USA > Illinois > Pike County > History of Pike County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons and biographies of representative citizens > Part 16
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Thuis the historian of three-score years ago speaks of Pike county as it was in its original magnitude and wildness. How changed is the face of the country since then! Who could have foretold its future greatness with any degree of knowledge or certainty!
We deem it within the province of this work to speak of the earliest settlement of all this vast region. Much of it was settled prior to that portion contained within the present boundaries of the county, and as it was for many years a part of Pike county it is proper we should refer to it, briefly, at least.
The earliest history and the first occupation of the original Pike county are enshrouded in almost impenetrable obscurity. After the lapse of more than three quarters of a century, the almost total absence of records, and the fact that the whites who visited or lived in this region prior to 1820 are all dead, render it impossible now to determine with any degree of certainty the name of him who is entitled to the honor of being recorded as " first settler." Perhaps the first man who sojourned within the Military Tract lived in what is now Calhoun county. He went there about 1801, and lived for years before any other settler came, and remained alone and unknown for a long time after the first pioneers moved into that section. His home was a cave dug out by himself, and was about a quarter of a mile from the Mississippi river. In 1850 the boards of his cave floor were dug up and the ground leveled. Who he was or where he came from was known only to himself, for he refused all intercourse with the settlers.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
The next settlers, perhaps, were French trappers and half-breeds who formed quite a large colony on the Illinois river near the Deer Plains Ferry, Calhoun county. These remained there until the great high water of 1815 or 1818, which drove them away. Andrew Judy lived at this point at a very early day. Major Roberts settled in Calhoun county in June, 1811. He came from Ohio. John Shaw came into that county at a very early day and was one of the leading men in the organization of Pike county, and for some time was County Commissioner. He settled at Gilead, the site of the original county-seat of Pike county. He was the most noted and influential man in his day of all in all this region. He carried on farming, stock-raising, and conducted a store, and engaged in poli- tics very largely. His influence was so great that he was able to rule the county indirectly, which he did for many years. He was .denominated the " Black Prince," on account of his having great sway over the community. It is said that he had control over a large band of half-breeds, with which and his numerous other hench- men he controlled the elections, and carried every measure he de- sired. He forged deeds, even by the quire, doctored poll books, etc. So great was his influence and at the same time so injurious to the settlers that the public issue was gotten up in its politics, of "Shaw," or "Anti-Shaw," and not until there was a great and united struggle that John Shaw lost his supremacy.
There was a man by the name of Davison who was found living as a hermit a few miles above the mouth of Spoon river on its banks by the first settlers in Fulton county. He was a physician and a man of culture and refinement. How long he had resided there before discovered by the whites is not known, but evidently for many years, as the shrubbery and trees that he had planted had grown quite large. He was selected as one of the first grand jurors for the Circuit Court of Pike county. He refused all inter- course with the whites, and about 1824 put his effects in a canoe, paddled down Spoon river and up the Illinois to Starved Rock, where he lived in obscurity until he died, which was a few years afterward.
In 1778 the French made a settlement at the upper end of Peoria lake. The country in the vicinity of this lake was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-wi, that is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the town of Laville de Meillet, named after its founder, was started. Within the next twenty years, however, the town was moved down to the lower end of the lake to the present site of Peoria. In 1812 the town was destroyed and the inhabi- tants carried away by Captain Craig. In 1813 Fort Clark was erected there by Illinois troops engaged in the war of 1812. Five years later it was destroyed by fire. Some American settlers, how- ever, early came into this neighborhood. These were mostly sol- diers of the war of 1812 who had been given bounty-land for their services and had come to possess it. An old veteran of that war by the name of. Wm. Blanchard came to Peoria in 1819, soon
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moved over the river into Tazewell county, and in 1830 moved just over the line into Woodford, and is still living there, perhaps the oldest living settler north of the month of the Illinois river.
The first permanent settlement by the whites in all Northwestern Illinois, of which any record or reliable knowledge now remains, existed about 1820 on the banks of the river now known as the Galena. This river was then known as Feve, or Bean river. The Indian name for the river was Mah-can-bee, the fever that blisters, and was named from the fact of the Indians having small-pox here. Hundreds of the natives died and they gave the names of Big Small-Pox river and Little Small-Pox river to the streams upon which they lived. The former was changed by the whites to the more pleasant name of Fever river; the smaller is still known as Small-Pox creek. Galena was known as "Fever River Settle- ment," and we find frequent mention of it in the old Commis- sioners' Court records. John S. Miller, who was perhaps the first settler there, and Moses Meeker, perhaps the next, often applied to the court at Cole's Grove for licenses, recommendations to the Governor to be appointed Justice of the Peace, etc.
Fever river was also known in an early day by the name of Bean river, from the French name, Riviere au Feve, given it by the early traders and adventurers. This section of country is referred to in the "Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri," a work published in 1822 and now very rare, as follows:
" Bean river (Riviere au Feve, Fr.), a navigable stream of Pike connty, emptying into the Mississippi three miles below Cat-Fish creek, and 20 miles below Dubuque's mines, and about 70 above Rock river. Nine miles up this stream a small creek empties into it from the west. The banks of this creek, and the hills which bound its alluvium, are filled with lead ore of the best quality. Three miles below this on the banks of Bean river is the Traders' Village, consisting of ten or twelve houses or cabins. At this place the ore procured from the Indians is smelted and then sent in boats either to Canada or New Orleans. The lands on this stream are poor, and are only valuable on account of the immense quanti- ties of minerals which they contain."
In the same work Chicago is simply mentioned as "a village of Pike county, containing 12 or 15 houses and about 60 or 70 inhab- itants." Fort Dearborn had been built there in 1804, but so far was it in the wilderness that when the massacre of the garrison in 1812 occurred many days elapsed before it was known to the near- est white settlement. There was also a fort and military garrison on the Mississippi river where Warsaw is now located. This was known as Fort Edwards, and the name also occurs frequently in the old records of Pike county. One of the main wagon-roads, and one upon which the Commissioners expended much time and money, was known as the Fort Edwards road.
By 1820 to 1825 many settlements had sprung up through Central Illinois, but scarcely before 1830 was there any considerable num-
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
ber of whites living north of the north line of the present bound- ary of Pike county. It is true, prior to that Adams, Fulton and Schuyler counties had been organized, but they were very thinly populated. By 1830 and after the close of the Black Hawk war in 1832 and the expulsion of the Indians the northern part of the State settled up quite rapidly.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF PIKE COUNTY AS IT IS AT PRESENT.
We now come to a period in the history of the settlement of this county when we will restrict ourselves to the present boundaries of Pike county. The few broken references to the settlement of the Military Tract and Northern Illinois we offer as a slight historic token to the grand old .original Pike county-to Pike county as it was in its primitive days. They are brief and scattering, but, owing to the fact, as previously remarked, that there are no records extant, and that the earliest pioneers have passed away, it is impos- sible to give more, other than to elaborate and enlarge on the facts already stated, which we will not do for want of space.
Prior to the coming of the first settler to Pike county there had often been French traders, hunters and travelers passing through the native forests and crossing the wild and beautiful prairies. They pitched their tent for the night, and amid the vast wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and the native red man, rested their weary limbs only to move at the early dawn. The first individual of whom we have account, and this is traditionary, that settled in Pike county as it is, or who made it his home for any considerable time, was J. B. Teboe (Tibault), a Canadian Frenchman. He came somewhere during the period between 1817 and 1819, and occupied a cabin on the banks of the Illinois river, situated on what is now section 33, Flint township. There is no doubt this man was in that locality prior to 1820. He lived as a hunter, and for a time we think ran a ferry, but whether he is entitled to the honor of being termed the "first settler " we very much doubt. He, it seems, tilled no land and made no permanent abode, nor had a family. He was killed at Milton in 1844.
FRANKLIN AND SHINN THE FIRST SETTLERS.
The man who may properly be denominated the first settler of Pike county was Ebenezer Franklin. He came to the county in March, 1820, and first stopped upon the northwest quarter of sec- tion 27, half a mile east from where Atlas was afterward located and up "Jockey Hollow." He brought with him his family, con- sisting of his wife, son and three daughters, besides a Mr. Israel Waters. This gentleman afterward moved to Adams county. When Franklin first came he found no neighbor with whom he could stop until he had reared his cabin. He was obliged to pitch his tent and gather his family around him in his tented mansion provided with the meager and rude furniture he brought with him
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
and what he constructed after his arrival. There is no doubt the family suffered from the chilling winds of early spring, but they were sturdy pioneers and withstood the privations and hardships as became true pioneers. He resided in his tent until May, when he erected a rude log cabin.
The next settler to come in after Franklin was Daniel Shinn. Ile came from Batavia, Ohio, and arrived about the last of April, 1820. On his way here he stopped at Edwardsville, where he left most of his large family, which consisted of a wife and eight chil- dren: Benjamin, John, Eliza, Hannah, Mary, Phebe, Daniel and Nancy. John Webb, now living five miles east of Pittsfield, then only six years of age, came with them. Mr. Webb is now the oldest living settler in the county by four years, that is, he came to the connty four years prior to any other man now living in the county. Mr. Shinn was the first man who brought a wagon into Pike county, probably the first to the Military Tract. He settled near Mr. Franklin, and the two lived in tents until May, when they both erected cabins, aiding one another in their labors. Mr. Shinn with two of his sons cleared a piece of ground and planted three acres of corn. It took but comparatively little labor to raise grain, but to have it ground or prepared for food was a hard task. At this early day there were no mills within reach of these early pilgrims. The first mill they had to go to was a horse-mill run by John Shaw in Calhoun county. Mr. Franklin erected his cabin upon the south- east quarter of section 22, Atlas township, or what is now Atlas, three-fourths of a mile from Atlas and about 150 yards north of where the road has since run. Many years ago, even, the place was covered with a spindling growth of young trees.
Mr. Shinn located as a near neighbor to Mr. Franklin. He became a great wolf-hunter, prompted by the fact of his being una- ble to raise stock, owing to their ravages. He lost 200 pigs by that rapacious animal, and resolved to make war upon them. He finally succeeded in raising fine hogs by shutting them up in a close log stable from their carliest pighood.
The Shinn family were originally from New Jersey. On their way West they stopped for awhile at Cincinnati, where they fol- lowed gardening. After a long and useful life Mr. Shinn died at a little over 70 years of age, while on a visit to his daughter at Pitts- field in 1852. He took an active part in the early history of the county.
THE COMING OF THE ROSSES.
In the year 1820 there also came, from Pittsfield, Mass., the Rosses: William (Col.), Clarendon, Leonard (Capt.), and Henry J. (Dr.); also Samuel Davis, Wm. Sprague and Joseph Cogswell, all settling in or near Atlas . Leonard had been Captain in the war of 1812, and William obtained his title afterward by having been ap- pointed Colonel of Illinois militia. Davis was a bee-hunter, who built for himself and large family a log cabin on section 16. Two
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
years afterward he moved into Missouri. Most of these men brought their families to their new homes the following February, having previously left them at Alton. Mr. Cogswell was from Berkshire, Mass.
The Rosses in coming West had a tedious journey. They came by flat-boats down the Alleghany and Ohio rivers, and by wagons from Shawneetown to Upper Alton, where at that time but one house existed, occupied by Major Hunter. Here they left their families, and coming northward, they found an Indian camp at the mouth of the Illinois river; where they split puncheons and laid them across two canoes and thus safely carried over their wagons. The horses were made to swim alongside. Continuing up the Mis- sissippi bottom they marked the trees as they went, for there were no roads and nothing to guide them but an occasional Indian trail. They arrived at section 27 in township 6 south and 5 west, "at last," whence, according to tradition, the name " Atlas." Some wished to name the place " Charlotte," after a certain lady in the company. This beautiful land of prairie and timber charmed the immigrants, and they at once set to work their energies and con- structed a camp to shelter themselves while preparing quarters for their families. They hurried up four rough log cabins, knowing that Indians were numerous and that probably not more than five white men were within 50 miles of them east of the Mississippi.
SEELEY, M'GIFFIN AND NEWMAN.
James M. Seeley, father of Dr. Seeley, of Pittsfield, came to this county about this time. Charles McGiffin and Levi Newman set- tled on this side of the Mississippi river opposite Louisiana on a slough called "McGiffin's Slough," but not known by that name now: but they had no families. McGiffin died two years afterward and Newman moved over into Morgan connty.
JOHN AND JEREMIAH - ROSS, BROWN, WOOD AND KEYES.
In 1821, John and Jeremiah Ross, brothers of the preceding' Rufus Brown, John Wood (afterward State Governor) and Willard Keyes arrived at Atlas. Here Brown kept a tavern, but he and these two Rosses and Mr. Wood removed to Adams county. When they first came to Pike county Wood and Keyes first settled on the 16th section just below New Canton and kept bachelor's hall on the bank of a creek, subsequently named "Keyes " creek, after one of these men. They had a few hogs, two yoke of oxen and a small iron plow, by which latter they broke up a piece of ground before building a cabin. In three or four years they sold out and went to Adams county, where Wood founded the city of Quincy. He was then a young man, vigorous and ambitious. One day he, with William Ross, the founder of Atlas, and Capt. Ross, the Sheriff of Pike county, were traveling over the country north and west of this county, but then within its borders. When nearing the Mississippi
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river he told his companions to follow him and he would show them where he was going to build a city. They went about a mile off the main trail when they reached the present site of the city of Quincy. The view presented to the trio of sturdy frontiersmen was a magnifi- cent one. The hand of the white man had never touched the soil, or disturbed the beautiful decorations of nature. Below them swept the Father of Waters yet unburdened by steam navigation. Mr. Wood tried to show his companions the advantages the location had, but Mr. Ross, thoroughly interested in building up his own town of Atlas and so sanguine of its future greatness, that the beau- tiful and excellent location selected by Mr. Wood was completely overshadowed by that enjoyed by his village. Mr. Wm. Ross con- gratulated his young friend and hoped he would make of his town a success, but he despaired of it ever amounting to much, for, as he remarked to the Governor, " It's too near Atlas."
OTHER SETTLERS.
In: 1821 there also came to the county James McDonald, who settled opposite Louisiana, on Sny Island, and kept a ferry. He opened the first farm on the road between Atlas and Louisiana, but floods drowned him out. He was from Washington county, N. Y., and his family consisted of himself, wife and four daughters. The next spring he was found dead at his ferry, supposed to have been murdered. Joseph Jackson afterward married his widow.
In the summer of 1821, Garrett Van Deusen came to the county and settled on the Illinois river near the old Griggsville Landing. He was the first settler on the east side of the county except two transient French families, who had located some distance below. He erected the second band-mill in the county, the first having been put up by Col. Ross, at Atlas.
THE "SICKLY SEASON."
The summer of 1821 sorely tried the hearts of the sturdy settlers in and about Atlas. That was a sickly season and scarcely a family but followed some of its members to the newly made cemetery, until over one-half the entire population were numbered with the dead. The prevailing canse of the visitation of such a calamity to the settlers was the malaria emanating from the vegetable decay of the newly broken prairie and the decomposition of immense quan- tities of fish in the ponds below the town. The victims of this dreadful malady were laid in coffins made from bass-wood puncheons, hollowed out and consigned to earth in a grave-yard near Franklin's first location, and about 400 yards west of Shinn's. The bones and dust of 80 persons now lie buried there, and at present there is not a stone or head-board, or any signs whatever of its being a cemetery. There was no physician nearer than Louisiana during this scourge, and with this fact, and taking into consideration the poor facilities the settlers had for providing for and nursing the sick, it remains no wonder that so many died.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
During this year Col. Ross built a small brick house, the first in the county. Two years afterward he erected a much larger brick structure adjoining it.
FIRST PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
This year also the first court-house in the county was built. Daniel Shinn took the contract for cutting and hauling the logs, at $6, and for $26 he got out the puncheons and finished the building. It was completed without nails or iron in any shape. It was 16 by 18 feet in dimensions, with one door and two windows, the door on the east side, one window on the south side and another on the west side; desks made of puncheons; chimney outside; and the clap- boards of the roof held on with weight-poles and knees. There were no trees around the house, but plenty of hazel-brush in the vicinity.
This year the first school was taught in the county, by John Jay Ross, son of Capt. Leonard Ross. It was kept in the court-house, and the names of his pupils were, so far as remembered, Orlando, Charlotte, Schuyler, Mary Emily and Elizabeth Ross, Benjamin, John, Eliza and Phoebe Shinn, John Webb, Frederick and Eliza Franklin, Jeremiah and William Tungate, James, Laura and Nancy Sprague. James W. Whitney taught the next school, which was also at Atlas.
A FEW MORE OF THE EARLIEST PILGRIMS.
About this time Dexter Wheelock and wife settled at Atlas, where for a time he kept a hotel and a general store. He had been a drummer in the war of 1812, and was an active and generous man. He died many years ago, and his son, John G. Wheelock, has been a prominent citizen of the county.
The spring of 1822 two brothers named Buchanan settled at "Big Spring." A Mr. Allen (father of Lewis) came to the county this year, and was probably the first settler in the neighborhood of Mil- ton. His wife was a sister of the celebrated Daniel Boone. An old gentleman named Clemmons also settled about this time near Milton, where his sons now reside. Joel Moore, now living two miles north of Pittsfield, on Bay creek, was the first settler on that stream.
This year Mr. Franklin sold out his place near Atlas, to Col. Ross, for $30 or $40, and removed to a point a little south of Pitts- field, where Mr. Allen now lives; he sold out here again ere long to Mr. Goodin, and located near Milton, on a prairie called after him, " Franklin's Prairie;" and this home too he subsequently sold, removing this time to Perry. He died in Milton in 1878.
Mr. Hoskins (father of John) came to the county soon after the Ross family.
FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN THE COUNTY.
The first white person born in this county was Nancy Ross, daughter of Col. Wm. Ross, born May 1, 1822. She died Nov. 18
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
of the same year at Atlas. Some say, however, that there was a white person born in this county some time previous to this; how true that is we cannot state authoritatively.
TRIP TO LOUISIANA.
The first settlers suffered much from want of provision, as well as from the loneliness of their wilderness homes. During the year 1822, Franklin and Shinn, getting out of provisions, started to Lou- isiana for a supply. On arriving at the river they gave the cus- tomary signal for the ferryman to come over after them, but could not make him hear. Being strong and fearless they undertook to swim the great river, even with their clothing on. They buffeted the waves well for a time, and made good progress, but unfortu- nately Mr. Shinn took the cramp, and came near drowning, and would have drowned if it had not been for his companion's pres- ence of mind. Franklin, by beating him, got him out of the cramp. In order to make further progress, however, they were compelled to divest themselves of their clothing. After a long, hard and dan- gerons struggle they finally landed upon the Missouri shore, about three-quarters of a mile below town, but void of clothing. They made their presence known, however, and were soon furnished with clothing.
CRIMINAL DROWNED.
During this same year (1822) a man by the name of Franklin, not Ebenezer, stole a gun from a Mr. Hume. In making away with it in his haste he was unfortunate enough to lose it while swimming McGee's creek. He was pursued, caught, and in a very summary trial before Col. Ross, Justice of the Peace, was sentenced to have 25 lashes laid upon his bare back. This punishment being inflicted (and we are told he bore it nobly), he was given his liberty. He soon committed another crime, however, was caught, but broke from custody. The pioneers were full of pluck, and when they set out to accomplish anything they generally did it, at whatever price. He was tracked to Fort Edwards (now Warsaw) and again captured. They had no jail or place to confine such a cunning fellow with any safety; so it was determined to send him to the jail at Edwardsville. Constable Farr and John Wood (ex-Governor) took charge of him to convey him to Edwardsville. Knowing he would take advan- tage of every opportunity to escape, they lashed him to the back of a mule, by tying his feet underneath. They came to a creek on their journey, and the young man thinking that an excellent oppor- tunity to escape, plunged in, even against the threatenings of his escort. He heeded them not, but yelled back that he would "go to h-l and kick the gate open for them." The water was high and . before the mule had reached the farther shore he went down be- neath the waves, carrying with him his rider. Both were drowned. Franklin's body was rescued and buried upon the bank of the creek. When Messrs. Farr and Wood returned to Atlas, Col. Ross asked
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