History of Morgan county, Illinois : its past and present, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; a biographical directory of its volunteers in the late rebellion; portraits of its early settlers and prominent men [etc., etc.], Part 22

Author:
Publication date: c1878
Publisher: Chicago : Donnelley, Loyd & co.
Number of Pages: 792

USA > Illinois > Morgan County > History of Morgan county, Illinois : its past and present, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; a biographical directory of its volunteers in the late rebellion; portraits of its early settlers and prominent men [etc., etc.] > Part 22

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By 1830 a great improvement in the raising of cattle was exhibited. In 1834 James N. Brown arrived in Sangamon County with the progeni-

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tors of his afterward famed herd of "Island Grove." The Prairie Farmer, in 1843, notices the Devons of James McConnell, near Spring- field. A letter of Governor Lincoln, of Massachusetts, to Governor Rey- nolds, of Illinois, published in the Union Agriculturalist, for 1841, shows that the former sent some crosses of Ayreshire and Short Horn cattle to a son in Alton that year, which was perhaps the first introduction of Ayreshire blood, even in a diluted state. By the time of the holding of the first State Fair, in Springfield, in 1851, the Short Horn appeared in very respectable numbers, and the Devons, though not much shown, were said by the Prairie Farmer to be already found in the north part of the State. In 1857, the formation of the Illinois Stock Importing Association, greatly increased the number of fine cattle in the State. Two years later, Colonel S. A. Buckmaster, of Alton, purchased several head of Jersey cattle from a Maryland drover, and since that date this breed is raised in Illinois. The number of thoroughbred cattle is now very large, compos- ing principally, Short Horns, Jerseys, Devons, Herefords, and Ayreshires. The first mentioned variety is largely in the majority. A considerable portion of the common cattle, in many parts of the State, have an infusion of the blood of the various thoroughbreds.

In the earliest days of Illinois, dairy products received little or no attention. In 1816, butter is quoted by the chroniclers of the time as worth twelve and a half cents per pound. During the winter, it doubled that price, however. Cheese was worth sixteen cents per pound. Peck, in 1831, writes: " Cows in general do not produce the same amount of milk, nor of so rich a quality, as in the New England States. Some- thing is to be attributed to the warmth of our climate, and to the nature of our pastures, but more to causes already assigned. If ever a land was justly characterized as ' flowing with milk and honey,' it is Illinois and the adjacent States." Cheese is made by many families bordering on the Illinois River. Good butter sold for from eight to ten cents in the St. Louis markets, and cheese at the last-mentioned price. This must indicate that at that date large amounts of both products were made, else the price would have been greater.

Sheep were not much raised in the primitive days, when wolves and panthers roamed wild over the hills and prairies. The earliest French residents raised no sheep or goats. In 1797, a body of emigrants, from Hardin County, Virginia, settled near the New Design Settlement, in what is now Monroe County, and "cultivated fall wheat for market, and raised sheep and made linseys for clothing." In 1817, George Flower brought to Edwards County " six of the finest wool-growing ani- mals ever imported into this country. This," he says, in 1842, "is the origin of my flock." According to Mr. Faux, an English farmer, who visited the settlements in 1819, Mr. Flower had a large herd of sheep, which roamed over the prairies in the day time, under care of a shepherd, and were housed at night. Fifty had just been destroyed by wolves, despite the precautions taken. The writers of early times mention the inferiority of the sheep, as compared to those they had seen in England, and say the Americans cared but little for their culture. Woods says : " The Americans keep sheep for the sake of their wool, which is manu- factured into various articles of clothing, and at most of their cabins you may see carding, spinning, and weaving going forward ; for, to give the

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American women their due, many of them are truly industrious, as they manufacture most parts of their dress, and, as they grow the cotton, flax, and wool, it comes reasonable. These Americans hold mutton in the utmost contempt, and I have heard them say, people who eat it belong to the family of wolves. Wool sells on a small scale, for half a dollar a pound, without much regard to its fineness." Peck says : "Sheep do well in the country where the grass has become short, and where they are protected from the wolves. Common wool is worth thirty-seven and a half cents in the fleece. Little is said or done to improve the breed of sheep by introducing the Merino or Saxony breed." The raising of sheep, since 1841, has been pursued with very fluctuating results. The number doubled, however, between 1860 and 1870, although the increase in the United States was less than thirty per cent. Improved breeds began to come in pretty freely as early as 1840, the Merino attracting the most attention. The higher prices paid for long coarse wools during and since the war, and the consumption of mutton, increased the demand for the Cotswold and Leicester, and these latter breeds are now more approved by many of the smaller sheep-growers.

Swine were first introduced by the French. "However," says Governor Reynolds, "they lived on a vegetable diet more than the Amer- icans, and used less pork. Bacon was uncommon among them." In 1818, he speaks of hogs and cattle growing in the river bottoms, without much expense. Woods, in 1820, describes the swine of the West more fully, he says : " Pigs are numerous, being easily raised ; they are of various sorts, but many of them are of a sandy color, and some with wat- tles, that is, a piece of flesh about two inches long, and half an inch thick, growing out on their cheeks. They are of middling size, but from very hard keep, do not rise to much in weight. It is not uncommon for one person to have from sixty to one hundred in the woods, and left to shift for themselves, except giving them, now and then, a little salt. During the summer when grass and herbs are dry, and before the frosts begin to fall, it is almost impossible to describe how exceedingly poor they are. Most of them run till they are two and sometimes three years old, before they are killed, and in general, have but little fattening. Some years when there is a large quantity of acorns, hickory-nuts, etc., they are said to make good pork. A hog of two hundred pounds weight, is counted a ' chunk of a fellow,' and few exceeded that weight." " This species of stock," says Peck, in 1831, " may be called a staple in the provision of Illinois. Thousands of hogs exist without any expense, save in hunting and keeping them tame." " Few families," he continues, " in the West and South, put up their pork in salt pickle. Their method is to prepare it sufficiently for smoking, and then make bacon of hams, shoulders, and middlings, or broadsides. The price of bacon, the last season and the present, is six and seven cents. Good hams command eight cents in the St. Louis market. Stock hogs, weighing from sixty to seventy pounds each, alive, usually sell from one dollar to one dollar and fifty cents per head."

To the period last mentioned, no improved breeds appear to have been found in the country. About 1841, the Berkshires, Irish Grazier, and other breeds, were found in the central and northern parts of the State. The Stock Importing Association brought new specimens of Berk-

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shire and Irish Cumberland, and Yorkshire swine, in 1857. The Magie, or Poland China, soon took a prominent position, and was widely dissem- inated. In numbers of swine, Illinois stood in advance of every other State, in 1870, Missouri coming next. The report of the Board of Trade, of Chicago, in 1874-75, for pork-packing in the Mississippi Valley, shows 2,113,845 in Illinois, to 870,971 in Ohio, and less in other States. Cincinnati is no longer porkopolis.

The minor domestic animals were not neglected by the French set- tlers. Charlevoix found, in 1821, poultry grown by the French and Indians, at Kaskaskia. "They have a great deal of poultry," says Pitt- man, of the Cahokias, a half century later. " The common fowls," says Reynolds, " were abundantly raised, among the early French, and eggs gave the people much healthy and agreeable support." " The poultry," says Woods, " of the Wabash country, are fowls, geese, and ducks. Fowls are in great abundance, and sell for twelve and a half cents a piece. A dozen of eggs is generally the price of one chicken. Geese and ducks are kept by the Americans for the sake of their feathers, and not for sale, or to eat." "Poultry is raised in great profusion," says Peck, "and large numbers of fowls taken to the St. Louis markets. It is no uncom- mon thing for the farmer's wife to raise from three to four hundred fowls, besides geese, ducks, and turkeys, in one season." "Bees," he adds elsewhere, "are profitable stock for the farmer, and are kept to a considerable extent. The cost is usually from one to two dollars a hive, in the spring. Silk-worms are raised by a few persons." Wild prairie chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, flourished in great abundance in the

pioneer days of the country. Between the years 1850 and 1860, they were found in great numbers, and were considered good eating. They were usually caught by trapping or shooting. Bee trees were a very. common sight in the early settlements. The Indians possessed a remark- able faculty for finding them, and hunting them formed one of their chief sports. This was the case also with the pioneer. What better sport did he desire than to go "bee-hunting" at night? Great progress has been made in the culture of the minor domestic animals, and only improved species are now found.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS .- In this narrative it will be highly appropriate to notice the tools that have been used in the PAST and PRESENT of agriculture. The French used the same implements they had been accustomed to, in their native country, and only learned improve- ment with the advent of the Americans. They had the old wooden plow, wooden wheeled cart, and straight yoke for their oxen ; the old sickle, and bound the sheaves of wheat with grass cut for the purpose. Their women performed much of this out-door labor, as well as all other kinds, on the farm.

As to the early American settlers, Governor Reynolds gives the fol- lowing statements : "The old bar-share plow was used by the Americans, and sometimes the shovel plow in the growing corn. The common hoe was the same then as now. It was often very difficult to procure the ring and staples for ox yokes. The wood of the yoke was manufactured at home in great abundance. The harness for the horses was more difficult to procure. As smith's shops were almost unknown in the country, horses were seldom shod, and it appeared the animal in those days could

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do better without shoes than at this time. Frequently poor farmers were compelled to use rawhide straps for traces, and some made hickory poles and hickory withes serve for traces in the plow. Truck wagons, the wheels being made of large sycamore logs sawn off, were frequently used, and were about equal to, but not so sightly as, the French carts, without grease. The truck wagons were made entirely without iron, and often almost entirely without tools. In these aboriginal times, husk collars were mostly used. Sleds were sometimes used, but they were a poor excuse. The Americans generally stacked their wheat and hay. Mowing the prairie grass, as well as reaping the wheat, was hot, hard labor. It was a great trouble to thresh and clean the wheat. About the hardest work I ever performed was winnowing the wheat with a sheet."

These reminiscences of the old governor will apply, in many respects, to a period within the memory of many now living. Forty or fifty years ago the mouldboards of the plows were made of wood, which, in a few cases, was covered with hoop iron. These plows were about the only implements used in working the soil, harrows with wooden teeth, and rollers, being poorly made and but little used. Corn planters had not yet superseded the barefooted boys and girls, and wheat drills were entirely unknown. The grain cradle, a great improvement on the sickle, though it was introduced in Madison County as early as 1819, was but just com- ing into vogue. Grass was still cut with the scythe, and raked with hand rakes. Wheat and other grain was tramped out with horses, who traveled in a circle over a carefully adjusted ring of cut bundles, laid with heads lapping over the butts and toward the coming hoofs. This mode of threshing is yet practiced where barns with large threshing floors are made. All this has changed. The bar-share and the shovel plow have been succeeded by the Carey, the Diamond, the Peoria, the Moline, the Deere, and a wonderful number of other earth turners. The gang and the sulky plows have increased the capacity of human labor, and decreased its severity. The efforts of the State Agricultural Society have tested the efficiency of two or more attempts of steam plowing by traction, and although success is not yet attained, it seems attainable, and the next century will doubtless find steam plowing fairly established in the State. Machines drill the wheat, cut and bind the grain, and thresh and winnow it. Machines cut, rake, load, and stack the hay. It is an open question whether, in some cases, this labor is performed more cheaply, but it is certain it is done with far less expenditure of human strength.

DIVISIONS OF LAND-FENCES .- A very important and often hereto- fore very expensive consideration in Illinois farming, has been numerous fences to exclude predatory stock turned loose by one's neighbors. The first fencing for field purposes in Illinois, so far as we know, was done with rails, though the French are said to have used split palings about their houses. Reynolds mentions seeing the American pioneers carrying rails from the tree to the fence, for the want of a wagon to haul them. The scarcity of timber on the prairies, however, soon suggested the hedges on the one hand, and somewhat later, the idea of confining stock. As late as 1831, Peck speaks of rails as almost the only article used in fencing. Their cost was one dollar per hundred. He mentioned as an exceptional case a farm near him about to be enclosed with "planks," at

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a cost of seventy-five cents a rod. He mentions "feeble attempts as being made to substitute a live hedge of crab-apple, and of honey-locust, without success." Mr. Flagg, of Moro, Illinois, in preparing the Agri- · cultural History of the State in 1876, says : "Some ten years later than this " -1841 -" I remember a Scotchman making a hedge and ditch after the old country fashion, using the crab-apple instead of the thorn. This hedge was cut down a short time ago, after having stood over thirty years. It never was a good fence," he continues, "but I am strongly inclined to think that with a little more encouragement it would have made a capital fence." The Union Agriculturalist, in 1841, contains fre- quent correspondence on the hedge question, and honey-locust, buck- thorn, white-thorn, and even osage orange, are suggested. As early as 1854, the editor of the Prairie Farmer, passing through Morgan and adjoining counties, speaks of the hedge question as already settled there, and that osage fences are a common wayside fence wherever he went. This was largely due to the efforts of Prof. J. B. Turner, who led the van in many a material and moral victory. Meanwhile the construction of rail- roads cheapened the construction of the pine fencing of Wisconsin and Michigan so much so as to discourage experiments in hedge culture. Since the war, the high prices of lumber, and the increased cost of rail fences, even in timbered regions, have given hedge planting a great impulse wherever the osage orange is sufficiently hardy, and given a stimulus to experimentation where it is not, to honey-locust, barberry, buck-thorn, etc. On the other hand, under township organization system, the townships have the power to prevent animals from running at large, and in State legislation the influence of the State Agricultural Board has made itself felt in restoring the common law practically, that makes the owner responsible for all damage by the animal running at large. The farms are all well fenced, and from the old system of Commons, estab- lished by the French, measured by the " arpent," down through the " claim " period, the wisdom of enclosed lands has made itself manifest. It is confidently claimed that Illinois has now more miles of serviceable hedge fence than any other State in the Union. Of the counties where farms are securely enclosed, Morgan stands equal to any.

EARLY ARCHITECTURE.

The old writers drew very pleasing pictures of the rural life of the first settlers in Illinois. We shall omit this period in our history, how- ever, and confine our narrative to a time since the occupation of the country by the Americans. The cabins of the pioneers were of various sizes, and generally made of round logs. Some of the more favored ones, however, had hewed log cabins, and were regarded by their neigh- bors as more fortunate than themselves. These round, log cabins were made by taking two logs, generally about one foot in diameter, and, we will suppose, thirty and twenty feet long. This length of logs would build a tolerably sized cabin. The logs were notched in near the ends, the shorter laid upon the longer, forming the first round, and leaving a small space between the first tier and the second, which was laid in the same manner on these. In this way round after round was laid, until the sides of the cabin were ten or twelve rounds high, as the owner might desire. The last two end logs laid were made long enough to

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project over the corner three or four feet, thereby forming eaves to carry the water, during a rain, that distance from the cabin. This projection also afforded a diminutive porch, and in the summer kept the hot rays of the sun from the side of the house. After these logs were laid on, completing the walls of the cabin, two logs, cut slanting at the ends, and just long enough to fit between the notches, were laid on at each end of the cabin ; two more, cut in the same manner, and shorter than the first, were laid on these, and so on until an apex was reached. On the last one, generally about one foot in length, a long log, smaller than those laid in the sides of the building, was placed from one to the other, and also projecting over each some three or four feet. To secure these short, slant pieces forming the apex of the cabin, a cleft of a small tree was placed on the outside and securely pegged on, and also fastened to the last mentioned log or pole. One or two poles of the same length as that forming the " comb of the roof," as it was called, were generally laid between the eaves and the comb, supplying the place of rafters. On these, clapboards, split boards about four feet in length, were laid nearly double, so as to cover the joints; the boards at the top of the cabin projecting a little over those on the other side. When the roof is thus covered, some poles are laid along the building to keep the shingles on. These poles were kept at about three feet distance from each other by pieces of wood laid on the roof between them. These poles were called weight poles, and sometimes stones were used in their stead. When all this was complete, the cabin was " raised," and where several neighbors joined in a day's work for some new comer, or some newly married persons, such a cabin would be constructed in one day. It was simply now a pen without any openings, save the cracks between the logs. A door was made by sawing out a section in the logs to the lower one, which was generally sawn about half through and cut out to form a door- step. The top of the door was made in the same manner, and secured closeness. A stout piece of wood was pegged on each side, forming a jam, as it was termed, wooden hinges were made, and a door, made of split puncheon, hung thereon. A wooden latch with a leathern string hung outside fastened it. This old fashioned latch-string was always out, and owing to the known hospitality of the pioneer, has given rise to a very suggestive aphorism. A door was often made on each side of the cabin. Windows, after glass came in use, were made in the same manner, though smaller, and instead of being capable of raising and lowering, as in modern times, were hung on hinges, made to slide, or taken entirely out in warm weather. The floors were made of split puncheon, in most cases joined neatly and closely together, and laid on the ground, or on cross pieces. The chimney was generally placed at the end of the building, and made as follows : first, four or five logs were cut out, as for a door or window place, of whatever width the occupant chose. It was generally four or five feet in width, and often wider. Then some logs were cleft and placed so that the ends came just inside the cabin wall, and projecting outward, formed a square pen. These were placed one on the other until they rose as high as the opening in the wall. The chimney was carried up, as was the cabin, until it reached the top, when it was drawn in and constructed of sticks. It was drawn in gradually from the bottom upwards, until the top was generally about one foot square.

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It was then thoroughly chunked and "daubed ;" often stones were placed at the bottom and some distance up the sides, so as to effectually prevent the action of fire. Next the cabin itself was chunked and daubed-that is, the cracks between the logs were filled with split pieces of wood, held in with pegs, and securely closed by daubing with mud. It was also plastered with loam or clay, and sometimes the inside was covered with well made split boards, pegged on. It was often whitewashed where lime could be obtained. A ceiling was made by taking stout poles and laying them on the upper tier of logs, their ends projecting through under the eaves, and being placed from two to four feet apart. . On these split boards were laid, forming a floor. Sometimes the chimneys were walled several feet in height, and were always so carefully constructed that fires seldom occurred.

This completed the cabin. It was now ready for occupancy, and in it, many who now live in opulence, the fruit of years of labor, stoutly affirm they passed their happiest days. One room served all purposes, and when friends or travelers came, a bed was made on the floor, and every convenience offered in their power. Two cabins were often built near together, between them a space of ten or twelve feet was left, covered with a roof, and under this cover the pioneer stored many articles. One side of it was generally walled up, leaving the front open. A covered porch was also often seen in front of the cabins. Here the farmer could rest at noontide, and a common sight was the busy house- . wife spinning under this porch on a warm summer's day.

These cabins are yet used in many parts of the State, especially in the southern and wooded portion. Some have more modern conveniences, and are equal to many frame dwellings now built. But in the early days of the country, none other could be made. There were no mills for saw- ing lumber; the pioneer was almost always poor, and was compelled to endure many privations. Yet these dwellings were comfortable, and healthy, such diseases as consumption and bronchial affections being entirely unknown.

Buildings for stock and for the protection of farming machinery were the result of after days. Says an old writer: "When pigs are shut up for fattening, it is common to make a fence for them of rails, in the same manner as for fields; sometimes one corner is covered over to make a lodging for them, but it is more common for them to be left to the mercy of the winds and weather; but as they are hardy animals, and accus- tomed to hard living and lodging, it does not appear to hurt them. There are but few cattle yards and sheds. The cattle are mostly left abroad in the winter, with no other shelter but what the leafless trees afford." There were few granaries, except corn-cribs, and a few poultry houses, built generally the same as cabins, as were the stables also. The stables were often carried higher, to provide for a hay-loft; some had a rack made out of a hollow log, which answered for a manger. These out- houses were built in the forest-as well as were all the cabins -and were sheltered from the blasts of winter thereby. As the country improved, the buildings were made better, and after the advent of the railroads good substantial buildings were erected, which now appear on every hand. It is doubtful if many counties in the State excel Morgan in the fine dwelling and barns scattered over her prairies.

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AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS.

It will be well in this connection to give a brief resume of the agricultural organizations in the State, including the agricultural societies of Morgan County.

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History of Morgan county, Illinois : its past and present, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; a biographical directory of its volunteers in the late rebellion; portraits of its early settlers and prominent men [etc., etc.], Part 22

Author: Publication date: c1878 Publisher: Chicago : Donnelley, Loyd & co. Number of Pages: 792

Author:
Publication date: c1878
Publisher: Chicago : Donnelley, Loyd & co.
Number of Pages: 792