island, where his children were at school. In 1867, Mr. Whitsitt's energy procured a church-building on his farm adjoining the village of Preemption. Here in 1868 a church was organized with John Whitsitt, Huglı Liv- ingstone, and James Henry as elders, of whom the latter two were elected and ordained at this time, the first named having been ordain- ed years before at Farlow's Grove. For many years this church flour- ished, having in its membership a number of the very best citizens of Preemption township. In 1881 an unfortunate controversy arose, which has severely injured the organization. The society now hold services in Hammond's Hall. The church at Farlow's Grove still exists, though less vigorous than in former years. They have no settled pastor but have occasional preaching.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first Methodist society in the township of Preemption was organized in the year 1841, at the house of Mr. Benjamin Clarke, with six members, viz: Benjamin Clarke (leader) and wife, David Little and wife, Andrew Gilmore, and Margaret Gilmore. They held their meetings at this place until 1846, when a house of worship was built, under the following circumstances: Judge Savage, who had been in this section looking after his real estate interests, observing the lack of means for the development of either or both educational and re- ligious interests, and believing, as do all intelligent men, that through these mediums only come true prosperity and the successful building up of a new country, he deposited in Rock Island $50 to be used in building a house for church and school purposes. This fact Mr. Savage communicated to Jolm Whitsitt, who soon after conferred with Mr. C. A. Spring, an agent of the American Sunday School Union of
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