History of Sangamon 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 27

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon 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 27

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).

"Could the farmers of the present day have the privilege of comparing the stock of horses, cattle and swine of this country, of forty years ago, with that of the present day, they would almost

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

be led to swallow the theory of evolution, so re- markable has been the change and improvement. But in no direction, perhaps, has there been so marked a progress as in the methods of farming and implements. My recollection extends back to the time when plows with wooden mould boards were used altogether. These would be considered very inefficient implements now, but were looked upon then as the best that could be devised. But few of them would 'scour,' and the plowman was compelled to keep a paddle hanging to one of the handles, to clean his plow off at each end, or oftener. The average depth of plowing was from two to three inches, and the slovenly habit of 'cutting and cover- ing' (taking several inches more ' land' than the plow could turn) prevailed with most farmers.

"As markers and corn planters at that time were unknown, this was the common modus op- erandi of planting corn: A man with a pair of horses and a breaking plow 'laid off' the rows, running below the breaking, in order to make his plow 'scour' (the cross rows having previously been made with a single corn plow). The dropper followed along behind with the seed in a basket or bucket, and another man with one horse and a shovel plow, or 'bull tongue,' which, run in the side of the furrow, left a small ridge upon the seed. By this slow process, seven to ten acres could be planted in a day. It being before the day of double corn planters and of cultivators, either a one-horse 'turning plow' or a shovel plow was used to 'tend' the crop. Twenty to twenty-five acres was all that one hand could take care of, and the rule was to plow it three times. Thirty bushels per acre was considered a fair crop, though hard workers made their land produce forty and even fifty bushels.

" For a crop of oats, as the previous year's corn stalks were usually plowed under, rendering the use of a harrow, to cover the seed and smooth the ground, impracticable, the top of a tree was hitched to and dragged over the ground. Wheat was managed the same way, and, of course, failed as often as it succeeded.

" At the time here spoken of, a field of timothy grass or clover was a rare sight. The prairies yielded innumerable tons of wild hay, and any man could have all he wanted for the cutting. There was no mowing machinery-the good old fashioned scythe, with muscle to propel it, suf- ficed to lay from one to two acres per day, and as reapers and headers were as yet uninvented, the cradle was the only dependence to fell the grain. Threshing, except among the largest

farmers, was done upon the barn floor, two, three, or four horses walking in a circle over the grain until it was separated from the straw, after which it was cleaned with a fanning machine. If a man had no barn of his own he borrowed one for the purpose.

" Mules had not come into use at that time. Many thought it wicked, and a violation of the laws of nature to raise them. Mule colts, occas- ionally, might be seen, but they were sold to some buyer for southern use, and taken away generally in the fall after foaling.

"Much of the breaking was done by oxen, nearly every farmer owning one or more yoke of these slow but sure beasts. Raw prairie was always broken, at that day, with teams of three or four yoke, which would turn over two or three acres per day.

"Forty years ago, cooking stoves, save an occas- ional one in the towns, had not come into use. Everything was cooked by the fireplaces, which every house contained, and were built to receive wood three or four feet in length. Nearly every- thing was cooked in a skillet or a Dutch oven, both being supplied with a lid with a raised rim, upon which coals were piled. It was hot and laborious work for the women to cook by a fire- place, but the meals thus prepared were not to be excelled.

"Although the red man's camp-fire at the time of which I write, no longer threw its ruddy glare over the trunks of the forest monarch, he having some years previous abandoned this for more successful hunting ground, much wild game still lingered. Deer abounded in the broad prairies between Apple creek and the east of Sugar creek, and I have frequently seen them within a mile of Old Auburn, and have seen wolves within the limits of the town. Wild turkeys still abounded in the woods, in their season, flocks of prairie chickens, vast enough to darken the air as they flew, might be seen any hour in the day. Every winter the sharp shooters of this commu- nity, would make up parties of four or five men, and each with its wagon and team, bedding, pro- visions, cooking utensils, rifles and amunition, would drive to the wilds of Christian county, remain five or six days, generally returning home with six or eight deer. The rifle was almost universally used, and the old hunters looked with supreme contempt upon any man or boy who could content himself with a shot-gun. Even squirrels, prairie chickens, geese and ducks were hunted with the rifle.

" The clothing of the early resident was fash- ioned exclusively of homespun. Every farmer

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kept sheep, every home had its spinning wheel, and every wife and daughter could extraet music of a practical nature from this instrument. Looms were convenient too. The men and boys all wore jeans, either yellow, brown or blue, and the mothers, wives and daughters were arrayed in linsey, usually striped or checked. At the date of which I write, calico had begun to be worn, but was laid aside, for woolen, in cold weather. The sturdy pioneers of western or southern origin, looked upon the eastern men who occasionally found their way out here, dressed in broadeloth or cassimere, as Yankee upstarts. Indeed, the New England and New York emigrants were regarded with suspicion. Some of the first comers were clock peddlers from Connecticut, who fleeced the people, and a prejudice was engendered that did not entirely die out with that generation. Besides this un- favorable imroduction, many of the eastern set- tlers came hither, full of conceit about methods of farming, and undertook to give their new neighbors the benefit of their experience, not realizing that the Illinois prairies required quite different treatment from New England hills. I am glad to say that the feeling thus engendered has almost entirely passed away, but it was quite a formidable and disagreeable element in society, forty years ago.

"Apropos of the above, the western people of the early days, entertained a supreme contempt for a man who attended to the milking. The women here did all the milking. No matter if there were three or four men about the house, and but one hard worked woman, the former couldn't degrade themselves by adopting this Yankee innovation. I have frequently known young men, when contracting to work by the month on farms, to ask if they were expected to milk. If this was required, either negotia- tions were broken off, or several dollars were added to the price.

"The young people of the present day, at- tending school in nicely painted and ornamented comfortable structures, furnished with all the modern educational appliances, would gaze with astonishment at the rude and crude accommoda- tions of two score years agone. At that time, there were four schools (taught only in the winter,) within a radius of a few miles of this place. One of these was taught in the Old Cumberland church, a log building, four miles northeast; there was one in Auburn, a rude frame house of about fourteen by sixteen feet; a small brick building near A. S. Orr's, and an- other two miles further up the timber. Both of

these were used, when necessary, for religious services on Sunday, as there were no meeting houses on the timber above the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, above mentioned.

"The scholars sat upon bare benches, made usually of slabs, with four legs. Many of the scholars had never seen or heard of such a thing as a desk. Reading, spelling and writing, with geography, grammar and arithmetic, for the 'advanced' scholars, constituted the studies. The rod, and a great deal of it, was an indis- pensable reliance as an educator.

"Singing classes were sometimes taught, Mr. John Baker, of Lick Creek, being the only teacher within reach. He taught vocal music by the 'patent' or 'buck-wheat' notes, the Old 'Missouri Harmony' being the work gen- erally used, the major part of whose tunes were in the minor strain, and as the young folks flocked in for miles around, crowding the houses where they were held, old 'Consolation,' 'Ninety-Fifth,' 'Jefferson' and 'Russia' would waken the echoes.

"At that day, very few buggies or carriages were seen. Nearly everybody went to meeting on horseback; the wives frequently riding be- hind their liege lords. Often a young lady was taken on the horse behind her lover, though each girl had generally a steed of her own. A horse, saddle and bridle was the goal of every young man's or woman's desires, when growing up.

"Springfield was only a limited market. There being no means of transportation from there, there was no demand, save a local one, for grain, pork and other productions, which was soon supplied. I have known corn hauled to Spring- field, from this vicinity, fourteen or fifteen miles, and sold for five cents a bushel. Of course, none but a renter sorely needing money, would undertake to haul corn to Springfield at such a price.

" Alton was, at that day, the principal market for the farmers of Central Illinois. It wouldn't do to haul corn so far, at ten or fifteen, or even twenty cents a bushel, so the corn was fed to cattle and hogs, mainly to the latter, large droves of which were driven down in the early winter, a number of neighbors combining together. A wagon was driven by one of the men, in which to deposit the swine that might, perchance, 'break down.' The hog drivers walked. These droves were sometimes so extensive as to fill the road for half a mile or more.

"One of the pleasantest episodes of the writer's boyish life, was a trip to St. Louis, with a com-

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pany of wagons, during the Indian summer sea- son of 1841. There were some ten or a dozen wagons, all laden with wheat. Provisions, cook- ing utensils, bedding and a supply of horse feed were taken, the weather being so fine as to allow the company to spread their couches beneath the wagons. It was customary to take bread and pies ready baked; with sometimes a boiled ham, but coffee was made and meat fried by the fire, improvised on the ground. There was no lack of dry fuel along the road in the woods, and no objection to its being picked up. After the men had supped, the evening, until bedtime, was spent in smoking and telling yarns, the flicker- ing flames throwing a ruddy light over the merry group. The camping ground was always selected, if possible, in the woods. These trips, going and coming, usually occupied about a week. The teamsters brought back groceries, clothing and other family necessities for themselves, and often loads of goods for the Springfield merchants, receiving so much for each hundred pounds.

"Forty years ago, the people of this vicinity were just beginning to taste the sweets of a post- office close at home. The new Springfield and St. Louis stage-road, running through Chatham and Auburn, had recently been established. The old route lay through Sugar Creek timber, some two or three miles east of this. The "Sugar Creek Postoffice" had been kept, until this change, at John L. Drennan's, which was a 'stage stand,' as the place was called where the four stage horses were changed on each trip for fresh ones. By this arrangement, Auburn peo- ple were five miles from the postoffice, and the residents up towards the head of the timber, eight to ten miles.

"At that time, the question of cheap postage and pre-payment had not yet engaged the atten- tion of our wise men. Letter postage was all the way from six to twenty-five cents, dependent upon distance. The family of the writer had twenty-five cents to pay on many a letter from eastern friends, during the early forties. The mailing business was much more complicated then than now, for all letters had to be way billed, and each letter's destination, rates, etc., recorded carefully in a book kept for the pur- pose, which contained a column for paid, another for unpaid, and another for free letters.

" Forty years ago there was but one steam grist mill in the county, south of Springfield. This stood just about where the Chicago & Alton road crosses the branch, near what is now known as Anderson pond, north of town. The engine and works in the mill had been removed from

Waverly, by Asa and George Eastman. This mill was only run here two or three years, I be- lieve, and the works were transferred to Spring- field. The building was occupied for several years afterwards by David Eastman for finishing leather, he having a tanyard on the premises.

"At the time of which I write, there were two watermills in this township, both of which ground corn and wheat, and each had a saw mill connected with it. One of these was owned by Jacob Rauch, the father of the Rauch boys, and stood on the south side of the creek, nearly op- posite the present Rauch's mill. The other mill was owned by E. & W. D. Crow, and was located due west of Old Auburn, on a site now owned by John Garber, just northeast of his dwelling, on the west bank of the creek. 'Crow's mill pond' was a favorite resort by crowds of men and boys, on summer Saturday afternoons, for swimming exercises. The swim- mers frequently rode their horses into the pond, and the steeds, swimming with their nude riders, drew out great applause from the multitude on the banks.

" The currency of the country, forty years since. was quite a different matter from that of the present day. 'Wild-cat money' from hundreds of banks, scattered over the country, was in cir- culation. Our own 'State bank paper' was largely used, but there was a discount upon it. Money of the Missouri bank was always relia- ble, and generally preferred to gold. In silver, the old Spanish coins prevailed, and the 12} and 64 cent pieces possessed no bigher value than the dimes and half dimes. They were distin- guished as 'long bits' and 'short bits'-'long picayunes' and 'short picayunes.' Copper coins were not used, and a picayune was the lowest sum recognized. If an article wasn't worth a picayune, it wasn't worth anything. I well recollect how indignant some of the old residents were when asked to pay postage on newspapers-two, three or four cents. At that time the privilege of franking the letters was about all the compensation the Auburn post- master received for getting up to 'change the mail' once or twice in the night, every night in the year, and performing the duties of postmas- ter; yet it was difficult to convince some of these worthies that if the postmaster didn't collect all the moncys due the department, he must suffer loss.

"In 1840, a large amount of land in the country was as yet unentered. Thousands of acres in the broad prairie to the west and east of Sugar creek timber were open to settlers, at $1.25 an

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acre. Most of the land along Panther creek, however, had been entered by speculators. John Griggs, of Philadelphia, owned immense tracts, and his agent, David B. Ayres, at Jacksonville, sold it to settlers at $3 to $5 per acre. Many of the farms along Panther creek, between Irwin's (then known as Harlan's) grove and the head, were made of the Griggs land.

"The pioneers supposed that the value of tim- ber land would increase indefinitely. Iledges for the prairie had not been thought of, and there was no knowledge of the vast fields of coal underlying this whole expanse of country. Con- sequently, believing that the demand for wood for fuel, and rails for fences, must constantly in- crease as the prairies became settled, they held on to their forest acres with an iron grasp. The discovery of coal in this region, and the utiliza- tion of the Bois D'Arc tree for hedges on the Western prairies, may certainly be counted among the notable events of the nineteenth cen- tury. Could our fathers have been told that farms of whole sections could so easily be fenced, splendid houses built and provided with fuel, without the aid of wood land, they would have thought it incredible.

"Pulmonary consumption, so prevalent now, was almost unknown among the early residents. Living in log houses, generally unplastered, with open fireplaces, they breathed pure air, and hav- ing regnlar sleep, and dressing healthfully, they were afflicted with but few physical ailments, save malarial ones.

"There were but few holidays in the early days. But little notice was taken of the Fourth of July. Frequently the riflemen of the neigh- borhood would gather together on Christmas and indulge in shooting matches. The grandest day in the year to both men and boys was elec- tion day. The State and county elections of that day were held in August. This being be- fore the day of township organization, this elec- tion precinet (Sugar Creek precinct), comprised a large scope of country-indeed, if I recollect rightly, some three or four townships. Forty years ago, the voting place for this precinct was John L. Drennan's, (the place now occupied by Benjamin F. Drennan.) Afterwards it was transferred to a house just this side of the C. P. Church. Nearly every boy in the precinct, old enough to ride a horse, accompanied the fathers or brother, and all spent the day. Liquor was usually available, and drunken men and fights were often witnessed. Horse racing was a com- mon pastime at elections. Voting was a slow and tedious process. The clerks recorded the

name of the voter, and after it the name of each candidate voted for, which were called out by the voter in rotation.

"At the time to which this sketch refers- only about twenty-two years after the first white man's cabin was erected in 'the San-gam-ma country,' as the early comers called it, most of the pioneers were yet living here, mainly, people in the prime of life. They were an honest, friendly, unassuming, industrious class of peo- ple, generally, who were content to make a fair living and keep out of debt. The mania for accumulating illimitable acres had not yet been developed. No man felt envious of another's prosperity. There was no desire evinced to overreach a neighbor in a trade; to live in a finer house, or to dress better than anyone else. The milk of human kindness permeated society. The people were hospitable to a fault. A person in distress, or needing help in any form, had but to signify it and it was invariably forthcoming.

"The first comers-principally from the hilly regions of Virginia and Kentucky, were enrap- tured with the beautiful country spread out be- fore them. The boundless prairies coated with luxuriant grass, affording faithful indications of the marvellous possibilities of crops concealed beneath, and the facility with which they could be developed; the herds of deer and other game that roamed the plains-sights so dear to the hunter's heart-led the pioneers to send back enthusiastic accounts of the country to the friends they had left behind. Their attractive representations brought others, and 'the San- gam-ma country' came to be known as the farmers' paradise.

"I will conclude this sketch by detailing a case of

EARLY RASCALITY.

"In the winter of 1842 (I think it was), a trunk belonging to a mail agent, of Springfield, named Brown, was cut from the rear part of the stage, while it was crossing the bridge over Panther creek, between Maynard's and Harland's Grove. The coach was making its down trip, in the night, as usual, and that place was doubtless selected for the deed on account of the speed of the team being checked while crossing.

"Crime was so rare a thing in country places, at that day, that the affair created great excite- ment throughout the country. It was difficult, at first, to obtain a clue to the perpetrator, though the impression prevailed that the mis- chief had been done by some one living in the neighborhood. The trunk contained clothing,

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some specie, some counterfeit money (carried for detective purposes), a stock of fine cigars for Mr. Brown's own smoking, &c. It was partly through the cigars that the guilty one was de- tected. John Kennedy, a young man of about eighteen, living with his parents on the Harlan place, was very liberal with a lot of fragrant Havanas at the Cumberland Church, the next Sunday, dividing them around among the irrev- erent boys who made a practice of going punc- tually to meeting, and remaining out of doors, to discuss horseflesh during service. The writer had the pleasure of puffing one of them, and the memory thereof is still fragrant-as was the cigar.

"The trunk, after being partly rifled, was con- cealed in a corn shock in the field, just east of the bridge. Several more little things shortly leaked out, that, combined, directed suspicion to the right quarter. One of them was this: The very afternoon of the robbery, Kennedy was at the postoffice in Auburn, and asked Mr. Wadsworth, the postmaster, what time the stage came down, and being informed, rode off towards the north.

"Evidence being deemed sufficient, a warrant was issued and served by Arny R. Robinson, of Springfield, then an officer. Mr. Brown and another man accompanied. Kennedy denied the theft at first, but being confronted by the testi- mony, soon confessed the deed, produced the money, and led his captors to where the trunk was hidden.

" Kennedy was consigned to jail, and before the day fixed for the trial, contrived, with two fellow prisoners (one contined for horse-stealing, the other for breach of trust), to escape. They fled west, and on Spring creek two of them stole a horse apiece, and made their way to St Louis, A description of two of the fugitives was adver- tised, but for some unaccountable reason, a description of Kennedy was omitted. A detec- tive saw Kennedy and his companion in a bar- ber's shop, recognized the latter by the descrip- tion, and took him. Kennedy lost no time in getting out, aboard a boat, and down the river. He found means to communicate with his family, his father soon followed, and in a few months afterward, the remainder of the family. They settled at Natchitoches, Louisiana.

" Kennedy was never captured for the above crime."

BY S. C. ILAMPTON.

"My father, Samuel Hampton, settled in Sanga- mon county in the fall of 1830, near Mechanics-

burg, and removed to the village of Springfield, next year. We lived in the lower rooms of a two-story log house, and Sullivan Conant occu- pied the upper rooms with his family, having come from Massachusetts in 1831. Father Con- ant says his wife thought she could scrub her floor as they did in their native home, and in the attempt almost drowned us out of house and home. Mother Conant used to tell that one of her earliest recollections of Springfield was a little urchin, with a black, curly head, full of mischievous pranks. That enrly headed boy and her little black eyed daughter, in their manhood and womanhood, became man and wife, and under the blessing of a kind Providence, have become father and mother of a large family of children, and been blessed with a liberal share of worldly prosperity. Five of our children still live, two are dead. Mother Conant lived and died a christian, many years ago. Father Conant still lives, four score and one years of age, a well preserved man, honored and blessed by eight living children and many grand-children, and by all who know him. One of the earliest things I recollect was, we lived in a log cabin near the old cemetery. We slept on one feather bed and covered with another in winter. When we had a drifting snow-storm, we would have an extra job in the morning of shoveling the snow out of the house, but the children enjoyed better health then than many who are confined in air- tight houses, heated with air-tight stoves. On one occasion, Mr. Erastus Wright gathered all the boys in town and had them clean up the court house yard, and after the job was done, took us down to old Father Dickey's and treated us to beer and cakes, and we all felt happy over it. I well remember the immense political gath - ering of 1840, with its log cabin on wheels, its hard cider barrels, its coonskins and live coons grinning over the dead roosters carried in pro- cession. I well remember the sad day in 1844, when, in attempting to raise an ash pole, it fell, killing Mr. Brodie, and maiming for life the brother of my wife. To show you how we had to work and how we were paid, I will relate a little of my experience. I, with a younger brother, worked on a brickyard for old Mr. Hay, who long ago passed away to his rest. It took both of us to do the work of one boy, and for this we got twenty-five cents a day and boarded ourselves. Many a day have I worked with a chill on, and then lay down until the fever abated, but we had some good company. Judge Milton Hay and his brothers, J. Addison and Theodore, moulded the brick, while we off-bore

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History of Sangamon 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 27

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084