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 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
332
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
more than an inch in depth, and so erushed and disfigured his face that it could not be recognized by Dr. Thomas, who had lived a near neighbor to deceased for 20 years.
M " While engaged in this work of death, Mr. Oyler, who was a short distance off and saw it all, halloved and started to run to you. On seeing him you jumped over the fence and started to run. You were pursued and captured in a few minutes, and blood was found all over the heel of your boot, with hair and whiskers still adhering to it. Soon afterward you declared that you had not seen deceased on that day.
"In answer to all this proof you produced a single witness, your brother, who testified that in the fall of 1869 deceased made some threats against you, which, so far as the evidence shows, he never attempted to execute. Beyond this you offer no explanation or justification of this dreadful erime.
". Upon this proof the jury have found you guilty of murder, and their verdict declares that you shall suffer death by hanging. You have been well defended by able attorneys, fairly tried, and, as it seems to me, properly convicted; and it only remains now for the Court to pronounce the judgment of the law, which is, to deprive you of your life. Unpleasant as this duty is, I am not at liberty to shrink from it. You have deprived John Gresham of his life by a foul and brutal murder, and the law demands your life as the pen- alty. As the time which can be extended to you to prepare to meet this dreadful punishment is limited by law, let me admonish yon not to spend it in vain efforts to arrest your doom, but rather devote every moment of the time allotted you to prepare for the final trial wherein injustice is never done and where all must answer for every act of his life. It is the order of this Court, Bar- tholomew Barnes, that yon be taken from here to the county jail of this county and there confined until Friday, the twenty-ninth day of December, 1871, and that between the hours of 10 o'clock A. M. and 3. p. M. of said day, in said jail, and in the presence of the wit- nesses required by law, hanged by the neck until you are dead."
We take the following account of the execution from the Old Flag of Jan. 4. 1872:
"The dreadful day having arrived, a large crowd gathered around the jail, which increased constantly as the hour of execution ap- proached. There was no disturbance, however, the anxiety of sus- pense seeming to pervade the throng and keep them quiet, and waiting almost with suspended breath until the tragedy was over. The execution was delayed until afternoon in order to give the prisoner all the time possible. About half past one, or later, in company with the physicians, the jury and others, we were admitted to the Sheriff's room and waited the last preparations for the final scene. The leave-taking of the brother and sister and relatives of the prisoner we did not witness. At about a quarter past two the great iron door leading from the Sheriff's room into the hall of the jail was unbarred, and those in waiting entered the hall and took
PIKE COUNTY JAIL
335
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
places in front of the scaffold and waited with uncovered heads the appearance of the prisoner. ' We need hardly tell our readers there was stillness in that company and that all sound was hushed ex- cept the long-drawn breathings of men who knew they stood in the chamber of Death, that a living mortal man was soon to be his victim, and that a fellow being was within a few moments of eternity and judgment. There was the scaffold, rather a rough-looking structure, and of larger dimensions than we had expected to see; above it, from a pulley fastened to a beam, hung a rope apparently about half an inch in thickness, with knot and noose on the end of it.
" As we stood there contemplating the scene, and held our watch to note the time, some few remarks were made in a whisper and several times a reporter asked us, ' What time is it now ?' Seven- teen minutes past two, eighteen minutes, nineteen minutes, each elapsing minute increasing the anxiety of suspense and expectation; twenty minutes, and the Sheriff and prisoner, accompanied with deputies and ministers, appeared on the corridor and descended one flight of steps and ascended the other which led to the scaffold. The prisoner was pale from long confinement, but we could not say that he flinched or quailed at the sight of the gallows or when standing on the platform. When his eyes first caught sight of scaffold and rope there was an expression of surprise which was momentary, and that was all. He was well dressed in a black suit with a fine shirt, white stockings and slippers, and looked like a gentleman. He was told to be seated on a seat of boards that had been prepared, which he did, Revs. Priestly and Johnsey, Methodist preachers, sitting on each side of him. They sat only for a moment when deputy Landrum told him to stand up, which he did. They both stood close to the grated window when the death warrant was read to him by Mr. Landrum distinctly, but with evident emotion, and was heard by the prisoner attentively, but without any mani- festations whatever. When the reading was over and Mr. Landrum had folded the paper, 'Let us pray ' was announced, and a prayer was pronounced by Rev. Mr. Johnsey, which to our ear was some- what peculiar if not poetical, the prisoner all the while uttering fervid ejaculations, such as, 'O Lord, have mercy on my soul!' On rising from his knees after the prayer he deliberately stepped forward, and taking the rope in his right hand, passed the noose into his left and seemed to take a careful look at it. He was then told, if he had any thing to say, to say it now. He hesitated a moment as if not fully comprehending what was meant; but upon being told a second time, he said, ' Well, I say that I believe all my sins have been pardoned; and I thank the jailor for his kindness to me, and I hope that no one will ever again be hung.' He was then told to take farewell of all; and having shaken hands with the ministers, Sheriff and attendants, he asked leave to pray once him- self, and was told to do so, when, kneeling down with his face toward the window in the west, he said, as we understood, ' O Lord,
21
336
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
I pray thee to forgive my sins, to save my soul and take me to heaven,' repeating the petitions, as we thought, twice or more. He then arose and stepped forward on the trap, and the rope was put over his head and adjusted about his neek, and the black cap drawn over his face, his ha :ds and feet having been previously tied, he all the while praying. ' O Lord, save my soul."
"This was the most solemn and anxious moment of the execution, both to the doomed man and to the spectators. There stood a man on the immediate confines of two worlds, just ready to step into eternity and know the grand secret; only one moment more to live in this life.
" The cap was drawn over his face at twenty-five minutes past two; the elapsing seconds now seemed as long as minutes; the Sheriff and an attendant were the last to come down from the steps. The fatal lever which should spring the trap was at the bottom, con- cealed by a piece of carpet. 'What time is it now?' said the re- porter to ns. Twenty-five minutes and fifteen seconds past two, and quick as a flash the man who was standing on the scaffold and still saying, 'O Lord, save my soul,' dropped till his head hung more than six inches below. There was no noise more than the sudden tightening of the cord with a heavy weight would occasion. A trap door swung into a niche prepared to receive it and remained there." The rope had been perfectly tested and did not stretch the least. The fall was more than six feet. His neck had been instantly broken and all pain was over. The victim did not struggle at all. At the end of the first minute there was a slight motion of the feet and limbs, swaying slightly, which was continned until after the end of the second minute, and evidently caused by muscular con- traction. At the end of three and a half minutes there was one violent and last contraction of muscle; shoulders heaved and the whole body was lifted up, and then relapsed and hung motionless; at the end of twenty minutes the doctors pronounced Barnes dead, and at the end of twenty-five minutes the body was cut down and laid ont, while a further examination was made by the doctors, who pronounced his neck broken and his life to be extinct; at the end of thirty minutes from the time of the drop and within about five minutes of 3 o'clock he was placed in a coffin and at once carried ont and delivered to his relatives to be taken to Pleasant Hill for burial."
The preparations for the hanging had been very complete, and there was not a single mistake or slightest failure in any particular; and Sheriff McFarland deserves praise for the manner in which he bore himself and performed his melancholy duties.
Barnes made a " confession " in which he insisted to the last that he did not mean to kill Gresham, and elaimed that he was drunk and did not know what he was abont. The warrant was printed it a very large plain hand by the pen of doctor J. J. Topliff, who was Circuit Clerk at the time.
337
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
John Barnes,
cousin of the preceding, was indicted Nov. 29, 1871, for the murder of MeLaughlin, in Detroit, on the sixteenth of that month. The name of the murdered man was ascertained only by its being marked on his arm with India ink. Both the men had been in a saloon drinking and had had a quarrel about a red ball. McLangh- lin shook his fist in Barnes' face and told him not to open his face again about it. He turned around, and when his eyes were averted Barnes jumped to his feet having a knife in his hand which he swung with great force, the blade striking Mclaughlin's face and neck, sev- ering the jugular vein and windpipe and completely cutting his throat. Barnes then made a back stroke which missed MeLaughlin, who then staggered into a back room and fell dead. Barnes was immediately arrested and committed to the Pittsfield, jail where, sometime after his indictment, he gradually wasted away with pnl- monary consumption and died.
Jack Connor, alias Wm. C. Walton, and Chas. Berry,
were indicted in the Pike Circuit Court Oct. 18, 1872, for man- slaughter. April 11, 1873, Connor was acquitted and Berry was convicted and sentenced for one year.
Peter B. Ford.
On the night of May 3, 1872, George DeHaven, of Barry, was killed on a shebang boat just above Florence, by Peter B. Ford. Two disreputable women and two or three low-lived men . were on board. "Tack," Henry Schaffner and DeHaven came on the boat, which was owned by the Fords. After drinking awhile Tack hauled open his coat and declared he was the best man on board, and attacked Elisha N. Ford. At the same time Dellaven sprang at Peter Ford with brass knuckles on one hand and a cocked revolver in the other, pointed at Peter's breast. Peter knocked the revolver aside and shot DeHaven, who died in about 20 minutes. Elisha and the two women were arrested, but after examination were dis- charged. Peter was also arrested, and indicted Oct. 21, 1872, for murder, was convicted, and " sent up" for 18 years. A motion for a new trial was made, but denied, and the sentence was executed.
James Ray and L. J. Hall.
At Pleasant Hill, June 22, 1872, L. J. Hall, a grocer, had a controversy with a Mr. MeGinn, when a young man named James Ray interfered, knocking MeGinn down with a beer glass and beating him and stamping upon him, Hall meanwhile keeping off all who would interfere. When the beating ceased MeGinn was found dead. Hall then gave Ray some money, telling him to make his escape, which it seems he did most effectually. Hall was arrested, and examined, but acquitted of being au accessory. McGinn left a wife and eight children.
338
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
Matthew Harris and Thomas Stapleton.
At a place called the cut-off, on the Sny Levee, in the spring of 1873 were two large squads of men at work. The one working higher up the river received $2.00 per day to each man and those below received $1.75. After those above had completed their work, their employers told them they could go and work with those below if they were will- ing to work at the same rates. They all went to work, but after awhile became dissatisfied with the wages, threatened to strike, and made a good deal of disturbance. "Their employers discharged several of the ring-leaders who still continued to make trouble. When pay- day arrived the strikers drank a great deal, came to the place of work and were determined, as they said, to clean out Harris, the time-keeper, and Stapleton, the "walking-boss." As the two latter were coming from the store after dinner, the mob of strikers fell upon them and Harris and Stapleton both fired at the first man, Pat Vaughan, killing him and slightly injuring another man. This proceeding deterred the rioters from any further aggressions. Stapleton and Harris were arrested, but to keep them safe from the rioters they were lodged in the jail at Pittsfield. They were in- dicted April 12- following, tried, convicted of murder, and July 1 both were sentenced to State prison for one year.
Andrew Hamilton.
Near Nebo, Feb. 5, 1875, a number of young people assembled at the house of Mrs. McKee, for the purpose of taking part in a dance. Among those present were Andrew Hamilton and Clifton U. Daniels, both young men and sons of well-known farmers in the vicinity. During the dance a quarrel arose between Hamilton and Daniels, when the former drew a revolver and shot Daniels in the neck at its juncture with the chest. The wounded man stag- gered against the wall and fell dead almost instantly. Hamilton immediately fled, and, so far as appears from the records, has never been captured.
John A. Thomas
was indicted Oct. 14, 1876, for murder, but three days afterward was acquitted.
John H. Mallory.
A man named Davis got to peeping around Mallory's house at night to see some girls, and Mallory, discovering the fact, ran out with a gun and shot Davis as he dodged behind a cedar bush, and killed him. This occurred at Barry. Mallory was indicted Oeto- ber 14, 1876. for manslaughter. The case dragged along in the Courts until April 6, 1878, when the accused was acquitted.
339
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
George Haskins.
About four miles northwest of Kinderhook a quarrel took place, March 4, 1877, between two young men, Geo. Ilaskins and a Mr. Simpkins, originating in a controversy about a dog biting a sister of Simpkins. A tussle ensned during which Simpkins was stabbed with a knife, and from the effects of the wound he shortly after- ward died. Haskins was arrested, and April 10, 1877, he was in- dicted for murder; but the trial resulted in his conviction for man- slaughter, and Oct. 19, following, he was sentenced to two years, imprisonment at hard labor. He was only nineteen years of age and Simpkins seventeen.
Henry A. Fowler.
This ruffian and a Mr. Hamilton were attending a dance near Nebo in the spring of 1878, where they drank and quarreled until Fowler cut Hamilton across the arm with a knife, and the latter bled to death. Fowler was arrested and April 6, 1878, was indicted for murder. Before his trial he escaped from jail, but voluntarily returned and delivered himself up. The trial resulted in his con- viction and sentence to confinement in the State prison for two years.
Thomas McDonald.
James A. Brown was murdered near his own door in Montezuma March 11, 1878, shortly before daylight. Jan. 25 preceding he had been waylaid, drugged and robbed by two men in a small wood near his home, and lay exposed all night in a stupid condition until found the next morning, and was restored to consciousness with much difficulty. Thomas McDonald was afterward arrested and identified as one of those two men: the other culprit remained at large. Mr. Brown and his friends had feared that an effort would be made to prevent him (Brown) from appearing at a certain trial, and the tragedy just mentioned showed how well grounded their fears had been. For several nights preceding the murder noises had been heard in the vicinity of the residence of Brown, and he went armed. Abont 4 o'clock that morning (Monday) he stepped from his house to an out-house a few yards distant, taking his rifle with him. On his return a few minutes later, and when within two or three paces of the door, he was shot, the ball entering the back of the head and coming out toward the front. Hearing the report the family rushed ont to find the victim lying where he fell, and in a few moments he ceased to live. Excitement became so in- tense that the Sheriff had to obtain assistance from the State Gov- ernment to aid in keeping the peace. The excitement was greatly intensified by a report that the Sheriff intended to remove the pris- oner from the Pike county jail to another county. McDonald was tried and found innocent. A full account of his case is given in the history of Pittsfield.
340
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
Colonel Williams.
A number of people gathered at the house of Monte Gant about . ten miles south of Pittsfield, on Christmas eve, to have a dance, and were enjoying themselves in the usual way, when some of the boys asked Andrew Main (commonly denominated "Coon Main " ) to call off a set. Main refusing, they said they could get along well enough without him. He thought this a good time as any to whip some of the boys, and, the quarrel continning for some time, he commenced striking them, Main struck Williams, knocking him down. Williams then commenced stabbing at Main with his pocket knife. Main got hold of a long iron poker and commenced striking at Williams. About this time the landlord interfered and turned them from the house, when the latter and his brother Col- onel immediately left and were followed by Main and two or three others. Then Colonel Williams shot Main with a revolver, and he and his brother immediately ran away, no effort being made at the time to arrest them. The wounded man then retured to the house, lay down on a bed, saying that Colonel Williams had shot him, and died about five hours afterward. Williams has been arrested, and is now in the Pittsfield jail awaiting trial.
Boyles,
a lad seventeen years of age, is also in jail for helping his brother to escape who had killed a companion with a pocket knife.
CHAPTER XII. PIONEER LIFE.
LOG CABINS.
We shall, in this chapter, give as clear and exact a description of pioneer life in this county as we can find language to picture it in, commencing with the time the sturdy settlers first arrived with their scanty stores. . They had migrated from older States, where the prospects for even a competency were very poor, many of them coming from Kentucky, for, it is supposed, they found that a good State to emigrate from. Their entire stock of furniture, imple- ments and family necessities were easily stored in one wagon, and sometimes a cart was their only vehicle.
As the first thing after they arrived and found a suitable loca- tion, they would set abont the building of a log cabin, a description of which may be interesting to the younger readers, and cspecially their descendants, who may never see a structure of the kind. Trees of uniform size were selected and cut into pieces of the de- sired length, each end being saddled and notched so as to bring the logs as near together as possible. The cracks were "chinked and danbed" to prevent the wind from whistling through. This had to be renewed every fall before cold weather set in. The usnal height was one story of about seven or eight fect. The gables were made of logs gradually shortened up to the top. The roof was made by laying small logs or stout poles reaching from gable to gable, suitable distances apart, on which were laid the clapboards after the manner of shingling, showing two feet or more to the weather. The clapboards were fastened by laying across them heavy poles, called " weight poles," reaching from one gable to the other, being kept apart and in their place by laying pieces of timber between them called "runs," or "knees." A wide chimney place was cut out of one end of the cabin, the chimney standing entirely outside, and built of rived sticks, laid up cob-house fashion and filled with clay, or built of stone, often using two or three cords of stone in building one chimney. For a window, a piece about two feet long was cut ont of one of the wall logs, and the hole closed, sometimes with glass, but oftener with greased paper pasted over it. A door-
342
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
way was also ent through one of the walls, and the door was made of spliced elapboards and hung with wooden hinges. This was opened by pulling a leather latch-string which raised a wooden lateh inside the door. For security at night this lateh-string was pulled in, but for friends and neighbors, and even strangers, the " lateh string was always hanging out," as a welcome. In the inte- rior, upon one side, was the huge fire-place, large enough to contain a back-log as big as the strongest man could carry, and hold- ing enough wood to supply an ordinary stove a week ; on either side were poles and kettles, and over all a mantel on which was placed the tallow dip. In one corner stood the larger bed for the old folks, under this the trundle-bed for the children ; in another corner stood the old-fashioned, large spinning-wheel, with a smaller one by its side ; in another the pine table, around which the family gathered to partake of their plain food ; over the door hung the ever-trustful rifle and powder-horn; while around the room were scat- tered a few splint-bottomed chairs and three-legged stools ; in one corner was a rude cupboard holding the table ware, which consisted of a few enps and saucers and blue-edged plates, standing singly on their edges against the back, to make the display of table furni- ture more conspienous.
These simple cabins were inhabited by a kind and true-hearted people. They were strangers to mock modesty, and the traveler, seeking lodgings for the night or desirous of spending a few days in the community, if willing to accept the rude offering, was always welcome, although how they were disposed of at night the reader may not easily imagine ; for, as described, a single room was made to serve the purpose of kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room, bed- room, and parlor, and many families consisted of six or eight mem- bers.
SELECTION OF HOMES.
For a great many years but few thought it advisable to attempt farming on the prairie. To many of them the cultivation of the prairies was an untried experiment, and it was the prevaling opinion that the timber would soon become very scarce,-a fear soon proven to be without foundation. Another obstacle that was in the way for a great many years, was that no plows suitable for breaking the prairie land could be had. The sod was very much tougher then than it was in after years when the stock had pastured the prairies and killed ont the grass to some extent. It would be astonishing to the younger residents to see the immense crops of prairie grass that grew upon the fields which are to-day in such a high state of cultivation. It grew in places six to twelve feet high. It was these immense erops of grass that furnished the fuel for the terrible fires that swept over the prairies during the fall. Then, again, there was so much of the prairie land that was considered too wet to be ever suitable for cultivation. Many of the older set- tlers now living well remember when farms that are now in the
343
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
highest state of cultivation were a vast swamp. There was another drawback in the settlement of the prairies, and that was the great labor and cost of fencing. But the principal reason for locating in the timber was that many of their cabins were. poor, half-finished affairs, and protection from the driving storms was absolutely re- quired. The timber also sheltered stock until sneh times as sheds and out-buildings could be erected. That the time should soon come when intelligent, enterprising farmers would see that their interest lay in improving prairie farms, and cease elearing fields, when there were boundless acres presenting no obstacle to the most perfect cultivation, argues nothing in the policy of sheltering for a time in the woods. In regard to the pioneers settling along the timber, we often hear remarks made as though the selection of such locations implied a lack of judgment. Those who are disposed to treat it in that manner are asked to consider carefully the above facts, when they will conclude such selection argued in their favor.
Clearing of timber land was attended with much hard labor. The underbrush was grubbed np, piled into heaps and burned. The large trees were in many cases left standing, and deadened by girdling. This was done by cutting through the bark into the wood, generally through the " sap," all around the trunk.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.