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 20
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Hogs were always sold ready dressed. The farmer, if forehanded, would call in his neighbors some bright fall or winter morning to help "kill hogs." Immense kettles filled with water had been boiling since dawn. The sleds of the farmer covered with loose plank formed a platform for dressing, and a cask or half hogshead, with an old quilt thrown over the top, was prepared in which to
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scald. From a crotch of some convenient tree a projecting pole was rigged to hold the dead animals. When everything was arranged the best shot of the neighborhood loaded his trusty rifle and the work of killing commenced. To make a "hog squeal " in shooting or " shoulder-stick," i. e., run the point of the knife used into the shoulder instead of the cavity of the breast, was a disgrace. As each hog fell the " sticker" mounted him and plunged a long, well-sharpened knife into his throat, and others caught him by the legs and drew him to the scalding tub now filled with hot water, into which a shovel-full of good green-wood ashes had been thrown. The cleaners now took the departed porcine, immersed him head first into the scalding tub, drew him back and forward a time or two, tried the hair, and if it would "slip " easily the animal was turned and the other end underwent the same process. As soon as taken from the water the scrapers with case-knives went to work and soon had the animal denuded of hair, when two stout fellows would take it up between them and a third man to manage the ".gambrel " (which was a stout stick about two feet long, sharp- ened at both ends to be inserted between the muscles of the hind legs at or near the hock joint), the animal would be elevated to the pole and the entrails removed by some skillful hand.
When the work of killing was completed and the hogs had time to cool, such as were intended for domestic use were cut up, the lard tried ont by the women of the household, and the surplus taken to town to market. In those days almost every merchant had, at the rear end of his place of business or at some convenient neigh- boring building, a " pork-house," and would buy the pork of his cus- tomers and of such others as would sell to him, and " cut " it for market. This gave employment to a large number of hands in every village cutting pork-work which lasted all winter; also to a large number of teams hauling to the river, and coopers making pork barrels.
Prices of pork then were not so high as at present. Thousands of hogs dressed for market have been sold in this county at $1.25 to $1.50 per hundred pounds: sometimes they were sold by the dozen, bringing from $12 to $18 per dozen, owing to size and quality. When, as the county grew older and communications easier between the seaboard and the great West, prices went up to $2 and $2.50 per hundred pounds, the farmers thought they would always be content to raise pork at such a fine price.
There was one feature in this method of buying pork that made any town in Pike county a paradise for the poor man in winter. "Spare-ribs, " " tender loins, " " pigs' heads " and "feet " were not considered of any value, and were given freely to all who asked. If a barrel were taken to any pork-house and salt furnished, the barrel would be filled and salted down with tender loins or spare-ribs for nothing. So great in many cases was the quantity of spare-ribs, etc., to be disposed of, that they would be hauled away in wagon loads and dumped in the woods out of town.
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In those days if wheat brought half a dollar per bushel the farmer was satisfied. A good young milch-cow could be bought for from $5 to $10, and that payable in work.
Those might truly be called close times, yet the citizens of the county were accommodating, and no case of actual suffering for the necessaries of life was known to exist before each vied with the other to relieve it.
PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL.
The early settlers were not entirely without preaching. Says an old pioneer on this subject: "The ministers of the gospel of the Savior of the world hunted us up and preached to what few there were; therefore, we did not degenerate and turn heathen, as any community will where the sound of the gospel is not heard. I shall not give their names, though sacred in memory, for they were not after the fleece, but after the flock, because they had but little to say about science and philosophy, but spoke of purer things."
'In speaking of the early preachers Col. Wm. Ross, in a letter read before the first meeting of the Old Settlers' Association, said: " Among my early recollections are the faithful services rendered by pioneer ministers of the gospel, among whom the name of Brother Trotter is familiar. He rendered faithful services as a minister of Christ, and was well received by all Christian denomina- tions as a liberal-minded Christian and a noble man. "
Rev. W. D. Trotter, the gentleman above referred to, was present at this meeting, and reviewed the hardships and trials of the early settlers of Pike county to the great entertainment of the audience. He had been a missionary in this county as early as 1830. He ex- hibited a balance sheet of his receipts and expenditures during the year 1832-'3, in what was then called Blue River Mission. He received from the mission $88; the conference paid him $12 in ad- dition, making his salary $100 for his services for the year.
Hon. Wm. A. Grinshaw delivered the oration of the occasion and referred to this subject in the following language: " We all worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and under our vine and fig tree. When Brother Trotter, who is now present, venerable with years and revered for piety, or old Father Wolf, now gathered to his fathers; blessed for his good deeds, came around to his appointment, all of every religion and no one religion turned out to meeting in the woods or the log school-house, or at a settler's home; we had no fine churches in those days. Mormons puzzled the unwary by their startling pretense at new revelations. Or, if disappointed by the regular minister, old Father Petty would recite in prayer Belshazzar's feast in trembling tones of piety."
In early day when public gatherings were occasions of great ex- citement and means of conveyance rare the people would walk a great way to church. Girls have been known to walk six miles to church, to " meeting " as it was termed in those days. Persons
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very often would ride horseback, two or three on a horse, and go ten or fifteen miles in this way, bringing along their bread and cheese.
Until public buildings were erected meetings would be held in private honses, as they were offered by their owners, or in groves.
EDUCATION.
Though struggling through the pressure of poverty and privation the early settlers planted among thein the school-house at the earli- est practical period. So important an object as the education of their children they did not defer until they could build more comely and convenient houses. They were for a time content with such as corresponded with their rude dwellings, but soon better buildings and accommodations were provided. As may readily be supposed, the accommodations of the earliest schools were not good. Some- times schools were taught in small log houses erected for the pur- pose. Stoves and such heating apparatus as are now in use were unknown. A mud-and-stick chimney in one end of the building, with earthen hearth and fire-place wide and deep enough to take in a four-foot back-log, and smaller wood to match, served for warm- ing purposes in winter and a kind of conservatory in summer. For windows, part of a log was cut out in either side and may be a few lights of eight-by-ten glass set in, or just as likely as not the aperture would be covered over with greased paper. Writing benches were made of wide planks, or likely puncheons, resting on pins or arms, driven into two-inch auger-holes bored into the logs beneath the windows, Seats were made out of puncheons, and flooring of the same material. Everything was rude and plain, but many of America's greatest men have gone out from just ouch school-houses to grapple with the world and make names for them- selves, and have come to be an honor to their country. Among these we can name Abraham Lincoln, our martyred President, one of the noblest men ever known to the world's history. Stephen A. Douglas, one of the greatest statesmen of the age, began his career in Illinois teaching in one of these primitive school-houses.
Things are changed now. We no longer see the log school-house. Their places are filled with handsome frame or brick structures, which, for elegance and beauty of design, rival those of older settled countries; and in place of the "masters" who were " looked up to " as superior beings, and were consulted on all matters of law, physic and religion, there are teachers of liberal culture, intelligent and progressive, many of whom have a broad and comprehensive idea of education, and regard their labor as something more than merely teaching in order to make a living,-more than a knowledge of a great number of facts in the great universe of mind and mat- ter. It means culture, the developing and disciplining of all the faculties of the human mind. It is the comprehension of the entire being of man. And the school or teacher who takes charge and care of the young should provide the means and methods for carrying. forward the process in all departments of their complex nature, physical, mental and spiritual.
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EARLY MILLING.
One of the greatest difficulties encountered by the early settlers was in having their milling done. By a liberal application of enter- prise and muscle they experienced but little trouble in producing an abundance of the cereals, but having it converted into breadstuff was a source of much hard labor. The hand-mill introduced was a great improvement over. the mortar or tin grater, a description of which is given elsewhere in this volume. Then the band-mill was introduced.
John Shaw ran a horse-mill for a time in Calhoun county, where the earliest settlers sometimes went, but it appears he soon aban- doned it. Wm. Ross then started one at Atlas. The burrs of this mill were limestone, and it is said that in every bushel of meal ground in this mill there would be a peck of stone dust. Many of the settlers had to travel long distances to mill, and then often wait for several days before they could get their grist.
'After the large mill was built at Rockport it was the great center for milling for all this section of country.
MORMONS.
The Mormons first settled at "Mormontown," about three miles east of Pittsfield, in 1839, and by 1845 there were 300 voters in that settlement. They were quiet and harmless. On the building of Nauvoo most of them removed to that place. They tried to work some miracles about Pittsfield, but not with very signal success. We heard of but one crime committed by them during their career in this county, and that was not particularly a Mormon crime. A man among them named Benj. Sweat was convicted of passing counterfeit gold : was caught at Jacksonville. He was very poor and excited the sympathies of the people, and a petition was pre- sented for his release, which was granted.
COTTON.
In pioneer times a little cotton was raised in the Military Tract, and as late as 1861 and 1862 there was cotton raised in Pikecounty. Lindsay Dilworth, living eight miles from Pittsfield, raised 17 pounds from three rows, each 100 feet long. One-half of it was frost-bitten : the remainder was white and fine-fibered. In 1862 Wm. Ross, jr., raised some very good cotton.
ASIATIC CHOLERA.
While this scourge wrought great devastation in some sections of the United States in 1848-'9, Pike county almost escaped its ravages. In and about Pittsfield Dr. Comstock, DeWitt St. John, David Ober and wife, Mr. Main, Alvin Hash's wife and several strangers died, and at Kinderhook there were 15 or 20 cases of the disease. It seemed to have got out into the county from Louisiana, whither it had been brought by steamers from the lower Mississippi.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
STATE IMPROVEMENTS.
The celebrated internal improvement system inaugurated by the State in 1836-'7 did not give Pike county any railroads or canals, or even promise any; but an appropriation of several thousand dollars was made, which was economically expended in the im- provement of highways. Commissioners were appointed, men were hired to superintend the work, and wagon roads were made evener or improved from Quincy through the northeastern part of the county, from Pittsfield to Florence, and one from Griggsville to the Illinois river. These works were completed, however, by county and township aid.
ORIGIN OF NAMES OF CREEKS.
McCraney's creek, formerly called " McDonald's creek," by the Government survey, was named after McCraney, who was the first settler upon its banks. He was a man of great endurance and a skillful sportsman. One day he chased down a gray wolf with his horse, wlien he placed one foot upon the animal's neck and with the other succeeded in breaking his legs so that he could get some- thing with which to completely dispatch him.
Hadley creek was named after Col. Levi Hadley, an early settler.
Dutch Church creek was named after a rocky bluff near its bank which is supposed to resemble an old Dutch church in the city of Albany, N. Y. Keyes creek was named after Willard Keyes.
Ambrosia creek was named from the purity of its waters.
Two-Mile creek was named from its crossing the bluff two miles from Atlas.
Six-Mile creek is six miles below Atlas.
Bay creek was so called from the bay into which it runs.
FIRST THINGS IN PIKE COUNTY.
The first settler in Pike county was Ebenezer Franklin, who also cut the first tree and built the first log cabin, in 1820.
The first white person born in the county was Nancy, daughter to Col. Wmn. Ross, at Atlas, May 1, 1822, who died Nov. 18, the same year.
Marcellus Ross, now living one mile east of Pittsfield, was the first white male child born in Pike county.
The first death in the county was that of Clarendon Ross, at Atlas.
Daniel Shinn brought the first wagon into the county in 1820.
Col. Benj. Barney was the first blacksmith in the county, erect- ing his shop at Atlas in 1826. He also burned the first coal in the county, it having been shipped from Pittsburg, Pa.
James Ross brought and used the first grain cradle here, in 1828.
James Ross also equipped and ran the first turner's lathe and cabinet shop, at Atlas, in 1828.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
Col. Wm. Ross built the first brick house in the county, at Atlas, in 1821.
He also erected the first store building, at Atlas, in 1826, and also the first grist-mill, a band-mill, at Atlas, about the same time.
Fielding Hanks was the first to follow tanning in Pike county.
The first Circuit Court was held at Coles' Grove, Oct. 1, 1821.
The first Court at Atlas was held " the first Thursday after the fourth Monday in April," which would be May 1, 1823.
The first court-house, within the present limits of Pike county was built at Atlas in 1824.
The first jail was erected at Atlas in 1824.
The first school was taught at Atlas by John Jay Ross in 1822.
The first Church was organized in the Ross family at Atlas prior to 1830. It was Congregational.
The first church building in Pittsfield was the Congregational, and built by Col. Ross.
Capt. Hale, a Baptist minister, probably organized the first Baptist church in Pike county.
The first library was founded at Atlas, about 1833-'4.
The first Fourth-of-July celebration was held at Atlas in 1823.
The first political meeting was held in Montezuma township in 1834, when Col. Ross, who was running for the Legislature, made a speech. About 50 voters were present, besides boys. No nomi- nations or appointments were made.
The first whisky distilled in the county was manufactured by Mr. Milhizer in 1826.
The first wheat was raised by Col. Ross and Mr. Seeley near Atlas, which was also the first ground in Pike county and made into biscuit. The flour was bolted through book muslin ..
The first apples were raised by Alfred Bissell, near New Hartford, and the first at Pittsfield by Col. Wm. Ross.
The first man hung in the Military Tract was a Mr. Cunning- ham, at Quincy.
The first man executed in Pike county was Bartholomew Barnes, at Pittsfield, Dec. 29, 1872.
The first State Senator elected from Pike county was Col. Wm. Ross.
The first County Commissioners were Capt. Leonard Ross, John Shaw and Wm. Ward.
The first County Treasurer was Nathaniel Shaw, appointed in 1821.
The first County and Circuit Clerk was James W. Whitney.
T. L. Hall, of Detroit tp., taught the first singing school, at Atlas.
. The first Justices of the Peace were Ebenezer Smith and Stephen Dewey, appointed in 1821.
The first Constable was Belus Jones, appointed in 1821.
The first Masonic lodge was held up-stairs, at the house of Col. Ross, in Atlas, between 1830 and 1834. The desk used on the occasion is still in the possession of Marcellus Ross. It is a plain
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box, strongly built, fifteen inches square and two and one-half feet high, and contains two shelves. In one side is a door swung on hinges.
WHAT THE PIONEERS HAVE DONE.
Pike county is a grand county, in many respects second to none in the State, and in almost everything that goes to make a live, prosperous community, not far behind the best. Beneath its fertile soil is coal enough to supply the State for generations; its harvests are bountiful; it enjoys a medium climate and many other things that make them a contented, prosperous and happy people; but the people owe much to those who opened up these avenues that have led to their present condition and happy surroundings. Unremit- ting toil and labor have driven off the sickly miasmas that brooded over swampy prairies. Energy and perseverance have peopled every section of the wild lands, and changed them from wastes and deserts to gardens of beauty and profit. When but a few years ago the barking wolves made the night hideous with their wild shrieks and howls, now is heard only the lowing and bleating of domestic ani- mals. Only a half century ago the wild whoop of the Indian rent the air where now are heard the engine and rumbling trains of ears, bearing away to markets the products of the soil and the labor of its people. Then the savage built his rude huts on the spot where now rise the dwellings and school-houses and church spires of eivil- ized life. . How great the transformation! This change has been brought about by the incessant toil and aggregated labor of thou- sands of tired hands and anxious hearts, and the noble aspirations of such men and women as make any country great. What will another half century accomplish?
There are few, very few, of these old pioneers yet lingering on the shores of time as connecting links of the past with the present. What must their thoughts be as with their dim eyes they view the scenes that surround them? We often hear people talk about the old-fogy ideas and fogy ways, and want of enterprise on the part of the old men who have gone through the experiences of pioneer life. Sometimes, perhaps, such remarks are just, but, considering the experiences, education and entire life of such inen, such remarks are better unsaid. They have had their trials, misfortunes, hardships and adventures, and shall we now, as they are passing far down the western declivity of life, and many of them gone, point to them the finger of derision and laugh and sneer at the simplicity of their ways? Let us rather cheer them up, revere and respect them, for beneath those rough exteriors beat hearts as noble as ever throbbed in the human breast. These veterans have been compelled to live for weeks upon hominy and, if bread at all, it was bread made from corn ground in hand-mills, or pounded up with mortars. Their children have been destitute of shoes during the winter ; their families had no clothing except what was carded, spun, wove and made into garments by their own hands; schools they had none;
Col Viliam Ross
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churches they had none; afflicted with sickness incident to all new countries, sometimes the entire family at once; luxuries of life they had none; the auxiliaries, improvements, inventions and labor-sav- ing machinery of to-day they had not; and what they possessed they obtained by the hardest of labor and individual exertions; yet they bore these hardships and privations without murmuring, hoping for better times to come, and often, too, with but little prospects of realization.
As before mentioned, the changes written on every hand are most wonderful. It has been but three-score years since the white man began to exercise dominion over this region, erst the home of the red man, yet the visitor of to-day, ignorant of the past of the county, could scarcely be made to realize that within these years there has grown up a population of 50,000 people, who in all the accomplish- ments of life are as far advanced as are inhabitants of the counties of older States. Schools, churches, colleges, palatial dwellings, beauti- ful grounds, large, well-cultivated and productive farms, as well as cities, towns and busy manufactories, have grown up, and occupy the hunting grounds and camping places of the Indians, and in every direction there are evidences of wealth, comfort and luxury. There is but little left of the old landmarks. Advanced civilization and the progressive demands of revolving years have obliterated all traces of Indian occupancy, until they are only remembered in name.
In closing this chapter we again would impress upon the minds of our readers the fact that they owe a debt of gratitude to those who pioneered Pike county, which can be but partially repaid. Never grow unmindful of the peril and adventure, fortitude, self- sacrifice and heroic devotion so prominently displayed in their lives. As time sweeps on its ceaseless flight, may the cherished memories of them lose none of their greenness, but may the future genera- tions alike cherish and perpetuate them with a just devotion to gratitude.
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CHAPTER III. ORGANIC HISTORY.
THE MILITARY TRACT.
At the close of the war between the United States and England in 1812 our Government laid off a tract of land in Illinois for the soldiers who participated in that war. The land thus appropriated was embraced in the region between the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers, and south of the north line of Mercer county. Its northern boundary, therefore, ran east to Peru on the Illinois river, and a little south of the middle of Bureau and Henry counties. To it the name " Military Tract " was given, and by that name this section is still known. Within this boundary is embraced one of the most fertile regions of the globe. Scarcely had Congress made the proper provisions to enable the soldiers to secure their land ere a few of the most daring and resolute started to possess it. There were only a few, however, who at first regarded their " quarter-section " of suf- ficient value to induce them to endure the hardships of the pioneer in its settlement and improvement. Many of them sold their patent to a fine " prairie quarter " in this county for one hundred dollars, others for less, while some traded theirs for a horse, a cow, or a watch, regarding themselves as just so much ahead. It is said that an old shoemaker, of New York city, bought several as fine quarters of land as are in Pike county with a pair of shoes. He would make a pair of shoes for which the soldier would deed him his "patent quarter" of land. This was a source of no little trouble to the actual settlers, for they could not always tell which quarter of land belonged to a soldier, or which was " Congress land" and could be pre-empted. Even when a settler found a suitable location known to be " patent land," with a desire to purchase, he experienced great difficulty in finding the owner, and often did not find him until he had put hundreds of dollars' worth of improvements on it, when the patentee was sure to turn up. Many of the early settlers presumed that the owner never would be known; but in many instances, after a patent quarter-section was made valuable by improvement, the original patent would be brought on by some one, who would oust the occupant and take possession, sometimes paying him some- thing for his improvements and sometimes not. Many holders of
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patents had no pity. This condition of affairs presented a tempta- tion to merciless "land-sharks," who would come into this section and work up cases, ostensibly for the original patentees, but really for their own pockets. The most notorious of these was one Toliver Craig, who actually made it a business to forge patents and deeds. This he carried on extensively from 1847 to 1854, especially in Knox and Fulton counties, and to some extent in Pike. He had forty bogus deeds put on record in one day at Knoxville. He was arrested in New York State, in 1854, by O. M. Boggess, of Mon- mouth, and taken to the jail at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attempted suicide by arsenic; but at the end of the year he was released on bail.
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