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 23
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"April 17, 1833.
"SAMUEL ALEXANDER, "EARL PEIRCE. "JOHN W. STERNE."
Each of these gentlemen was paid $36 for his services.
The town was platted and a sale of lots held April 15, 1833. The records proceed as follows: "The amount of notes and cash, after paying Wm. Ross, Esq., $200 borrowed of him to enter the quar- ter section on which the town of Pittsfield is located; the expenses to Alexander Peirce and Sterne $108, for locating said seat of jus- tice; also, for advertising sale of lots, paying for the survey of the same, making plat and all the expenses of the Commissioners'
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Court, which have acerned in and about the location, sale of lots, laying off the town, etc., leaves the amount of $901.88, which sum is delivered over to the Treasurer as a special fund for the purpose of erecting public buildings." Thus it will be seen that the county purchased the land upon which the business and much of the resi- dence portion of the town of Pittsfield now stands for the sum of $200. The new town having been surveyed, large hard-wood stakes were driven, designating the corner of each lot, and being also the only guide to the location of streets.
April 15 was the day appointed for the first sale of lots at public auction. The settlers assembled from all parts of the county upon the site of the proposed village, each anxious to become the owner of a town lot. This and subsequent sales were held, and lots seem to have met with a ready sale at fair prices, which is the best evi- dence that the pioneers were not only enthusiastic in sentiment in relation to the bright prospects and future greatness of the town they were building, but were also willing to lend all the material aid in their power to the consummation of the desired end.
Another sale of lots was held Oct. 28, 1833, from which the county realized $1,150.74 cash, and notes to the amount of $876.73. Another sale was held June 4, 1834, when 38 lots were sold, real- izing $1,060 cash, after deducting $67 as expenses, and $704 worth of notes. Another sale was had Monday, May 2, 1836, when 102 lots were sold for $9,354.50. Another, Oct. 6, 1837, when 28 lots brought $4,110.
THE CLERK RESIGNS.
The following document appears upon pages 121 and 122 of 2d volume of County Commissioners' Court records. It is the resig- nation of William Ross, as Clerk. He had served the county in that capacity faithfully and ably for a decade, and now as he is about to leave he writes his old associates the following resignation :
ATLAS, Sept. 1, 1834
To the Hon. Benj. Barney, Geo. W. Hinman and Andrew Phillips, County Com- missioners for the County of Pike, and State of Illinois :
GENTLEMEN :- The period will soon arrive in which it will become my duty to resign to you the office I hold on the appointment of your Court, on account of my having been elected a member of the next General Assembly of this State. To hold both offices is incompatible with the Constitution of our State and contrary to my wishes. I will therefore for the purpose of giving the Court time to select my successor, propose to make this my resignation of the office of Clerk of your Court, to take effect on the 25th day of November, 1834.
In doing this, I beg of you to do me the justice to be assured that in presenting myself as a candidate at the late election, which has terminated in the necessity of my withdrawing my services from you, it is not without a strict regard to all the consi lerations which I conceive bind a dutiful citizen to his country. I have been influenced by no ambitious motives or self-aggrandizement; but my sole object has been to restore and sustain the dign'ty of our country.
Permit me here to rem irk that it is a source of great pleasure to me that during a period of about ten years which I have had the honor to serve this county in sev- eral important offices, I have been so fortunate as to discharge those duties to the satisfaction of my fellow-citizens generally.
Relying upon the guidance of that Being which controls the destinies of man, I
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hope and trust that I may be be permitted to retain that continuation of confidence which has been so recently manifested toward me until my latest breath.
With sentiments of great personal consideration,
I remain, yours sincerely,
W. Ross, C. C. C. C. P. C.
AD QUOD DAMNUM.
This was a process to secure a mill site. In those early times the milling of the country was of no little importance. Mills were of such great public necessity, that they were permitted to be located upon any person's land, if the miller thought the site desirable. Sites along the streams were selected for water-power. A person looking for a mill-site would follow up and down the stream for the desired location, and when found he would go before the Com- missioners' Court and secure a writ of ad quod damnum. This would enable the miller to have the adjoining land officially exam- ined and the amount of damage for making the dam was secured.
The old records contained numerous applications for these"writs. We quote one only as a specimen of others:
" On application of Wm. Ross, and previous notice having been given of his in- tention, by publication on the door of the court-house for four weeks preceding the sitting of the Court, it is ordered that a writ of ad quod damnum issue, directed to the Sheriff of the county, commanding him to summon twelve good and law- ful men of his county to meet on the southeast quarter of section 18, in township 6 south, and range 5 west, to locate and set apart by metes and bounds so much of the said quarter section, not exceeding three acres, as they shall think neces- ary for the purpose of erecting a dam across the Sny Carte for a water grist and aw-mill."
FIRST COURT-IIOUSE AT PITTSFIELD.
The county-seat having been re-located, a town laid out, lots sold, business houses and dwellings being erected, it became the duty of the Court to have a court-house built in the new town. Accordingly, Tuesday, June 4, 1833, the contract for building a. court-house at Pittsfield was let to Israel N. Burtt, he agreeing to erect the structure for $1,095. This he speedily did, and the old building still stands upon the street at the corner of the alley, facing and just north of the Public Square. It is a frame build- ing, in a good state of preservation, and is occupied by Mr. Heck as a bakery and grocery.
PRESENT COURT-HOUSE.
Two years had scarcely rolled by ere the building of a new court- house was begun to be agitated. Some of the more aristocratic thought the county should have a finer court edifice, one more in . keeping with the wealth and progress of the county. It is true the county had grown rapidly in population and wealth. Notice, therefore, was given by the Court that plans for a new building would be received. Upon the 5th day of February, 1836, the Court accepted the plans that were presented by Benjamin L. Osborne, and gave him a premium of $20 for the plans.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
The county not owning desirable ground, as it was thought, upon which to locate the contemplated structure, the Court appointed James Johnson, James D. Morrison and William Watson agents to procure by purchase or exchange a suitable piece of ground. This committee accordingly procured of Daniel B. Bush a part of lot 6, block 5, being the whole front of .said lot upon the Public Square, running back 100 feet, for which they gave Mr. Bush a part of lot S, block 5. This location was not satisfactory to all par- ties, and quite a bitter war arose as to where the court-house should stand. It was at last decided that it should be located upon the center of the Public Square.
At the September term, 1836, Win. Ross, Uriah Brown and James Johnson were appointed agents upon the part of the county to contract for the erection of a court-house, " said building to be placed in the center of the Public Square, and not to cost over $15,000." These gentlemen entered into contract with Benjamin T. Osborne, George D. Foot and Judson Clement for the erection of the court-house for the sum of $15,000. Daniel D. White, Henry Caswell and Lyman Beeman were appointed a committee to superintend its erection.
- The construction of the court-house was pushed rapidly on, and Dec. 8, 1838, it was delivered over to the Sheriff, though in an un- finished condition. It was used for court purposes in this way for a time before completion. By June, 1839, it was completed, and Foot, Clement and Osborne were paid the balance due them in county orders, upon which the county paid 12 per cent. interest.
#This structure still stands and is in use to-day. It is located in the center of a small square, which is set with many large and beautiful trees. The main upper room is used for circuit court purposes. Besides this room there are two other sinaller ones, one of which is occupied by the State's Attorney, the other a jury room. Upon the main floor there is a hall-way running through the build- ing from north to south. Upon either side of this are offices for the county officials. Upon the west side are the County Judges, Sheriff's and School Superintendent's offices, and upon the oppo- site side are the offices of the County Treasurer and Surveyor.
This building when erected was among the finest and largest court-houses in the West, and for many years it stood foremost among the public buildings of Illinois, and was pointed to with pride, not only by the citizens of Pike county. but by those through- out Central Illinois. It stood as a monument of the enterprise of the pioneers of this section, and was one of the grandest evidences of the prosperity of the newly settled State. It stands to-day as solid as when first built. Every stone and brick is in its place, and every timber has stood the storms of nearly half a century un- shaken. Around this old building cluster pleasant recollections of the long-ago. Within its storm-beaten walls have been heard pleas as rich in eloquence as were ever presented to judge or jury. Within those old walls, made sacred by time and the memories of
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some of the grandest characters and most gifted men known in the history of Illinois, many a scene full of historic interest has oc- curred, which, could we accurately picture, would be read more as a romance than prosaic historyt What numbers of trembling and downcast prisoners have stood before the learned tribunal within the old upper room, to plead "Guilty," or " Not Guilty!" Then the long, hotly-contested trial came; witnesses examined and cross- examined; the wrangle and wordy wars between the lawyers; the appeal to the jury and addresses, which for logic, eloquence, touch- ing, sympathetic eloquence, have not been excelled in all the broad land. How many times have the twelve jurors, sworn to be im- partial, filed into their little secret room, to consult and decide the fate of the prisoner at the bar! Then how often have the joyous words come forth, "Not Guilty!" But, again, how very many have stood before the Judge to hear in measured tones their sen- tence! Sometimes it was thought Justice was outraged; that the Judge, jury and Prosecuting Attorney had prostituted their high positions, violated their sworn duty, and made easy the escape for culprits; yet, taking it all in all, the goddess of justice has shed no more tears over insults to her holy and righteous charge here than she has at any other judgment-bar in the State. Law and justice have almost always been vindicated, and the offender punished.
Could these old walls speak and tell us of the eloquent and effect- ive pleadings of Lincoln, Baker, Richardson, MeDougal, Browning, Bushnell, Manning, Walker and others, or of the learned decisions of Douglas, Young, Thomas and Walker, that they have listened to, how eagerly we would seek them! We do not forget that at the pres- ent time justice is as swiftly vindicated as ever before; that the Pike county Bar is at its maximum in point of legal ability. It takes the mazes of time to add the luster of fame to the labors and char- acter of most men. That which is of the past, or of the future, we are wont to believe possesses more inerit than that which we have with ns. Thus it is with the legal lights of to-day.
Just west of the court-house and within the Court Square stands the " fire- proof." This building contains the offices of the Circuit and County Clerks, and was erected in 1854. It was first ordered built upon the northwest corner of the Square, but that order was rescinded and it was decided to erect it "near the west gate of the Public Square, upon the south side of the walk, the south side ranging with the south side of the court-house, the west end 24 feet from the fence of the Public Square."
FENCE AROUND THE SQUARE.
Speaking of the fence around the Public Square calls to mind an order of the Court of June, 1845, giving the President and Trustees of Pittsfield permission to fence the Public Square and plant within the enclosure ornamental or shade trees. Heretofore, we presume, there was neither fence nor shrubbery in the vicinity of the court-house, save the hazel-brush that stood in its native
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
growth within the Square .. Here, we are told that Win. R. Peters often fed his cattle.
We find in the records of the Board of Supervisors that in April, 1854, that body appropriated $200, on condition that the town of Pittsfield should appropriate a like amount, to build a fence around the Public Square, "ten feet inside of present fence, and put hitch- ing posts where the fence stood."
FIRST JAIL AT PITTSFIELD.
Necessarily, as faithful historians, we are compelled to mar the pleasant progress of this chapter by reference to prison bars. It seems as the county advanced in wealth and population the evil principle kept pace with it; and as immaculate and good as the pioneer fathers undoubtedly were, even among them there were wicked and vicious characters. The old log jail at Atlas never was a very strong or secure one, and prisoners were continually escap- ing. When the county-seat was moved to Pittsfield, it was deter- mined to build a good, substantial jail. Accordingly the contract for building a jail was let to M. E. Rattan, March 5, 1835, for a prison to cost $3,889. The building was to be 28x36 in size, two stories high, and to be made of stone. It appears that considerable time was employed in its erection, for we find it was not received by the county until June, 1839, when Mr. Rattan was allowed $300 for the extra work performed.
A NEW REGIME IN CHOOSING COMMISSIONERS.
Heretofore the terms of office of all three of the Commissioners had expired at the same time, being elected for two years; but in 1838 a new rule was adopted, in compliance with an act of the Leg- islature. Now they were to be elected for three years and one re- tire every year, thus leaving two experienced men in office. For the first terms, however, one of them should serve only one year, another two, and the third three years. On convening at the fall term of this year they drew lots to decide the term each should serve. Three pieces of paper, upon which were written " one year," "two years," "three years," respectively, were thrown together, and each Commissioner drew one. John W. Burch drew "one year," Alfred Grubb, "two years," and John Neeley "three years."
POOR FARM.
At the December term, 1843, the Court provided a farm for the poor of the county, and instead of " letting out" or " selling" the panpers as heretofore, they were obliged to go to that farm. The first pauper of whom we find mention on the records was Joseph Moore. He died in June, 1830. Green Street was the next one mentioned.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
LAST MEETINGS.
The Commissioners' Court continued to manage the affairs of the county until 1849, when the new Constitution of the State went into effect, which abolished this time-honored Court. Before adjourning finally, however, it ordered a vote to be taken for or against township organization, and then adjourned till "court in course," but never re-assembled.
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CHAPTER V.
GEOLOGY .*
A large proportion of the upland of Pike county was originally heavily timbered, but there are several small prairies in the cen- tral and northern portions. It is a well-watered county, and the valley of the Mississippi is from 8 to 12 miles wide, most of it lying on the Illinois side. More than one-fifth of the area of the county lies in this valley. The general level of the uplands may be estimated at from 200 to 300 feet above the great water courses, with no very well-defined water-shed. The soil on the timbered lands is generally a chocolate-colored clay loam, becoming lighter in color on the banks of the streams and in the vicinity of the river bluffs.
The geological structure of this county is somewhat peculiar, and the strata exposed within its limits comprise the upper part of the Niagara limestone, the whole series of Lower Carboniferous limestones except the Chester group, and a limited thickness of Coal Measures, with the usual surface deposits of Loess and Drift. The most northerly outcrop of Devonian beds is in Calhoun county. The Loess and Drift measure 40 to 100 feet in thickness in Pike county, the Coal Measures 20 to 60, St. Louis limestone one to 30, Keokuk group 100 to 125. Burlington limestone 150 to 200, Kin- derhook 100 to 120, and the Niagara limestone one to 50.
The Niagara limestone is found only in the southwest part of the county, where its main outcrop is at the base of the bluffs between Rockport and the south line of the county and for a short distance up Six-Mile creek. It contains a few fossils at the out- crop near Pleasant Hill, among which are Trilobites and a few shells. At Mr. Wells' place, N. W. ¿ sec, 17, Pleasant Ilill town- ship, the buff-colored magnesia beds of this group are exposed about 10 feet in thickness, and the rock has been quarried for building-stone. On the S. E. t sec. 8 there is an exposure of about 22 feet of this limestone, the lower 10 feet being a gray, even- bedded limestone, and the upper 12 feet a buff-colored magnesian
*Abstracted from State Geological Report by Prof. A. H. Worthen.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
rock, closely resembling the rock from the Grafton quarries. It is the prevailing rock at Pleasant Hill, where it forms a limestone bench about 30 feet high, above the road, at the base of the bluffs. Two miles north of Pleasant Hill, on a branch of Six-Mile creek, the upper part of this limestone is exposed in the bed of the creek.
KINDERHOOK GROUP.
One of the best exposures of this group in this county is just above Kinderhook: whence the name. It is at the point of the bluff, and comprises 20 feet of Loess, 15 of Burlington limestone, 6 of thin-bedded, fine-grained limestone, 36 of thin-bedded sandstone and sandy shales, and 40 feet of clay and sandy shales, partly hidden. Fossil shells are found in the sandstone. This group is also well exposed at Rockport and two miles below Atlas, and somewhat exposed at the base of the Illinois river bluffs. Almost everywhere in the county the Burlington limestone overlies the group, which determines the topographical features of the region also underlaid by the shales and gritstones of the group.
BURLINGTON LIMESTONE.
This limestone forms the bed rock over fully one-half the up- lands. It is from 50 to 100 feet in thickness, and its best expo- sures are among the river bluffs. It is a rather coarse-grained, gray stone, interspersed with brown layers, and is largely com- posed of the fossilized remains of crinoids and mollusks. In the Mississippi bluff, near the north line of the county, 40 feet or more of the lower portion of this limestone is exposed, forming the upper escarpment of the bluff, and consisting of alternate beds of gray and brown limestone, usually in regular and tolerably thick beds. It has fossils, and has been extensively quarried on Big Blue creek for building purposes. On the eastern side of the county the most northerly outcrop of this limestone is near Griggsville Landing, where the cherty beds of the upper division of this rock are exposed at the base of the bluff. The outcrop here is about 50 feet thick. It appears about the same at Montezuma, and is seen exposed at points all along these bluffs. It is well exposed on Bay creek, forming the main portion of the bluffs along this stream from near Pittsfield to the southeast corner of the county. It is the most im- portant of all the limestones exposed in this county, both as regards extent of exposure and its economical value. As a building stone it is not equal to the magnesian beds of the Niagara group, as found near Pleasant Hill, but is nevertheless very durable. It can be found over half the county.
KEOKUK GROUP.
This group lics just above the Burlington limestone, and out- crops over a large portion of the northern and northeastern parts of the county, where it is frequently found immediately beneath
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
the Coal Measures. The St. Louis group, which should properly intervene, was worn away before the coal epoch. It consists of light gray and bluish gray cherty limestones at the base, which closely resemble the upper beds of the Burlington limestone. Some of the limestone strata are as crinoidal in their structure as the Burlington, but they are usually more bluish gray in color. There is usually a series of cherty beds, 10 to 30 feet in thickness, separating the main limestones of the two groups, which may properly be regarded as transitional. The upper division consists of lime-clay shales and thin-bedded limestones, containing geodes lined with crystallized quartz, chalcedony, calcite, dolomite, crystals of zinc blende and iron pyrites. The pyrites is usually in minute crystals implanted on quartz.
This division may be seen a mile and a half southeast of Griggsville, and where it first appears beneath the Coal Measures the geodes are imbedded in a ferruginous sandstone, which perhaps represents the conglomerate usually lying at the base of the Coal Measures. This indicates that before or during the formation of this conglom- erate the shales originally inclosing the geodes were swept away; and the geodes were then enclosed in sand which subsequently hardened. These geode-bearing limestones are exposed near Perry Springs, where the waters derive their mineral ingredients from these beds. At Chambersburg, the limestones of this group form the bed of McGee's creek. Other prominent exposures of these limestones are at Griggsville Landing, on Hadley's creek, near Huntley's coal-bank, etc. From this stratum much good building stone has been quarried.
ST. LOUIS GROUP.
On the banks of McGee's creek only are indications of the pres- ence of this group. The beds exposed here consist of brown mag- nesian limestone and shales, 20 to 30 feet thick. A mile and a half northwest of Perry quarries have been opened in these beds, and about three miles north of Perry Springs they are again exposed, overlaid by shale, the whole being about 20 feet in thickness.
COAL MEASURES.
The coal formation occupies but a limited area in the central and northern portions of this county, underlying the whole of New Salem township, and a portion only of the four surrounding town- ships. The thickness does not probably exceed 60 feet. The fol- lowing are the principal points where coal has been dug in Pike county :
Huntley's, N.W. ¿ sec. 15, Hadley township; coal 16 to 24 inches thick, overlaid by about 6 inches of black shale.
Huntley's new bank, N.W. ¿ sec. 10, Hadley township; bed 6 feet thick, with a parting of clay shale in the middle, abont 2 inches in thickness. The coal in the upper part of this seam is rather soft, and contains considerable iron bisulphide. The lower division
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
affords a harder and better coal and rests upon a gray fire clay 2 feet or more in thickness.
Three miles east of Barry coal has been dug on a small branch south of the Philadelphia road; and a mile further south there is a blue clay shale 25 to 30 feet thick exposed along the creek which intersects the river bluffs near New Canton. It contains septaria and tuten-mergel, and closely resembles the shale over the coal at Huntley's mine.
From this point the western boundary of the Coal Measures trends southeastwardly to Houseworth's coal bank, two miles and a half northwest of Pittsfield, on N. W. ¿ sec. 16, Pittsfield township. Coal about 18 inches thick, overlaid by about three feet of dark blue shale, passing upward into sandy shale 10 feet more.
Four miles west of Griggsville, coal is found on Mr. Dunham's place. It is 14 to 20 inches thick, overlaid by about two feet of fossiliferous black shale. This seam of coal outcrops on S. E. ¿ sec. 11, same township, and in the ravines between Griggsville and Philadelphia, via New Salem.
A half mile south of Griggsville coal has also been worked, the seam being 18 to 24 inches thick.
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