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 73

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 73

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).

"Fifty years may be easily spoken-it is easy to pronounce the words-yet the term includes the lifetime of the majority of men and women of the country, and speaks the entire history of the State. If I inquire what was the condition of the country fifty years ago, Major Iles, or other ladies and gentlemen here, could tell; yet if I were to tell the young people here of the comforts and conveniences of those carly times, they wouldn't believe it.

" You have now more comforts, but no more happiness, than had we; you have a great many things to be thankful for, and so had we; and you have things to make you uncomfortable that we didn't have. Look over the young ladies' toygery of to-day-the flounces, the ruffles, and -I don't know what you call them. Thirty or forty years ago, we didn't have them, and didn't even know what they were. Now a young gentleman and lady about getting married, or, rather, just married, require a house with six rooms, while we had no trouble, forty or fifty years ago, getting along with but one room, and to have two rooms and a kitchen was considered extravagant. Then we had only an axe, a saw, and an augur with which to build a house; then

these tools composed a full carpenter's kit; and we sometimes had only the axe and saw.

"Now, I will just make two heads to my speech, and will speak to the young first; they will be the old settlers hereafter. The number behind you, young people, is becoming more numerous, and the number before you less. By aud by, you will go into an audience, and find yourself among the oldest. It was so in my case. I used to find myself in an audience when I was among the youngest; then again I would find myself younger than a few present; but now it is frequently occurring, in a chance meeting, that I am the oldest in the party. I said a little while ago that the young here wouldn't believe, if told what the country was forty or fifty years ago, and the reason is plain. A boy here cannot realize a country without railroads, for since his childhood he has seen the railroad. Young people can't realize the fact that forty or fifty years ago men traveled by 'taking a point,' for there were no roads, and by thus sighting a di- rection, made their way. I have, myself, within forty years, sighted a point, and, as it were, struck out on a 'bee line,' meeting plenty of deer on the prarie; but there are no deer now.

No, the young people cannot realize this. I came into Madison county forty-two years ago. It was not common to be sued then; it was con- sidered disreputable, and a suit was called a ' patch upon the back.' To have a mortgage upon your farm was whispered around as a calamity. The habits of life then were frugal and simple, and the people were simple and plain, and perhaps as corrupt as now. I was talking to a gentleman, the other day, who was speaking of the corruption now, and its lack in the past; but, as I said to him, there was nothing to steal but a horse. A horse then was the most valuable property, and if a man stole a horse, he was apt to hear of it again; then the means of catching a thief were more simple and direct than now. Horse theft was a capital offense, and killing a man a-serious offense."

Referring to domestic experiences of forty years ago, the Governor said:

"The houses of that day were not like those of the present. I recollect of but one brick house between Madison and Sangamon-it was near where Waverly now stands. [ Water was here handed the speaker in a gourd, and drinking it, he remarked it smacked of old times.] In those days when a young couple married, the neigh- bors turned out to make boards for the house, and puncheon floors were put down. Still the couples were happy; as happy as couples are 1

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now. Now when a young couple marry, the car- penters come, and the upholsterers, and prepare the house, and thousands of dollars are spent in fixing it, and often with regret that there was no more money to spend.

"I recollect attending a wedding party when I was quite a young man. There was no band, but instead, the real old-fashioned orthodox fid- dle. After dancing all night, my feet were quite sore in the morning, but I had enjoyed myself. The reason my feet were sore was because I danced in my bare feet; but my partner did the same. There was a story told about finding toe nails npon the floor ( it was a puncheon floor )- but I didn't believe the story.

"You young ladies and gentlemen have ideas about social pleasures that we knew nothing about. You have carriages; and coming here to-day I noticed one young lady and gentleman riding on horseback, but they had two horses. We didn't do that way, one horse only being used, and the girl was taken up behind. I well recollect the pleasantest ride I ever had in my life. I had the finest horse, but as the saying was, it was a 'borred one.' I took the girl to church, seven miles, and she rode behind me. I felt ticklish and bashful and so was she, and she could hardly take hold of me at first to hold on, but she got used to it, as, nearing the church, she found others mounted the same way. There was always a strife as to who had the prettiest girl and the best horse, but I always thought I was ahead in that respect. Now we couldn't ride double, as the lady is even larger than my- self, and I am no pigmy; and we couldn't get a horse to carry us. But now let a gentleman ask a young lady to ride, and she will say, 'Where is the buggy?' I didn't know what a buggy was then; I knew about a 'Dearbon' and a 'gig.' The first gig I ever saw Judge Smith, of Madi- son, owned. I was proud when I got a gig after- wards. I got it when at court in Montgomery county, and was so proud that I got my wife a new dress that cost $4.50, and there was seven yards in it."

Referring to the arduous duties of the pioneer wives, to whom he paid a glorious tribute, the Governor related an anecdote of a woman re- turning to Tennessee, who declared that " Illi- nois was a good place for men and horses, but the devil on women and oxen."

Addressing the early settlers, the Governor said:

" We had indeed our troubles and trials, and the abandoned graves of early settlers are a part of our early history; for we sorrowed then as

now. We, too shall pass away, and fifty years from now these young people will meet here to tell the young people of that day the customs, then doubtless considered outlandish, of this time. Civilization will continue to advance. We can scarce conceive progress of the arts and sciences of the next fifty years, but I do not wish to see it. I do not wish to be trampled upon by the rapidly advancing strides of civilization; and it is a dispensation of Providence that having acted our part, having fulfilled our destiny, hav- ing done that work which was set apart for us to do, we can then depart and peacefully pass to the other shore. To the old women let me say: No wives ever so well acted their parts as the wives of the pioneers; and passing away they will not be forgotten. So of the pioneers-not in monuments, but in more lasting memoirs, the works which 'live after them,' will their memories be cherished by their descendants for whom they have worked."

Upon the conclusion of Governor Palmer's address, and music by the band, Captain Fletcher, the president of the society, with humorous allusion to the food of other days- venison, corn bread and onions, and that about noon was the old settlers' dinner hour, declared the celebration adjourned for dinner.

Among the old settlers present at this meet- ing were Mrs. Peter Cartwright, Mrs Richard Latham, Mrs. James Parkinson, Elijah Iles, John Williams, M. K. Anderson. Job Fletcher, Martin Heuber, S. M. Wilson, Edwin Perkins, Joel Johnson, George R. Weber, the Mathenys, and others.

After dinner D. L. Phillips was introduced, and said:

" If I live a month or two longer I shall have lived in the State fifty years, and my memory goes back to the time of the cotton gins. I re- member the removal of the seat of government from Vandalia to Springfield; and I recollect, too, the grumbling of the people when it was said that the capital had been removed way up in the Indian country.

"I remember the picking of flax and of cotton, and the meeting at night for that purpose. The wearing apparel of that period, to which allus- ion has been made, I do not forget. There were no schools then. Governor Palmer has spoken of the young men of the present day, felicitously situated with reference to educational facilities, and as they are; but the youth of those days struggled hard for an education. It was not an illiterate age, nor an age of ignorance or lack of mental culture. I have no reputation to lose

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in saying that I never went to school three months in my life.

" Governor Palmer referred to the felicitous situation of the young men of the present day in other respects. Do they recollect the hard- ships of the past? I have seen young men and women who had walked bare-footed to the church door putting on and lacing their shoes previous to entrance.

" The tribute paid to the wives of pioneers, by Governor Palmer, thrilled me. His eulogy of the hard-working women of that day I most heartily endorse, because in these days there is a tendency on the part of the people to degrade the working women, to characterize the attend- ance to domestic duties as domestie servitude."

Referring to the moral and religious influences of that day, the speaker eloquently paid tribute to it:

" They were religions in the primitive and or- thodox manner. Why, had it been announced that the great man, the pioneer preacher, whose honored remains, I understand, lie in your vi- cinity, would preach upon a certain occasion, not a house, not a barn, scarcely any building would contain the people who would flock to hear him expound the gospel. How different now in this materialistie age! Who cares who preaches next Sunday in Springfield? How few! Is the fame of your preacher so limited? Then you heard nothing of the protoplastic theories of this materialistic age. "Iwas reli- gion pure and simple then. To the moral ideas of that time, thus inculcated, is due the prosperity of Illinois, and I bear testimony to that fact.

" The carly settlers in these manifold trials grappled with the Indians; grappled with dis- eases and overcome them. They spent honored and glorious lives, and who does not honor those who have placed this State fourth in the Union, with more acreage under cultivation than any other State, and given it better settlers than the State ever before had. For all this you are indebted to the old settlers at this re-nnion to-day.

"May the departure of the old settlers be a peaceful one, and may we gather at the river and be permitted to enter the shining gates upon the other side."

Russel Godfrey, of Menard county; John Thompson, of Cass county; R. W. Diller, of Springfield; Isaac Cogdell, of Menard county; M. K. Anderson and George R. Weber, each made remarks.

S. M. Wilson, of Pleasant Plains, was elected President ; James Parkinson, of Curran, Vice

President; Noah W. Matheny, of Springfield, Secretary.

SEVENTII ANNUAL MEETING.

The seventh annual meeting of the society was held September 10, 1874. Crow's mill, a most romantic spot, situated about eight miles southeast of Springfield, was the place selected. The day was excessively warm, but still all seemed to enjoy themselves well. In a dense and beautiful grove the stand was erected. Upon the stand were seated many of the oldest and best known citizens of the county, among whom were R. W. Diller, George Gregory, A. B. Ir- win, Craig White, S. G. Jones, Davis Meredith, Joseph Meredith, William Burtle, J. W. Keyes, Dr. Shields, S. G. Nesbitt, Philomen Stout, M. Wilmot, Preston Breckenridge, D. Funderburk, Job Fletcher and Jacob N. Fullenwider.

The first speaker introduced was the genial and popular old settler, James H. Matheny. The Judge was in his happiest. vein, and ap- peared fully to enter into the spirit of the occa- sion. His speech was one of his best and hap- piest efforts, replete with wit, poetry and senti- ment, overflowing with genuine and pure eloquence. It sparkled, it flashed and dashed full of happy conceits and beautiful thoughts. He recalled the days of the early settlement of the county; paid an eloquent and deserving tri- bute to the old settler; spoke of his privations and trials, and gave him all due and proper credit for his exertions, his efforts and his toils.

John M. Palmer, Andrew Simpson; William M. Springer, Joseph Meredith and Mr. Slater were called out, and responded with appropriate remarks.

William Burtle was elected President for the ensuing year; A. B. Irwin and Davis Meredith, Vice Presidents; N. W. Matheny, Secretary.

EIGIITII ANNUAL MEETING.

Cantrall's Grove, in the north part of the county, was the place selected for the eighth an- nual meeting, and Menard county old settlers had been invited to meet with the old settlers of Sangamon. The meeting was late in being called to order. Rev. Mr. Vawter, of Cantrall, delivered the address of welcome and offered prayer.

Governor Palmer was the first speaker. After a general introductory the Governor made some home thrusts in opposition to the fulsome flat- tery often indulged in on old settlers' days. Ile quoted and expanded upon a remark of Judge Gillespie that they might talk now-a-days about " women's rights," but it took the old settlers to

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do justice to the question; for a striking charac- teristic of the old settler was an indisposition to meddle in the affairs of women, who, in these days, were quite secure in all their prerogatives. Who ever knew an old settler to do his wife's milking, or to lend her any help whatever about the house ?

Isaac Cogdell, of Menard county, was the next speaker, and was followed by D. L. Phillips. The last speaker paid a glowing tribute to the old settler, and also to the civilization of the nineteenth century. "For this sturdy civiliza- tion," said the speaker, "we are indebted to the old settler more than we know. But the life of an old settler was at best but a hard one; de- prived of the advantages of free schools and condemned to labor. Governor Palmer, in his speech, had ascribed happiness to the old set- tlers; but they could not be so happy as now under more favorable circumstances, and in fact they did not expect it. The very preaching of that day was of trials and troubles, and the necessity for submission. A gloomy, sombre view of life was taken, and the teachings of that day was to expect no ease or comfort here, but to look for it beyond." The speaker com- pared the lack of advantages for farming as late even as the period of 1840, with the facilities now offered for the production of crops; and his account of going to mill, in his boyhood, astride of a bag of corn, to wait all day and all night for his grist, was well told.

Elder John England, of Ogle county, in re- sponse to a call, said that he would indulge in a few off-hand remarks. This gathering, said he, was one of old settlers. His father had come here in 1818, and, had he time, he would like to recount incidents connected with his playing with Indian boys-for fear of Indians was not then one of the trials and tribulations of pioneer times. The old settlers met now to show what it cost to lay the foundation of such a civiliza- tion as the present. They often went to church bare-footed, and like Governor Palmer, he was proud of his first pair of boots, which, by the way had been made for him by Wyatt Cantrall, now here on the platform. Hospitality distin- guished the early settler, as well as liberality of religious sentiment. A traveling preacher was gladly entertained, his denomination not asked, and he was received by all as a brother.

James C. Conkling next mounted the stand and delivered a short, but excellent address.

Alexander B. Irwin was elected President, and E. C. Matheny, Secretary.

NINTII ANNUAL MEETING.

The ninth annual re-union of old settlers was held at the Fair Ground, near Springfield, August 31, 1876, and attracted an audience numbering thousands. Among the old settlers occupying places in and about the stand were R. A. Haz- lett, W. T. Boyer, Albion Knotts, George Mc- Daniels, S. T. Cantrall, J. W. Jones, H. D. Lyon, Moses Laswell, Horace Hickox, J. R. Sanders, W. A. Whiteside, Mrs. J. R. Sanders, George B. Merryman, Mrs. George B. Merryman, James M. Reed, John Sims, M. K. Anderson, J. H. Fullen- wider, S. Wood, E. R. Perkins, John M. Matthew, W. II. Herndon, J. H. Matheny, John North, S. E. Wilcoxson, Goodrich Lightfoot, Samuel Mil- ler, E. F. McConnell, George R. Weber, W. H. Marsh, C. S. Cantrall, A. R. Robinson, H. Alkire, Mrs. Elizabeth Sollers, John Capps, William Shumate, Joseph Shepherd, R. D. Brown, John Busher, William S. Burch, Preston Brecken- ridge, Mrs. N. J. Le Claire, D. P. Robinson, Russell Godby, James Good, J. D. McMurray, James Parkinson, J. M. Cartmell, J. H. Ellis, Samuel Fredge, M. A. Cartwright, A. J. Kane, John De Camp, William A. Grant, Isaac Berry, John Williams, J. L. Shinkle and others.

"The meeting was called to order by M. K. Anderson, who introduced James H. Matheny, who made one of his old-fashioned speeches. Alfred Orendorff was next introduced. He re- ferred in glowing terms to the progress being made in the development of the country, and the part the pioneers had taken in the work. " Illi- nois," said he, "the State they had reclaimed from Indian barbarism to civilization had a grand history, and especially so Central Illinois. The State's career of prosperity now ranked it third in the Union. But look at her men; look at her brilliant coterie of intellect which thirty years ago moved amid these scenes-Baker, the orator and soldier; the gallant Shields; our own Judge Logan, still with us, the illustrious lawyer of that time; Stephen A. Douglas, the statesman and patriot, whose last act was to sacrifice parti- sanship in the interest of patriotism; and then Lincoln, a name synonymous through the world's greatness, with honor and fidelity and goodness; a name reflecting the world's honor upon this section of country. With such a history Sanga- mon county should be proud and go on in its career of prosperity."

William H. Herndon, the next speaker, had never, save last year, attended the Old Settlers' re-union. He came now prepared to speak in his own way. On behalf of the President of the Society he extended a hearty welcome to all

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present. "Look into the history of Sangamon county. Geographically, it is about the centre of Illinois, and nearly the centre of the United States. Here is fertility of soil greater than elsewhere, and people the equal of any. But this was not always so. The advantages now enjoyed, our prosperous condition, was largely due to the pioneers who coming here grappled with the trials incident to a pioneer's life. It took men and women of nerve to battle with life in the wilderness, and the result of that bat- tling was seen here to-day in our prosperity and the happy presence of the old settlers and their decendants. It was well. The like of such pi- oneers we should never see again, unless in the far west." The speaker illustrated the trials of pioneer life by an incident in his childhood's days, when, his father being absent, his mother, by almost superhuman exertions, saved her fam- ily from an attack of an Indian war band. Al- luding to the mode of life in early days, he said crime was almost unknown; social life was char- acterized by the largest hospitality to strangers. Now selfishness ruled-" every man for himself." Early religious effort was fervent; men and women were unmistakably pious; there was true worship. Now we mainly worship form and fashion rather than the Deity. He paid a high compliment to the missionary zeal of Peter Cart- wright, one of whose sons occupied a place on the platform. There were now great changes; but having faith in an illimitable Supreme Being, he hoped the changes might be improvement, opening to a grander sphere. Specifically allud- ing to these changes, Mr. IIerndon said :- "Now let us look at some of these changes, wonderful changes that have taken place since the county of Sangamon was organized. First, let us look at this question connnercially, and to do so we will take the substance of a merchant's adver- tisement in the Sangamon Journal of 1836:

NEW STORE.

" 'The undersigned will keep constantly on hand a splendid assortment of dry goods, hardware, cutlery, groceries, drugs, medicines, books, boots and shoes, harness and saddles, queensware, glassware, nails, iron chains, etc., etc., which will be sold cheap for cash or country produce, such as beeswax, dry hides, feathers, butter, bacon, pork, etc., etc.'

"Now what a change. Dry goods, groceries, hardware, etc., are sold in separate stores. The old kind of stores are split up into specialties, where only one thing is sold, such as drugs, boots and shoes. Instead of being merchants of all things they are merchants of but one. Thus professions, trades, callings of every sort divide,

split and develop into a special, and here lies the cause, so to speak, of the progress of mankind.

"Agriculturally, the sickle gave its place and power to the cradle, and it in time gave its place and power to the reaper. The wooden mould board plow gave place to the iron one, and the common little bar shear gave place to the shovel, and it to the double shovel, and it in turn to the cultivator. The short, old Dutch-English scythe gave place to the blacksnake, and it in turn gave up its place to the mower. In these cases, as in a thousand others, the muscles of man was re- lieved by the muscles of the horse and the pow- ers generated by mechanics, and so it is and ever will be, and yet we in the West are hewers of wood and drawers of water, and yet I dare not say 'and so it is and ever will be.' God forbid. The wooden flail gave place to the treading, round-going ox, and he to the thresher. The cotton sheet, in a storm of wind, cleaning the grain, was succeeded by the fanning mill, and all these gave up their place and power to the threshers. The wooden rake has been suc- ceeded by the horse rake. The whip-saw has given up the ghost before the mill-saw; the muscles of man to the forces of nature. Origi- nally in the West the ox did all the work; he hauled everything, worked everywhere, and at all times ; he hauled goods from St. Louis at one dollar per hundred, and from Beardstown at forty cents per hundred ; he plowed, threshed, hauled, tread the mill; if not obedient was goaded and whipped by their angry masters, and for his great services was fattened, killed and eaten by those whom he had enriched. God, it is said, is merciful to man, but how is it with the poor ox? It was once shortly and pungently said that 'Illinois was hell on oxen and women.' The ox-mill and the horse-mill, as well as the water-mill, that ground out every hour about as much as a good hazle-splitting sow with a litter of pigs could eat, has succumbed- has all been surpassed by the steam mill grind- ing out its thousand barrels daily. The mode of travel, originally, was by two-horse stage; it was followed by the four-horse stage, with two seats, and it by the nine passenger. Now our mode of travel is by rail on iron tracks, and driven by steam, having many cars, with thous- ands of seats and carrying thousands of passen- gers across the continent in a few days. We now live by steam, and die and write our will by electricity. The flax wheel and the large wool and cotton spinning wheels, as well as the hand loom, driven by the hand and foot of woman, have all in their place given way to the power

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loom, etc., driven by steam. You know the lit- tle wheel, the larger one and the hand loom, how they all used to whirl, whiz, sing and slam and crash, and you know the loom house where it used to stand, and know how it looked, and saw your old mothers sitting there toiling away night and day shoving the shuttle. Do you? If so, remember the past, and the good, gone up, up to Heaven. The little old log cabin, with deerskin door, clapboard roof, puncheon floor, stick chimneys, daubed with clay and straw, covered with boards taken from the oaks by hands, and held down by weight-poles, have given place to palaces, so to speak. The old log school house, with slab benches, puncheon floors, greased paper for glass, together with the ill- natured school master, with his ferule and whip, thank God, are gone, and in their place we have schools and colleges on every hand. Our court house, costing some $70, has been succeeded by one costing some $200,000. Our State house, costing some $3,000 or $4,000, has been suc- ceeded by one costing as many millions. Origi- nally, we sent letters and messages by horse, now we send them by steam and electricity, as it were, beating in speed, time itself. So we have lived, are living, and will continue to live. The past is nothing, the present is nothing, the great future will be all. Man, the race of man, is but in its infancy-is a mere child, yet rocked in the cradle of Mother Nature. The world is young, time is long, and the race eternal, with unbounded forces. His capacity has no bounds, and his progress no limit. He will master every- thing but the unmasterable, know everything but the unknowable. He will be free and un- fettered in all the walks of life or drench the world in blood. Ile will be master of himself ; he will have no fetters on his limbs, his tongue, nor his brain, nor his business; he will be master of the forms of matter and the forces of nature; he will make these work for him, toil for him, groan and sweat and bleed for him, so to speak, while he climbs towards his anticipated, looked- for heaven."

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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 73

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