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 27
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" This induced Governor Edwards, who was governor under President Madison, to send a couple of keel boats with a company of militia, all Americans, up the Illinois River to Peoria. If the Indians and French had been disposed, they could have captured these boats and the men in a dozen places before they got to Peoria; but the French people paid no attention to the movement, and did not seem to know that they were regarded as enemies.
" When the boats arrived at Peoria, Captain Craig did not land at the village, but anchored out in the lake, and opened no correspondence with the people on shore. During the night, some three or four guns were fired from the shore, it was said at the boats, but nobody on board was hurt; nor was it known whether Indians or French fired the guns, or whether they were fired at the boats. Be that as it may, Captain Craig made that an excuse for hoisting anchor and landing a short dis- tance above the village, and in the dark commenced an indiscriminate slaughter upon the sleeping inhabitants of the town, killing many and taking all the balance prisoners, and burning every house in town and country. No American was hurt, nor was an Indian found in the country.
" The prisoners, women and children and all, were put on the boats and taken to St. Louis in triumph. That was the end, for the time being, of the Peoria settlement.
"When the Peoria settlement was destroyed, in 1813, no white inhabi- tant was left residing in the valley of the Illinois River, or upon any of its tributaries. There was then a small stockade, a garrison of a few soldiers, and a few white settlers on the bank of Lake Michigan, where Chicago now is. This settlement was broken up by the Indians, and most of its inhabitants massacreed, that same year. This act at Peoria was made an excuse for all sorts of British and Indian barbarities on the Western frontier.
" I have given you a history of the first settlement by civilized man in the valley of the Illinois River-the date of its beginning and its tragical end.
"I came to Illinois Territory in December, 1817, then a lad of sixteen years, and I have been in or about Illinois ever since. I have seen its
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growth, and have been duly informed by the progress of all the settle- ments in the counties of the Illinois valley to this day.
" In 1819 I went up the Mississippi'and Illinois Rivers from St. Louis. I saw the burnt remains of the French settlement at Peoria. I went in the same boat, which was loaded with furs and peltry, across the country, from the Illinois River through the Oplain and Grass Lake into Lake Michigan at the mouth of Chicago Bay, now called Chicago River, where the great city of Chicago has since been built.
"At the mouth of that river we met the other boats, from Mackinaw, loaded with Indian goods. We exchanged our furs, etc., for goods, and our boat returned over the same route. We went back to St. Louis, where, from some old papers I have, I find we landed on the 15th of May, 1819."
About the same time that Gen. McConnell and Mr. Bradshaw settled on their claims, the Rev. Samuel Bristow, a Baptist minister, brought a colony, composed of the Box, Reid, Curlock, and Bosher, or Boyer, fam- ilies. These were organized into a church, which is in all probability, the first religious organization in what afterward became Morgan County. This little colony settled about five miles northwest of the present city of Jacksonville, in the vicinity of Box Creek, which derived its name from one of the families who settled near its banks, on what now is known as the McDonald farm. This Baptist Church continued in existence for many years, but the organization has for some time been disbanded. The preaching of the Rev. Samuel Bristow was probably the first religious services of this kind, held in the settlements. The Methodist ministers are generally found with the advent of settlements, and are almost always among the pioneers, proclaiming the good news of salvation. It is not definitely known whether any were here during the years of 1820 or '21. Mr. Huram Reeve, one of the earliest pioneers, and with his two brothers, the only men now living in the county, who located here in 1820, says, that the first Methodist preacher that he remembers being in the settlement, was the Rev. Joseph Basy. Rev. Samuel Thompson was the first presiding elder here, and held a camp meeting on Walnut Creek, within the present limits of Scott County, in 1822 or '23. Mr. Reeve remembers attending this camp-meeting, and thinks his recollection is correct. Mr. Levi Deaton afterwards familiarly known as " Father Deaton," in a letter to the Rev. Wm. Rutledge, of Jackson- ville, in regard to this subject, says: "The first sermon preached in the county, so far as I know, was by the Rev. John Glanville, at my father's house, in 1822. A class was then organized, consisting of my father and mother, and a brother named Johnson and his wife. The first quarterly meeting, was held the same year at Father Jourdan's-father of John and William Jourdan-in the east part of Jacksonville. The first camp- meeting in the county, was held on Walnut Creek, near Lynnville, by Rev. Peter Cartright." At Father Jourdan's house, to which Mr. Deaton refers, were held' the first meetings of this denomination in Jack- sonville. The class formed there, grew into a church, which is now known as the Centenary Methodist Church of that city. Mr. J. R. Bailey, for seventeen years editor of the Illinois Sentinel, and afterwards of the Illinois Courier, wrote a history of the first few years of the county, which he published in his paper, several years since. In speaking of the
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Methodist Church, he says : "The first preacher, Rev. Joseph Basy, of the Methodist denomination, came into the settlement in 1821. He held meetings and preached occasionally at the houses of the settlers, until a regular circuit was established, a few years later."
The Cumberland Presbyterians were also among the pioneers in religious organizations in the settlements. They had a camp-ground and church six or eight miles northeast of Jacksonville, and here they main- tained regular religious services for many years. No records of their organization can now be found, nor can any one now living remember the year when this church was founded. Mr. Huram Reeve remembers they were holding camp-meetings in 1824, and thinks their organization had been in existence but a short time. Others concur in this view, although some maintain that this church is as old as any in the county. The latter view is in all probability incorrect, for had such a church existed in 1821 or '22, it would have been well remembered by the settlers of that time. This church was probably organized about the year 1823, and though it does not exist at present was one of the oldest in the county.
The season of 1820 is remembered as being remarkably dry. One of the settlers remembers that no considerable fall of rain occurred from April, 1820, to the same date the following year. A good crop of corn and other field products, owing to the natural richness of the soil, and the heavy dews, was however grown. The next season considerable cotton was raised, and a cotton gin erected by Mr. Johnson, on the farm now owned by C. M. Dewey, Esq., on the Meredosia road. To this gin the neighbors from far and near brought their raw cotton to have it ginned. Esquire Sears, who with Mr. Johnson and some others settled early this year, is reported to have raised one thousand pounds of cotton on four acres. The cotton when woven with hemp or flax made an excellent article of clothing. Until cotton and flax was raised the clothing of the settlers in some cases gave out, and they were compelled to supply the deficiency as best they could. Deer skins, when properly tanned, made a good article of clothing, much worn by the early pioneers. As soon as cotton and flax could be raised they were spun and woven into cloth by the women, who used the spinning wheels, often brought from their former homes, and the old-fashioned wooden loom. To have a good supply of spun and woven articles with which to begin housekeeping was one of the aims of the majority of the young ladies of that day; and considering the necessities of the times was an aim worthy of commendation. A corresponding desire existed among the young men to have a home in readiness, and to be " a good provider."
During the spring of 1821, a storm occurred, in which a tree was blown down upon the roof of the cabin of James Crane. The roof was crushed in, and Mrs. Crane was badly injured. One of her arms was broken and one shoulder was put out of place. The broken arm was set by a man named Langworthy, but his limited medical knowledge did not lead him to discover that the shoulder was out of place, and in consequence Mrs. Crane remained ever afterward a cripple.
It was during the summer of 1821, that Dr. Ero Chandler located and began his practice. He erected his house and office on the ground now occupied by the Grace M. E. Church, in Jacksonville. He proved a
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useful man in his profession, and in after years accumulated considerable property. It is related of him that he came into the settlement on a broken down horse, and with but the single suit of clothes he was wearing. When in his pedestrian visits to his patients his clothes were rent by underbrush or briars, he was accustomed to borrow a needle and thread and repair the damage himself. His medical fees would be regarded as exceeding moderate these times, his charge for a visit made on foot and not occupying a whole day being seventy-five cents. When the visit occupied a day, and he had to borrow a horse to accomplish the distance, his charge was a dollar. But the doctor prospered with the growth of the country, and he afterward owned the eighty acres of ground in Jacksonville on which the Academy stands, and on which Chandler's Addition was platted, now occupied by many of the most valuable residences in the city ; and by him the Rockwell House was built. His memory is warmly cherished, and his usefulness remembered by the early settlers.
" Point or Turn-round " Brown built the first tavern in the county in 1821, at a place about seven miles south of the present county seat, on what was then the St. Louis road, afterward the upper road. The ac- commodations afforded by this tavern would not compare favorably with those furnished by the hotels of to-day. The sleeping arrangements con- sisted of two beds, one of which was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and the other a large square bedstead, in which the children slept. The children were placed with their feet to the center and their heads out on the four sides, thus enabling them to economize sleeping space. Trav- elers of that day usually carried a few bed quilts with which they " turned in " on the floor; but when a bed was called for at the tavern, the old folks gave up their bed and crowded in with the children.
The first bridge in the county was built this Summer (1821) over the Mauvaisterre Creek, at a place east of the city on the Springfield road, where Rock bridge now stands, by Col. Joseph Morton, Mr. Levi Deaton and a few others. The long sills intended to span the creek, were drawn to the bank by cattle, and the work of getting them to their place was accomplished by splicing together a sufficient length of log chain to reach across the creek, one end being attached to the sill and the other stretched to the opposite bank, where the oxen were hitched to it and the sill drawn over to its place. Split puncheons were then pinned on the sills for flooring, and the bridge was finished, to be used until the next flood carried it off, when the work had to be repeated.
The section of country drained by streams heading in the Grand Prairie, and emptying into the Illinois River between Alton and Peoria, was known as the Sangamo* country. By this name it was known in the South and East, and at the time of the settlement of the part comprised in Morgan County, it was the destination of all emigrants to the central or southern part of the State.
It must be remembered by the reader, that at the time of which we are writing it was a part of Madison County, and that the State was at this time but a few years old. It will also be borne in mind that in
*The word "Sangamo" is of Indian origin, and was given this country by the Potta- watomies, as expressive of their idea of the country. It meant in their language "a land where there is much plenty."
A
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the early formation of Morgan County it included the present Counties of Scott and Cass. It will be therefore be fitting to include in these pages some sketches of the early settlers in what is now embraced in these two counties.
Mr. Archibald Job, of whom mention is made in the Political history of this county, settled on what has since been called Job Creek, in Cass County, in the year 1820. Mr. Job at that time was accustomed to regard the Diamond Grove settlement as in his immediate neighbor- hood, and frequently visited the primitive blacksmith shop of Mr. Isaac Reeve at that place. Here, while waiting to have his smithing done, he, as well as others, was in the habit of learning the general news of the settlement and in discussing the topics of the day. As there was 110 rapid means for the transmission of news the discussion generally related to neighborhood occurrences. The little shop became thereby like country stores and village post-offices now-a-days-the headquarters for collecting and distributing news. Not only was Mr. Job one of the pioneers of 1820, but he was the first representative of Morgan County in the legislature under the county organization, and afterwards served in the State Senate. During a long and active public career he was a prominent man in the county, and when the seat of government was removed from Vandalia to Springfield, he superintended the erection of the new State House. It is related of him that he fenced his first corn patch in 1820, by felling saplings around his clearing so that they inter- locked, thus forming a line of rough fence which protected his first crop. Mr. Job, after an active life, died on the farm where he first settled when he came to this county, at the good old age of ninety years.
The settlers of 1819, '20, '21, and '22 have already been mentioned. Some account of their privations is given, and the difficulties they en- countered in founding their homes. Enough had now gathered to form a settlement worthy of note by the State legislators, and at the session of that body in the Spring of 1823, Morgan County was created. It had formerly been part of Greene County, and when erected was attached to that commonwealth for judicial purposes. No one can now tell how the ยท name Morgan was given to the new county; probably some aspiring legislator, wishing to perpetuate the memory of a friend of that name, arose when the act was presented and moved it be called Morgan-and it was thus christened.
Emigration was great to the Sangamo country during the intervening years between 1822 and the "Deep Snow." To give the names of all who located during that time is impossible. The principal families, how- ever, were those of Jonathan Atherton, Thornton Shepherd, Rev. John Breach, James Mears, George Hackett, Henry Wiswall, Jacob Deeds, Daniel Daniels, William Jackson, Elijah Bacon, Jacob Redding, Mont- gomery Pitner, William C. Posey, John Redfern, Aaron Wilson, Daniel Richardson, William Hays, William Huffaker, Sr., Mr. Buckingham, William Scott, Mr. Scroggin, Sr., Abner Vanwinkle, James Evans, Sr., James Green, Andrew Karns, Elder Sweet, and Peleg Sweet.
Mr. J. R. Bailey, in his history of the county, published in the Senti- nel, while he was its editor, gives a condensed resume of the earliest years of Morgan County. Although it repeats, in a manner, some facts before stated, it is well worth preserving, and is here given. He says :
Ill Histoire mayan + Clarice Jack-rolle
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
" Martin Lindsley settled at Camp Hollow, since known as the Fisher Place, near Beardstown ; and Timothy Harris and John Catrough accompanied him. Harris settled on the north side of the creek opposite the Bluff House; but Catrough remained with Lindsley for some time afterward, and during a prairie fire came near losing his life, his jeans clothing being burned to a crisp. On December 20, 1820, Julia A. Lindsley, daughter of Martin Lindsley, was born ; supposed to be the first white child born in the county. In 1821 Mr. Lindsley moved to Peoria, where he remained one season, then proceeded down the river and stopped for a time at the mouth of the Mauvaisterre, from thence return- ing to Camp Hollow. He was killed by the caving in of a well in the year 1830 ; his family remained at Camp Hollow until 1855.
" Mr. Thomas Beard came to Beardstown in 1820, but did not com- mence improving until 1822. It is related that he built his cabin over a den of snakes, and for some time the inmates were annoyed by the rep- tiles crawling through the crevices of the puncheon floor. In 1826 he married Miss Sarah Bell, I. R. Bennett, Esq., of Emerald Point, perform- ing the ceremony. After the location of the seat of justice at Beardstown, it became an important shipping point, and Mr. Beard became wealthy. Elisha Lenn, Mr. Waggoner, Simeon Lenn, Solomon Bery, John Baker, and Nathaniel Herring were among the earliest citizens of Beardstown.
" The first steamboat ascended the Illinois River in 1826, the river being navigated, prior to that time, only by keel-boats, flat-boats, and canoes.
" Bees were very plenty, and two of the settlers, Messrs. Buckleman and Robinson, collected in 1824 fourteen barrels of honey, selling the wax for money enough to enter their claims.
" Mauvaisterre Creek is said to have been named by the early French voyagers on the Illinois River. Indian Creek is supposed to have been named by the early rangers under General Whitesides, from the fact that while pursuing a marauding band they killed an Indian on that stream, in 1814. Archibald Job, subsequently, for many years a noted public man, settled on Job Creek, in Cass County, in 1820. With his family he left Pittsburg on a keel-boat, on the 30th of October, 1819, and landed at St. Louis early in February, 1820, having been obstructed some time by ice. Leaving the keel-boat in charge of his wife and children, Mr. Job came up the river located his claim and built a cabin. He broke twelve acres the first season, fencing it by felling saplings with their tops interlocked. About the 12th of May, 1820, David and Thomas Blair settled in Mr. Job's neighborhood, and during the same season went for their families. On the authority of Mr. Job, it is understood that the first Baptist preacher was Rev. Samuel Bristow ; Rev. William Sims and Rev. William Crow being next in order. The first camp-meeting was held at the head of Walnut Creek, near James Gillham's farm, in 1826 ; Rev. Mr. Thompson being the presiding elder, assisted by Rev. Peter Cart- wright. The first Cumberland Presbyterian church in this county was or- ganized by Rev. John Berey. Mr. I. F. Roe was the first settler in the vicinity of Jacksonville, in 1820. He made his claim at the Diamond Grove, but afterward sold to Joseph Coddington and settled on the Couch place, where he shortly after died, and was the first white man buried in the
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county. He had no family, and his remains now rest in the new ceme- tery.
" Alexander Wells, James Gillham, and Alexander Bell were the first settlers in the 'Gillham neighborhood.'
" Mr. Keller was one of the settlers of 1821, and was killed by the Regulators.
"In the year 1820, Mr. Thomas Arnett settled near the present reservoir for the Insane ; he was the first justice of the peace in the county, and one of the proprietors of Jacksonville. He sold his first claim to John Leeper and moved to the Loar place.
" Col. Joseph Morton and John Bradshaw came to Morgan County in 1820, and located claims, but did not remain. They returned the next season and commenced improvements. Col. Morton used a wooden cart -in which there was no iron to be found-when hauling his rails and doing farm work. They fenced eighteen acres the first season. Mrs. Minnie Conover settled on Indian Creek about 1821. The public lands in this section were surveyed in 1821 and brought into market in 1823. Mr. Charles Robertson settled at the head of the southern fork of Mauvais- terre Creek in 1820; his money capital was twenty-five cents, and he iuvested that in whisky to make bitters for curing the ague. He hunted bees for a time, and sold wax enough to enter the first eighty acres. He afterward became wealthy.
" Miles Wood settled the Posey place, adjoining Jacksonville on the east.
" The first school taught regularly in the county, was held at Isaac Edwards' farm, on the Springfield road-now owned by John Shuff-Mr. Palmer being its teacher.
" After Rev. Joseph Basey, Rev. John Miller was the first local Methodist preacher, but Rev. Newton Pickett rode the first Methodist circuit established in the county. Rev. Levi Springer traveled from Indiana to Morgan County, Illinois, in company with his wife, each on horseback, in the fall of 1823. From Paris they started on the 'lost trace,' crossing the Grand Prairie to the head of the Sangamon River. They were two nights on the prairie, sleeping on the grass, with no pro- tection save their blankets, which they carried, the wolves howling all about them. Reaching Springfield, they found only a few cabins, and thence proceeded to Crow's Point, on Indian Creek, near which place they settled.
" Abel Richardson and his sons Daniel and Benjamin settled on the Mauvaisterre in 1821, on the place now owned by Benjamin Richardson, three miles east of Jacksonville. During the same year Judge I. R. Bennett located at Emerald Point. He was one of the early justices, and performed the ceremony between Mr. Beard and his first wife. He after- ward served in the legislature, and as associate county judge.
" Joseph Slattern settled in 1821, on the O'Rear place. In the year 1823 Enoch Marsh came, and afterward built the Exeter mills, being one of the proprietors of Exeter, and holding the first sale of lots, in the fall of 1828.
" Roland Shepherd came to the county about 1821, and in 1823 built a band-mill, which was run by horse or ox power. It was located on what is now the William Taylor farm, situated on Indian Creek.
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"Deaton's mill was the next built, and Magill's mill was afterward erected on the northern fork of the Mauvaisterre. John Wyatt afterward built a horse-mill.
" Rev. John Brich came to the county at a very early day, and left it many years ago. He perished in a winter storm in the wilds of one of the northern countries, while pursuing his missionary labors. Finding himself overcome by the cold, he took his will from his saddle-bags, signed it, and hung the saddle-bags on a bush. He was afterward found dead near the bush, the saddle-bags leading to the discovery.
" The first census of Morgan County was taken by General Murray McConnell, in 1824; but the returns were lost with other county records by the burning of the first court-house. At that time, in a northeasterly direction from Crow's Point, the country was wilderness. Led by the barking of a dog in that direction, General McConnell found a family encamped ; but upon inquiry, and examination of a blazed line and wit- ness-tree, he found he was on the line of Sangamon County, and that the camp was in Sangamon.
"The James Slattern place was settled in 1824 or '25, by Joseph Carter. Mr. Slattern established his home on the Rusk place, but bought and moved to Carter's improvement in 1827. During ' the deep snow,' which commenced to fall on the 14th of December, 1830, and remained until the 14th of February, 1831, Mr. Slattern was compelled to turn his cattle into the corn-field, having no corn gathered at the time. Allen I. Lindsey settled in Jersey Prairie in January, 1820, on a place since owned by John Crum. In 1826 Mr. Lindsey, one of the judges of the County Commissioners' Court, came, and for many years took an active part in public affairs. Jesse F. Barrows arrived and settled the William Steven- son place in 1829.
" The first election under the county organization was held at Swin- erton's Point - where the county -seat was temporarily located -in August, 1824. The judges of the election were John Clark, Joseph Kline, and David Lieb ; Dennis Rockwell and Joseph M. Fairfield being the clerks. The county commissioners were elected for two years. The first board, elected in 1824, consisted of Seymour Kellogg, Peter Conover, and Thomas Arnett. The second commissioners, elected August, 1826, were James Deaton, Allen I. Lindsey, and James Gillham. The board elected in 1828 consisted of Joseph Fairfield, Samuel Rogers, and John Wyatt. The commissioners elected in 1830 were William Gillham, James Green, and William Woods.
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