History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 19

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704

USA > Illinois > Clay County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 19
USA > Illinois > Wayne County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 19

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In a copy of the Press of 1854, are the ad-

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.

vertisements of the I. O. O. F.'s, Dr. J. M. Whitlock, N. G., and J. W. Barnhill, R. S .; then Charles Wood, Drainage Commissioner, has a card; Joseph G. Barkley, Circuit Clerk, gives a notice, and John Trousdale, County Clerk, a swamp land notice; the Mt. Carmel Academy, H. C. Wood, Principal, also. John Moreland advertises for poultry and eggs for his store. Henry R. Neff, ad- ministrator of the estate of Ephraim Hay- wood, has a notice. D. Bear advertises his store. William Powless, administrator of Dagg's estate has a notice. T. T. & E. Bonham say "Clear the track for the wheel- barrow express." Jeremiah Hargrave, ad- ministrator of John Kirkpatrick's estate, gives notice. Dr. J. D. Cape. of the Fairfield drug store, has a say. B. Bailey, of Jeffer- sonville, advertises his store. Dr. J. W. Whitlock's card as physician appears. He removed to New Mexico, and in 1861, he was most brutally shot down and murdered in the streets of Las Vegas by a company of sol- diers. He had been drawn into a discussion with an officer, and hot words and a blow had passed, but they were separated by friends and no injury inflicted, when the officer left to arm himself, and Whitlock had started for his office for the same purpose it is supposed, in order to defend himself from the threatened attack, and just as he was about to enter his office he was attacked by over a hundred armed men, who beat him down with their guns and then riddled his body with bullets-one of the many dis- graceful, cowardly and brutal murders that marked too frequently that era of crime and lawlessness.

Next in order appears the card of Dr. J. J. R. Turney and Dr. S. W. Thompson, and as attorneys, E. Beecher, L. J. S. Turney and John Trousdale. E. S. Ayles advertises a new tin-shop. In the candidates' column

appears S. S. Marshall, for Congress, and L. J. S. Turney, as an Independent Consti- tutional candidate for Congress. Austin Organ, Alexander Campbell and William Beeson, for Sheriff, and C. C. Hopkins and J. W. Wheelock, for Representatives.

February 22, 1859, was issued the first number of the Prairie Pioneer, by William Loyd Carter, and November 10, 1860, Car- ter retired from the paper with a valedictory of over a column, in which he says he has " stood at the helm through nearly two years of the storms of adversity," and he was evi- dently tired and wanted to quit with a big Q.

His successor was B. T. Atherton, who overhauled the paper generally, and pro- claimed that he would make it strictly neu- tral in politics.

In March, 1859, Miles B. Friend entered into partnership with Carter in the publica. tion of the Prairie Pioneer. He opens out with a lengthy salutatory, in which he says, in " assuming the oditorship and management of the Pioneer," etc., that he will enforce his new departure and go upon the cash plan ex- clusively, and he says: "There will be no further prodigal display of talents in the paper without the cash on the counter." Mr. Friend is still living, and is publishing a paper in McLeansboro. He propably never in all his life since he came to Fairfield has written such a long bow to the public as he did here. It must have been too long, be- cause we find in March 15, 1859, he publishes the following, his "Obquitatory," as he facetiously calls it, and retires leaving the paper in Carter's hands: "Under financial stress I have quit." This is followed by an article from Carter's pen, from which we take the following: "About the only good county paper ever published in the county was the Wayne County Herald, by Stickney,

Jacob Hall

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the Independent Press, by F. C. Manley, and the Illinois Patriot, by C. T. Lichten- berger, the immediate successors of the Pa- triot, each of which, after, a short struggle for puolie favor, failed. ** Probably no paper in Southern Illinois, established no greater length of time, has passed through so many different hands, or changed proprietors so often."

October 20, 1859. Carter left the editorial chair, and was succeeded by J. D. Lichten- berger, son of T. C. Lichtenberger. In his farewell, Carter thus refers to his successor: " For us to attempt to say anything in his extolation. would be simply superfluous." March 15, 1860, Theo Edmondson be- came the publisher, and W. L. Carter was again editor. Edmondson retired in August following, and Benson T. Atherton, from Wabash County, became publisher. October 12, 1862, the Prairie Pioneer suspended publication, to be revived by J. D. Lichten- berger, who had reduced it to a four column concern, and then again Atherton tried to make it live and grow, but it continued to grow smaller and smaller, and in September, 1863. it breathed its last.

We should have stated in the proper place above, that in 1858. Joe M. Pryor came to Fairfield and as printer, publisher and editor took charge of the Pioneer. He retired Feb- ruary 2. 1859, and says: "Good Bye!" He then confesses he was too much of a "nig- gerite" to publish a paper in Fairfield, and then he throws up his head and " gives one long, loud, terrific yell for W. H. Seward and Abe Lincoln, our next President and Vice President." He then repels with scorn the slanders that some of the " Fairfield pop. enjays " had started on him, namely, that he was an " abolitionist."

Poor Joe, witty, jolly, vigorous and whole- souled, a man of much natural newspaper

ability, and at times a very pungent para- graphist, yet eratic and restless. He floated about the country until 1862, when he died, having in life been appreciated for his full worth by few of the many who knew him or were associated with him.

We have spoken of Alfred S. Tilden. He wound up his career in Fairfield, and became what nature intended him for, a roving tramp printer, smart and wholly reckless and dis- sipated, and thus soon wound up a short and reckless life.

In the Fairfield Gazette of July 1, 1858, we find the following: "The tri-weekly stage line from Mt. Vernon, Ind., to Xenia and return, goes into operation this afternoon. The establishment of this route gives us mail connection with the O. & M. Railroad every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and will expedite all our business transactions. The heart of Wayne County is now open for traverse by her business men and the traveler, and we look from this time forward for a steady improvement."

March 22, 1860, the Pioneer had a stun- ning editorial article, vindicating Hon. John A. Logan from the vile aspersions of the Abolitionists. It said he was "the eagle- eyed orator of Egypt, and ably repels the vile epithet of 'Dirty-work Logan,'" and proclaims that this " virtuous statesman is in favor of carrying out the laws," especially the " fugitive slave law."

In this same paper appears the law card of D. T. Linegar, and the same year it an- nounces that lie is the " loyal " candidate for Congress against John A. Logan, the Demo- cratie nominee. It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows. There are yet voters living who well remember this great one-sided Congressional race. Linegar was an out-and-out Republican. Logan was a better Democrat than Douglas " or any other 0

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yallerhammer," in the language of the Bu- chanan-Danites of the country. Dave chal- lenged John for a joint discussion. He bad neither money nor friends, but he could an- noy the great " eagle-eyed orator " immense- ly. In fact, some irreligious Republicans said that the only two times they met, that Dave knifed him from the word "go ;" and now comes the curious fact, that Dave's logic drove Logan into " loyalty " and himself into being, of all in the "traitor's camp," the one altogether lovely. Linegar is well re- membered by all the leading early Republi- cans of Wayne County. Linegar left the county on receiving the appointment from Lincoln of Postmaster in Cairo, where he has lived ever since, and, except that his character was stained by being indicted with Dan Munn as one of the notable whisky thieves, he has pursued his profession suc- cessfully, and now for the past four years he has been regarded as one of the ablest Repre- sentatives in the Illinois Legislature. A man of strong mind, resplendent genius and incorruptible politics.

In 1862 Dr. Sibley purchased James D. Lichtenberger's paper, and run it on the red- hot loyal platform. He soon associated with himself R. B. Schell, and off and on contin- ued the paper urtil 1868. The Democrat, in the meantime had been brought here by Joe V. Baugh, and the excitement ran high, and the paper pellets of the brain at times fairly made it lightning all around the sky. 'The Democrat was published in the bar-room of a hotel, where Scott's store now is, but when it passed into Joe Baugh's possession he moved it to the Sailer property.

In 1864, about all the many paper ventures had ceased to vex the gentle air of heaven about Fairfield, except the War Democrat, by Sibley, when he finally caught the war fever and sold to D. W. Barkley, the present

proprietor of the Wayne County Press, noted for its public spirit, liberality and enterprise, which under Mr. Barkley's able management have long made it conspicuous among the Republican journals of Southern Illinois. The War Democrat in D. W. Barkley's hands started in life neutral in politics. For some time his partner was M. G. Revill, who re- tired and went to Salem, III., and started a paper, and afterward merchandising, which he continued until a few years ago, when he died.

In 1865, C. Sibley announced his farewell, and was succeeded by D. W. Barkley, who, in his announcement, says : "This is my first attempt to serve the people in the capacity of an editor, and in January. 1866. he took Revill into partnership, who says in his "announcement " that he had been for- merly connected with the Union Banner of Carlyle, and he very pointedly asserts that this fact " warrants us in the assertion of our competency for our present position." The title of the paper was changed to its present name, the Democrat, and afterward the Press, was in the new management for a while neutral in politics. After Revill re- tired Barkley associated with himself his brother, O. F. Barkley, and for some time the two published the paper. Then D. W. purchased his brother's interest, and he is now and has since been an employe in the office.

The War Democrat had been started by C. J. Wilmans January 14, 1864. He had purchased the old Pioneer office. In Febru- ary, 1864, Wilmans associated C. W. Sibley in the publication.

Under this new arrangement. the paper threw off all disguises about being democrat- ic, and fairly " went in Dugan " in the way of peppery articles about traitors, rebels and copperheads. It struck from the shoulder,

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and denounced treason without mercy, and flambagantly took its place in the ranks where " John Brown's soul is still marching on." Particularly was this so after Wil- man's early retirement, and when Sibley was left alone in his glory. In August, 1864, C. J. Wilmans returned as Sibley's associate, and it was agreed that this arrangement should continue for one year. January 12, 1865, the paper was reduced in size to a half sheet, and in February, Wilmans again retired, and C. Sibley, the father of C. W. Sibley ran it awhile and sold to D. W. Barkley, as stated above.

Barkley started his paper on the neutral side, and so published it for awhile, and then it was made a strong Republican organ, es- pecially in 1868. But then it left the Re- publican party and was a " Granger," and battled with the " broad horns" manfully until 1876, when it was again in its old place with its party and where it has apparently settled to stay.

In 1878, the Republican was started by Robinson. It was an out-and-outer radical paper, and it made so much noise in the Wayne County political world, that Barkley finally bought it out and swallowed it up in his Press office.

In 1868. George W. Bates started the Fairfield Democrat. He got out the paper occasionally. and he got " off his base " with wonderful regularity. A presidential elec- tion was on hand, and the leading Demo- erats indneed John Moffitt, who was then in the Clerk's office, to take the paper and " save the country." John says he had never been in a printing office but once in his life be- fore he was installed as "Editor in Chief." He wrote his editorials-started up, as it were, his screaming political cagles- launched his thunderbolts, to put it mildly, at the heads of his devoted country, and with

bated breath awaited the result. He says his amazement, after the issue of his first paper, at seeing the world move on in its regular orbit, may be imagined, not described. He was dumbfounded - paralyzed. so to speak-and in a dazed kind of way looked around him. He picked his flint and tried it again the next week-a little stronger, if possible -- and yet the sun, moon and stars bowled along in their usual way-the earth even did not fly off its handle and go spin- ning recklessly around, and bobbing against stray comets and things generally. Queen Victoria did not resign and become a dairy maid, and Bismark took his " swei glass" regularly and without choking, and even Eli Perkins continued to peddle his lies to liter- ary and religious clubs, at $35 a night, and John was editorially demoralized slightly. At all events, in a couple of months the elec- tion was over, and Moffitt retired with a sar- castic farewell from the newspaper world.

Joseph Carter and Will Goudy started the Register September 11, 1880, a democratic, folio paper. of some ability and sprightliness, which they ran for about three months, and sold to McClung, of the Record. Goudy is now a postal route agent, and has quit his trade of printer.

The Fairfield Weekly Democrat, an eight- column folio, Democratie paper, was started by Bates & Holmes, July 3, 1868. The of- fice had been purchased by R. F. Brown and shipped here, and, as Brown abandoned the enterprise before it was fairly launched, it was run awbile by Moffitt, and then by C. J. Wilmans, and Stanley, and Schell, and Friend, and then Baugh. In 1871 and 1872, C. E. Sibley and R. B. Schell were proprietors. In 1875, Brown, who was a noted newspaper starter, again was in possession, and he sold about this time to Oliver Holmes. Then Sib- ley ran it awhile for Joe Crews, and for

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these years it was run by Wilmans, who owned it twice and was in and out a number of times; by Baugh twice, Brown twice, and finally Wilmans sold to Ed McClung, the present proprietor. McClung entered the office in 1876 as an humble boy apprentice, under Stanley & Schell. While he was in the office, it was sold under mortgage, and Wil- mans was the purchaser. McClung then be- came foreman, aud so continued until he pur- chased the office three years ago. Wilmans and Joe Prior were the two most remarkable men developed among the early scribes of Fairfield. When Wilmans sold out, he went to Texas, and for some time was connected with different papers in that State. He is now a resident of St. Louis, and, we under- stand, is temporarily out of the newspaper business. His talents aş a writer were above the average.

In looking over our notes of the innumera- ble changes of ownership of the Democrat, we learn that R. D. Adams, and James Mc- Cartney were at oue time the owners, and they leased it to E. B. Renard, of the Olney Times, who tried the experiment of running the two papers. He soon got enough of it, and the concern reverted again to Wilmans.

As stated elsewhere, McClung purchased the Register in December, 1879, and at once changed the name to the present Record. Wilmans was in 1881, still running the Demo- crat, and McClung purchased it at that time and consolidated it with the Record. In the early part of 1883, he added a new Campbell power-press, and new type and material, and commenced the publication of a first-class country paper. In the fall of 1883, he changed the paper from an eight-column folio to a six-column quarto, and again made great improvement in a paper that already deservedly rauked well.

The two men now conducting the Fairfield papers are admirably fitted to supply the wants of the people of the county in their line, as well as a further illustration of the law of the "survival of the fittest," as the record we have given above shows that all of the many rivals have passed away, and most ly have been transferred to the Record or Press, and in each instance going to the one they were struggling to supplant or rival.

Papers in Jeffersonville .- In April, 1872, George P. Slade removed the Christian In- structor from McLeansboro to Jeffersonville. This was an eight-column paper, devoted to the cause of the Christian Church-Slade, editor, and C. E. Wolfe, publisher. It dealt in church dogmas and launched thun- derbolts at all who differed from its church tenets. It commenced in April and died from exhaustion in December following.

Then Wolfe and R. A. Moss started from this office the Wayne County Central, a polit- ical paper of the Republican persuasion. It was an eight-column folio, and about every issue it would politically "WHEREAS, the earth and all offices therein contained belong to the political saints, and, therefore, Re- solved, that we are the political saints." And thus it fought out the great battles of the country after the cruel war was over. The paper was continued under this arrangement until 1873, when Moss retired and J. M. Tracy took his place, who, after six months, took the office to Fairfield, and in a short- time Israel & Wolfe sold it to Prof. W. S. Scott, now of White County.

The second paper started at Jeffersonville was by Wall & Tracy-the Evangelist at Work. This was in pamphlet form. and was thus run for one year, when it was changed to a four column folio. This was another church organ, and after a year of varied fort-

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unes the office was closed. The old press and types of this office are still in Jefferson- ville and belong to Tracy & Wolf.

The third and only other paper started in

this place was a Sunday school organ, in pamphlet form, sixteen pages, by E. J. Hart, editor, and Tracy, publisher. It died when only eight months old.

CHAPTER XI.

SCHOOLS-AN ACCOUNT FROM THE FIRST ONE TO THE PRESENT DAY-A COMPARISON OF THE IM- PROVEMENTS-SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND THE FIRST FREE SCHOOLS-DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING EDUCATION AT AN EARLY DAY-THE CHANGES OF FIFTY YEARS-DISCUSSIONS OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM-STATISTICS, ETC.

CHOOLS .- In preceding chapters we | would stay, and the less comfortable places were but little annoyed by his presence, while the very poor never once would see him on their premises. But, in justice to the best farmers, we believe there was never any complaint from them on account of this in- equality in the " board round " of the differ- ent teachers, and in return the other patrons were never known to complain if this favor- ite's family's children had all the teacher's partiality -- especially the big girls.

have given a general account of the first feeble, but heroic efforts here to estab- lish and maintain the cause of education among the rising generation. We use the word education in the common acceptation of the term as synonomous with schools. Our forefathers here had no "free," or State schools, and the result was they employed only teachers who were willing to work for very small pay and " board round," as they expressed it in their written contracts. To " board round," meant the teacher would, at his own discretion, divide up his time among the families of the pupils, and thus they would all contribute their equal share of the keep of the teacher. The writer has a distinct re- collection of how the different young men who taught the schools of those days would ad- just this problem. He would select some boarding place where there were the most pretty girls and the fattest table fare, and by helping get wood of an evening, making fires in the cook-stove, and sometimes, we blush to say, a flame in the eyes and heart of the buxom belle of the ranche, he would almost be one of the family, and here he

The first, and for that matter, the only real " free schools " our people ever had were the Sunday schools, that were invented about sixty-five years ago in this part of the world. They were originally much better institu- tions than the same things are now. They came in response to the great need and de- mand of a pioneer people, who were sparsely settled over the broad land and who were too poor to import school teachers or build splen - did houses for school rooms, and further they had but few books for their children, and hence their families had not the neces- sary facilities often to teach the children at home to read and write. We said the schools then were better than they are now.

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We are convinced that this is true upon an investigation of their mode of management of the early schools and a comparison with the manner now. The original idea was to enable the chileren to learn to read and write -not to fill with foolish dogmas and to pros- elyte to some special church. In these early Sunday schools, the only lessons were to learn to read and spell, and the only mark between that and the secular school was that the ex- ercises were opened with a prayer and song, suitable to the sacred day. Here the whole family assembled, and young and old partic- ipated in the exercises of the day.

The scattered condition of the inhabitants over a large area of country, the difficulties of travel through the prairies in consequence of the luxuriant growth of vegetation, with paths only leading from one neighbor's cabin to another, made it very difficult for children to get to school alone. In the fall the prairies were swept by fire-adding another danger. In winter, travel was hin- dered by lack of bridges on either large or small streams. The latter at that time rose to a much greater height and remained up longer than now. These troubles, to- gether with the great respect we had for wolves and other wild beasts, made the pro- curing of an education impossible.

But the difficulties enumerated were not all they had to contend with. If the com- mon school happened to be in winter, two- thirds of the children were not sufficiently clothed and shod to attend. And, again, should the school be in summer, when it was suitable for them to go on account of the weather. all the boys large enough to work could not be spared by their parents, for the reason that all were poor and must work. Our work was not then done on large farms as at present, but on "truck patches " such as cotton, flax, turnip and all other kinds of

patches that we have now, and a corn patch of five to fifteen acres. In the latter part of the summer, they would commence clearing a good-sized turnip patch, and so add patch to patch until after many summers they had considerable farms, say forty acres. Our poor sisters could not be spared by our moth- ers if they were only high enough with a wheel-peg in their hands to turn a spinning- wheel and draw a pair of cotton-cards. Poor girls, they had no one but their mothers for music teachers, and good teachers they were, too. All the daughters graduated in their profession-manufacturing from the raw ma- terial taken from the cotton patch, picked out the seeds with the fingers-carded and spun four cuts per day, and so followed up the profession until the copperas stripe ap- peared in the cloth, and the maple-bark-col- ored hunting shirt was perfected into a gar- ment. Great skill was exercised in cutting garments, five yards being allowed for a dress pattern for a grown woman, not that five yards was a scant pattern, but the main point was to save some portion of the five yards to use when the garment was found to retro- grade, not exactly bustle attachments as it is the custom at the present day, but rather the reverse, to strengthen the garment, to make it pass through a certain period of time to make a connection with the fruit of the loom, which was periodical.

But in slow process of time our people came to possess what we now call free or public schools, and for fifty years the only question that has concerned the advocates of schools has been to get enough of it. True, they sometimes talk about the quality of the thing, and you can generally hear much of graded schools, magnificent and costly schoolhouses, and high-salaried teachers, and the county that has these in the greatest abundance, plumes itself and brags mightily upon its

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wonderful strides in civilization. Fifty years has witnessed a wonderful change in this country on this subject. The rise and spread of the public schools has has been almost a marvel, and already it has in some portions of the country been pushed to what many think is a legitimate conclusion, namely, a demand for compulsory education. And all over the land now we hear the cry for this summum bonum. It is powerfully advocated by the leading school teachers and school men in the country. The schools are free, say they, that is the people of Illinois, for instance, are taxed annually abont $10,000,- 000 to support free schools, and now the great question is how to compel the people to send their children to these free sebools. A kind of compulsory freedom, as it were. And, American-like, the whole thing has been pushed to its utmost extremity from the beginning, and in the midst of all this wild clamor for more, more, muore, of this the only entirely good thing on earth, reading and re- flecting men were recently startled by an able scholar and strong writer, but not a teacher, propounding, in the North American Review, the ominous proposition, which he sustains with a strong array of facts and fig- ures," Are the Public Schools a Failure ?" He boldly says they are, and appeals to the United States Census Reports for proof of the pre mises he lays down. This article started a warm discussion in the public press, the school teachers taking up the gauntlet with eagerness and great ability, and then the friends of the writer in the Review stepped forward boldly in his defense, and it is no uncommon thing now to pick up a daily pa- per and read there able and sometimes savage editorials denouncing the whole scheme of public schools as they are now taught, and arraigning them severely, and us many good people believe, justły.

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History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 19

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 704

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704