USA > Illinois > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell 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. History of Illinois Digest of state laws > Part 12
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
Time .- Sunrise on the following morning.
Place .- Col. Allen's farm (about one mile north of State House.)
Weapons .- Rifles.
Distance .- One hundred yards.
The parties to stand with their right sides toward each other- the rifles to be held in both hands horizontally and cocked, arms extended downwards. Neither party to move his person or his rifle after being placed, before the word fire. The signal to be: "Are you ready? Fire! one-two-three!" about a second of
149
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
time intervening between cach word. Neither party to fire before the word " fire," nor after the word "three."
Gen. Whiteside, in language curt and abrupt, addressed a note to Dr. Merriman declining to accept the terms. Gen. Shields, how- ever, addressed another note to Butler, explaining the feelings of his second, and offering to go out to a lonely place on the prairie to fight, where there would be no danger of being interrupted; or, if that did not suit, he would meet him on his own conditions, when and where he pleased. Butler claimed the affair was closed and declined the proposition.
WHITESIDE AND MERRIMAN.
Now Gen. Whiteside and Dr. Merriman, who several times had acted in the capacity of friends or seconds, were to handle the deadly weapons as principals. While second in the Shields-Butler fiasco, Whiteside declined the terms proposed by Butler, in curt and abrupt language, stating that the place of combat could not be dictated to him, for it was as much his right as Merriman's, who, if he was a gentleman, would recognize and concede it. To this Merriman replied by the hands of Capt. Lincoln. It will be remembered that Merriman had acted in the same capacity for Lin- coln. Whiteside then wrote to Merriman, asking to meet him at St. Louis, when he would hear from him further. To this Merri- man replied, denying his right to name place, but offered to meet in Louisiana, Mo. This Whiteside would not agree to, but later signified his desire to meet him there, but the affair being closed, the doctor declined to re-open it.
PRATT AND CAMPBELL.
These two gentlemen were members of the Constitutional Con- vention of 1847, and both from Jo Davies county. A dispute arose which ended in a challenge to meet on the field of honor. They both repaired to St. Louis, but the authorities gaining knowledge of their bloody intentions, had both parties arrested, which ended this " affair."
DRESS AND MANNERS.
The dress, habits, etc., of a people throw so much light upon their conditions and limitations that in order better to show the circum- stances surrounding the people of the State, we will give a short
150
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
exposition of the manner of life of our Illinois people at different epochs. The Indians themselves are credited by Charlevoix with being " very laborious,"-raising poultry, spinning the wool of the buffalo and manufacturing garments therefrom. These must have been, however, more than usually favorable representatives of their race.
"The working and voyaging dress of the French masses," says Reynolds, " was simple and primitive. The French were like the lilies of the valley (the Old Ranger was not always exact in his quotations),-they neither spun nor wove any of their clothing, but purchased it from the merchants. The white blanket coat, known as the capot, was the universal and eternal coat for the winter with the masses. A cape was made of it that could be raised over the head in cold weather.
" In the house, and in good weather, it hung behind, a cape to the blanket coat. The reason that I know these coats so well is, that I have worn many in my youth, and a working man never wore a better garment. Dressed deer-skins and blue cloth were worn commonly in the winter for pantaloons. The blue handkerchief and the deer-skin moccasins covered the head and feet generally of the French Creoles. In 1800, scarcely a man thought himself clothed unless he had a belt tied around his blanket coat, and on one side was hung the dressed skin of a pole-cat, filled with tobacco, pipe, flint and steel. On the other side was fastened, under the belt, the the butcher-knife. A Creole in this dress felt like Tam O'Shanter filled with usquebaugh; he could face the devil. Checked calico shirts were then common, but in winter flannel was frequently worn. In the summer the laboring men and the voyagers often took their shirts off in hard work and hot weather, and turned out the naked back to the air and sun."
" Among the Americans," he adds, " home-made wool hats were the common wear. Fur hats were not common, and scarcely a boot was seen. The covering of the feet in winter was chiefly moccasins made of deer-skins, and shoe packs of tanned leather. Some wore shoes, but not common in very early times. In the summer the greater portion of the young people, male and female, and many of the old, went barefoot. The substantial and universal outside wear was the blue linsey hunting-shirt. This is an excellent garment, and I have never felt so happy and healthy since I laid it off. It is
WITTENBERG - SORBER, SC. SINOTTS
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY, AT CARBONDALE.
153
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
made of wide sleeves, open before, with ample size so as to envelop the body almost twice around. Sometimes it had a large cape, which answers well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt is mostly used to keep the garment close around the person, and, nevertheless, there is nothing tight about it to hamper the body. It is often fringed, and at times the fringe is composed of red, and other gay colors. The belt, frequently, is sewed to the hunting-shirt. The vest was mostly made of striped linsey. The colors were made often with alum, copperas and madder, boiled with the bark of trees, in such a manner and proportions as the old ladies prescribed. The pantaloons of the masses were generally made of deer-skin and linsey. Course blue cloth was sometimes made into pantaloons.
" Linsey, neat and fine, manufactured at home, composed generally the outside garments of the females as well as the males. The ladies had linsey colored and woven to suit their fancy. A bonnet, composed of calico, or some gay goods, was worn on the head when they were in the open air. Jewelry on the pioneer ladies was uncommon; a gold ring was an ornament not often seen."
In 1820 a change of dress began to take place, and before 1830, according to Ford, most of the pioneer costume had disappeared. "The blue linsey hunting-shirt, with red or white fringe, had given place to the cloth coat. [Jeans would be more like the fact.] The raccoon cap, with the tail of the animal dangling down behind, had been thrown aside for hats of wool or fur. Boots and shoes had supplied the deer-skin moccasins; and the leather breeches, strapped tight around the ankle, had disappeared before unmentionables of a more modern material. The female sex had made still greater pro- gress in dress. The old sort of cotton or woolen frocks, spun, woven and made with their own fair hands, and striped and cross-barred with blue dye and turkey red, had given place to gowns of silk and calico. The feet, before in a state of nudity, now charmed in shoes of calf-skin or slippers of kid; and the head, formerly unbonneted, but covered withi a cotton handkerchief, now displayed the charms of the female face under many forms of bonnets of straw, silk and leghorn. The young ladies, instead of walking a mile or two to church on Sunday, carrying their shoes and stockings in their hands until within a hundred yards of the place of worship, as formerly, now came forth arrayed complete in all the pride of dress, mounted on fine horses and attended by their male admirers."
154
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
The last half century has doubtless witnessed changes quite as great as those set forth by our Illinois historian. The chronicler of to-day, looking back to the golden days of 1830 to 1840, and comparing them with the present, must be struck with the tendency of an almost monotonous uniformity in dress and manners that comes from the easy inter-communication afforded by steamer, rail- way, telegraph and newspaper. Home manufacturers have been driven from the household by the lower-priced fabrics of distant mills. The Kentucky jeans, and the copperas-colored clothing of home manufacture, so familiar a few years ago, have given place to the cassimeres and cloths of noted factories. The ready-made- clothing stores, like a touch of nature, made the whole world kin- and may drape the charcoal man in a dress-coat and a stove-pipe hat. The prints and silks of England and France give a variety of choice, and an assortment of colors and shades such as the pioneer women could hardly have dreamed of. Godey, and Demorest, and Harper's Bazar are found in our modern farm-houses, and the latest fashions of Paris are not uncommon.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ILLINOIS.
In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It is about 150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in latitude from Maine to North Carolina. The climate varies from Portland to Richmond. It favors every product of the continent, including the tropics, with less than half a dozen exceptions. It produces every great food of the world except bananas and rice. It is hardly too much to say that it is the most productive spot known to civil- ization. With the soil full of bread and the earth full of minerals; with an upper surface of food and an under layer of fuel; with per- fect natural drainage, and abundant springs, and streams, and navi- gable rivers; half way between the forests of the North and the fruits of the South; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal, copper, lead and zinc; and containing and controlling the great grain, cattle, pork and lumber markets of the world, it is not strange that Illinois has the advantage of position.
There are no mountains in Illinois; in the southern as well as in the northern part of the State there are a few hills; near the banks of the Illinois, Mississippi, and several other rivers, the ground is
153
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
elevated, forming the so-called bluffs, on which at the present day may be found, uneffaced by the hand of Time, the marks and traces left by the water which was formerly much higher; whence it may be safe to conclude that, where now the fertile prairies of Illinois extend, and the rich soil of the country yields its golden harvests, must have been a vast sheet of water, the mud deposited by which formed the soil, thus accounting for the present great fertility of the country.
Illinois is a garden 400 miles long and 150 miles wide. Its soil is chiefly a black, sandy loam, from 6 inches to 60 feet thick. About the old French towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without rest or help. She leads all other States in the number of acres actually under plow. Her mineral wealth is scarcely second to her agricultural power. She has coal, iron, lead, zinc, copper, many varieties of building stone, marble, fire clay, cuma clay, common brick clay, sand of all kinds, gravel, mineral paint,- in fact, everything needed for a high civilization.
AGRICULTURE.
If any State of the Union is adapted for agriculture, and the other branches of rural economy relating thereto, such as the raising of cattle and the culture of fruit trees, it is pre-eminently Illinois. Her extremely fertile prairies recompense the farmer at less trouble and expense than he would be obliged to incur elsewhere, in order to obtain the same results. Her rich soil, adapted by nature for immediate culture, only awaits the plow and the seed in order to mature, within a few months, a most bountiful harvest. A review of statistics will be quite interesting to the reader, as well as valuable, as showing the enormous quantities of the various cereals produced in our prairie State:
In 1876 there was raised in the State 130,000,000 of bushels of corn,-twice as much as any other State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United States. It would take 375,000 cars to transport this vast amount of corn to market, which would make 15,000 trains of 25 cars each. She harvested 2,747,000 tons of hay, nearly one- tenth of all the hay in the Republic. It is not generally appreciated, but it is true, that the hay crop of the country is worth more than the cotton crop. The hay of Illinois equals the cotton of Louisiana.
156
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
Go to Charleston, S. C., and see them peddling handfuls of hay or grass, almost as a curiosity, as we regard Chinese gods or the cryo- lite of Greenland; drink your coffee and condensed milk; and walk back from the coast for many a league through the sand and burs till you get up into the better atmosphere of the mountains, with- out seeing a waving meadow or a grazing herd; then you will begin to appreciate the meadows of the Prairie State.
The value of her farm implements was, in 1876, $211,000,000, and the value of live stock was only second to New York. The same year she had 25,000,000 hogs, and packed 2,113,845, about one-half of all that were packed in the United States. She marketed $57,000,000 worth of slaughtered animals,-more than any other State, and a seventh of all the States.
Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in miles of postal service, and in money orders sold per annum, and in the amount of lumber sold.
Illinois was only second in many important matters, taking the reports of 1876. This sample list comprises a few of the more important: Permanent school fund; total income for educational purposes; number of publishers of books, maps, papers, etc .; value of farm products and implements, and of live stock; in tons of coal mined.
The shipping of Illinois was only second to New York. Out of one port during the business hours of the season of navigation she sent forth a vessel every nine minutes. This did not include canal- boats, which went one every five minutes.
No wonder she was only second in number of bankers or in phy- sicians and surgeons.
She was third in colleges, teachers and schools; also in cattle, lead, hay, flax, sorghum and beeswax.
She was fourth in population, in children enrolled in public schools, in law schools, in butter, potatoes and carriages.
She was fifth in value of real and personal property, in theologi- cal seminaries, and colleges exclusively for women, in milk sold, and in boots and shoes manufactured, and in book-binding.
She was only seventh in the production of wood, while she was the twelfth in area. Surely that was well done for the Prairie State. She then had, in 1876, much more wood and growing timber than she had thirty years before.
157
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
A few leading industries will justify emphasis. She manufactured $203,000,000 worth of goods, which placed her well up toward New York and Pennsylvania. The number of her manufacturing establishments increased from 1860 to 1870, 300 per cent .; capital employed increased 350 per cent .; and the amount of product in- creased 400 per cent. She issued 5,500,000 copies of commercial and financial newspapers, being only second to New York. She had 6,759 miles of railroad, then leading all other States, worth $636,- 458,000, using 3,245 engines, and 67,712 cars, making a train long enough to cover one-tenth of the entire roads of the State. Her stations were only five miles apart. She carried, in 1876, 15,795,- 000 passengers an average of 362 miles, or equal to taking her entire population twice across the State. More than two-thirds of her land was within five miles of a railroad, and less than two per cent. was more than fifteen miles away
The State has a large financial interest in the Illinois Central railroad. The road was incorporated in 1850, and the State gave each alternate section for six miles on each side, and doubled the price of the remaining land, so keeping herself good. The road received 2,595,000 acres of land, and paid to the State one-seventh of the gross receipts. The State received in 1877, $350,000, and had received up to that year in all about $7,000,000. It was prac- tically the people's road, and it had a most able and gentlemanly management. Add to the above amount the annual receipts from the canal, $111,000, and a large per cent. of the State tax was pro- vided for.
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
Shadrach Bond-Was the first Governor of Illinois. He was a native of Maryland and born in 1773; was raised on a farm; re- ceived a common English education, and came to Illinois in 1794 He served as a delegate in Congress from 1811 to 1815, where he procured the right of pre-emption of public land. He was elected Governor in 1818; was beaten for Congress in 1824 by Daniel P. Cook He died at Kaskaskia, April 11, 1830.
Edward Coles-Was born Dec. 15, 1786, in Virginia. His father was a slave-holder; gave his son a collegiate education, and left to him a large number of slaves. These he liberated, giving each head of a family 160 acres of land and a considerable sum of money.
158
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
He was President Madison's private secretary. He came to Illinois in 1819, was elected Governor in 1822, on the anti-slavery ticket; moved to Philadelphia in 1833, and died in 1868.
Ninian Edwards .- In 1809, on the formation of the Territory of Illinois, Mr. Edwards was appointed Governor, which position he retained until the organization of the State, when he was sent to the United States Senate. He was elected Governor in 1826. He was a native of Maryland and born in 1775; received a collegiate education; was Chief Justice of Kentucky, and a Republican in politics.
John Reynolds-Was born in Pennsylvania in 1788, and came with his parents to Illinois in 1800, and in 1830 was elected Gov- ernor on the Democratic ticket, and afterwards served three terms in Congress. He received a classical education, yet was not polished. He was an ultra Democrat; attended the Charleston Convention in 1860, and urged the seizure of United States arsenals by the South. He died in 1865 at Belleville, childless.
Joseph Duncan .- In 1834 Joseph Duncan was elected Governor by the Whigs, although formerly a Democrat. He had previously served four terms in Congress. He was born in Kentucky in 1794; had but a limited education; served with distinction in the war of 1812; conducted the campaign of 1832 against Black Hawk. He came to Illinois when quite young.
Thomas Carlin-Was elected as a Democrat in 1838. He had but a meager education; held many minor offices, and was active both in the war of 1812 and the Black Hawk war. He was born in Kentucky in 1789; came to Illinois in 1812, and died at Carrollton, Feb. 14, 1852.
Thomas Ford-Was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1800; was brought by his widowed mother to Missouri in 1804, and shortly afterwards to Illinois. He received a good education, studied law; was elected four times Judge, twice as Circuit Judge, Judge of Chicago and Judge of Supreme Court. He was elected Governor by the Democratic party in 1842; wrote his history of Illinois in 1847 and died in 1850.
Augustus C. French-Was born in New Hampshire in 1808; was admitted to the bar in 1831, and shortly afterwards moved to Illinois when in 1846 he was elected Governor. On the adoption of the Constitution of 1848 he was again chosen, serving until 1853. He was a Democrat in politics.
159
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
Joel A. Matteson-Was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., in 1808. His father was a farmer, and gave his son only a common school education. He first entered upon active life as a small tradesman, but subsequently became a large contractor and manufacturer. He was a heavy contractor in building the Canal. He was elected Gov- ernor in 1852 upon the Democratic ticket.
William H. Bissell-Was elected by the Republican party in 1856. He had previously served two terms in Congress; was colonel in the Mexican war and has held minor official positions. He was born in New York State in 1811; received a common educa- tion; came to Illinois early in life and engaged in the medical pro- fession. This he changed for the law and became a noted orator, and the standard bearer of the Republican party in Illinois. He died in 1860 while Governor.
Richard Yates-"The war Governor of Illinois," was born in Warsaw, Ky., in 1818; came to Illinois in 1831: served two terms in Congress; in 1860 was elected Governor, and in 1865 United States Senator. He was a college graduate, and read law under J. J. Hardin. He rapidly rose in his chosen profession and charmed the people with oratory. He filled the gubernatorial chair during the trying days of the Rebellion, and by his energy and devotion won the title of " War Governor." He became addicted to strong drink, and died a drunkard.
Richard J. Oglesby-Was born in 1824, in Kentucky; an orphan at the age of eight, came to Illinois when only 12 years old. He was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade; worked some at farming and read law occasionally. He enlisted in the Mexican War and was chosen First Lieutenant. After his return he again took up the law, but during the gold fever of 1849 went to Califor- nia; soon returned, and, in 1852, entered upon his illustrious political career. He raised the second regiment in the State, to snppress the Rebellion, and for gallantry was promoted to Major General. In 1864 he was elected Governor, and re-elected in 1872, and resigned for a seat in the United States Senate. He is a staunch Republican and resides at Decatur.
Shelby M. Cullom-Was born in Kentucky in 1828; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession in 1848; was elected to the State Legislature in 1856, and again in 1860. Served on the war commission at Cairo, 1862,
160
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
and was a member of the 39th, 40th and 41st Congress, in all of which he served with credit to his State. He was again elected to the State Legislature in 1872, and re-elected in 1874, and was elected Governor of Illinois in 1876, which office he still holds, and has administered with marked ability.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS.
Pierre Menard-Was the first Lieut. Gov. of Illinois. He was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1767. He came to Illinois in 1790 where he engaged in the Indian trade and became wealthy. He died in 1844. Menard county was named in his honor.
Adolphus F. Hubbard-Was elected Lieut. Gov. in 1822. Four years later he ran for Governor against Edwards, but was beaten. William Kinney-Was elected in 1826. He was a Baptist clergyman; was born in Kentucky in 1781 and came to Illinois in 1793.
Zadock Casey-Although on the opposition ticket to Governor Reynolds, the successful Gubernatorial candidate, yet Casey was elected Lieut. Gov. in 1830. He subsequently served several terms in Congress.
Alexander M. Jenkins-Was elected on ticket with Gov. Duncan in 1834 by a handsome majority.
S. H. Anderson-Lieut. Gov. under Gov. Carlin, was chosen in 1838. He was a native of Tennessee.
John Moore-Was born in England in 1793; came to Illinois in 1830; was elected Lieut. Gov. in 1842. He won the name of " Honest John Moore."
Joseph B. Wells-Was chosen with Gov. French at his first election in 1846.
William Mc Murtry .- In 1848 when Gov. French was again chosen Governor, William McMurtry of Knox county, was elected Lieut. Governor.
Gustavus P. Koerner-Was elected in 1852. He was born in Germany in 1809. At the age of 22 came to Illinois. In 1872 he was a candidate for Governor on Liberal ticket, but was defeated.
John Wood-Was elected in 1856, and on the death of Gov. Bissell became Governor.
Francis A. Hoffman-Was chosen with Gov. Yates in 1860 He was born in Prussia in 1822, and came to Illinois in 1840.
BOND-CHANCLEN-CHICAGO,
CENTRAL HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, JACKSONVILLE.
MECHAN
ND MILITARY HA
NG
RMITO
BAKER-CÓ
ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY, CHAMPAIGN-FOUNDED BY THE STATE, ENDOWED BY CONGRESS.
161
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
William Bross-Was born in New Jersey, came to Illinois in 1848, was elected to office in 1864.
John Dougherty-Was elected in 1868.
John L. Beveredge-Was chosen Lieut. Gov. in 1872. In 1873 Oglesby was elected to the U. S. Senate when Beveridge became Governor.
Andrew Shuman-Was elected Nov. 7, 1876, and is the present incumbent.
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
. Ninian W. Edwards.
1854-56
Newton Bateman. 1859-75
W. H. Powell 1857-58
Samuel M. Etter 1876
ATTORNEY GENERALS.
Daniel P. Cook. 1819
Geo. W. Olney. 1838
William Mears. 1820
Wickliffe Kitchell. 1839
Samuel D. Lockwood. 1821-22
Josiah Lamborn. 1841-42
James Turney. 1823-28
James A. McDougall. 1843-46
George Forquer 1829-32
David B. Campbell. 1846
James Semple. 1833-34
[Office abolished and re-created in 1867]
Nınian E. Edwards. 1834-35
Robert G. Ingersoll. 1867-68
Jesse B. Thomas, Jr .1835
Washington Bushnell. 1869-72
Walter B. Scates.
1836
Asher F. Linder.
1837
TREASURERS.
John Thomas. 1818-19
James Miller. 1857-60
R. K. Mclaughlin.
1819-22
William Butler 1861-62
Ebner Field 1823-26
Alexander Starne. 1863 -- 64
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.