USA > Illinois > Williamson County > History of Williamson county, Illinois, From the earliest times, down to the present, 1876, with an accurate account of the secession movement, ordinances, raids, etc., 1914 > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Williamson County > History of Williamson county, Illinois, From the earliest times, down to the present, with an accurate account of the secession movement, ordinances, raids, etc., also, a complete history of its "bloody vendetta," including all its recondite causes, results, etc., etc. > Part 4
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
CHURCHES.
The first church built in this county was called "Squat," and was located on what is now the farm of Thomas Sanders, in the year 1819. It is now greatly decayed, but enough remains to show that it was a house. The next church was "Rich Grove" built on Herrin's Prairie, in 1820. It was a regular Baptist church, and Isaac Herrin was its first and almost only preacher. In 1823, the Davis, Corders and Parks built a log church, a little north of where James Mayes now lives. They were Baptists, but
53
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
had no minister, only as Charles Lee, the celebrated witch master, would ride down from Hamilton County. In 1824 the Metho- dists put up a church in Northern. The Burns boys were good howlers, and they did the principal part of the work. Six years afterward it was burned down. The first church on the Eight Mile was erected near Samuel Russell, in 1836. "Gum Spring" Church, in Saline, was built soon after. The "Old Sweet Gum" was built in Marion in 1847. It was a Baptist church, and was soon followed by a Presbyterian church. There are now four large churches in Ma- rion : A Baptist, a Christian, and two Metho- dists, and the county is well supplied with churches in every part. The churches in an early day had but few members, but they were very pious. Our fathers had their first meetings in their cabins, but as the county began to be settled up, and as early as 1835, they held campmeetings in the groves, the only temples built by God himself, and, therefore, the only ones worthy of Him; for there the beauties of nature taught them gratitude and adoration towards Him, whom the universe worships. The religion of those days was more practical than theor- etical. They did not spend their time in cavilings about "isms" or ordinances, but went quietly along, accepting the doctrine as
54
THE HISTORY OF
preached, adored their God, cherished their kind, served their friends and country, and lived in their lives that religion, engraven on the heart of the author of these words. This was the religion of our first parents. It is yours. It is mine. It is the religion of all ages and all people. Sages have never ceas- ed to worship in silence this religion. While fanatics and fools have tinged the earth with blood of men by discussions and religious disputes, they have laid aside systems and applied themselves to doing good, the only road to happiness. The preachers claimed to hold their commission to preach from God, who had given them tongues to adore Him, and hands to help in their race, and hence they were listened to as men "having authority." The early piety and simple faith of our fathers have not been duplicated by our generation, partly because many min- isters have sprung up who, if they were call- ed to preach at all,either entered upon the work before the time, or are wholly unfit to preach for the want of sense, education or other qualifications ; and partly on account of the change in our life which has unfettered the mind of many, and caused them to throw off the dogmas and superstitions of early days, such as witchcraft, etc., and assume a station above the vale of serfdom, far upon the plains of common sense.
55
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Though these men were plain, unassum- ing and firm believers in religion, the keen crack of a rifle on Sunday was neither of- fensive or unusual. They generally went to church with their dogs and guns, and perhaps killed a deer on the way. And as I have said, the bloodiest man was the best dressed. They carried their guns to church partly for protection, and partly to provide food for dinner. The camp-meetings were held in the fall, and lasted for two or four weeks. The entire family took their beds and provisions, and moved into log camps erected near the "shed," which was a large roof set on high posts, and the floor was covered with straw. They always had a good time at these meetings, and could be heard for a great distance singing and praising God. Most every pious person shouted in those days; none were afraid to shout. It was a grand and solemn scene; away at midnight some one would get relig- ion, and the shouting break out anew, and hundreds of people might be seen in every conceivable stage of excitement, some down by saplings, some on their knees, some running, jumping and hallooing at the top of their voices, and all giving vent to sundry expletives of praise and adoration. Such was the effect of this early pulpit orator that none could long resist their stir-
56
THE HISTORY OF
ring appeals, and the terrible doom which they pronounced against the ungodly. But these early hallucinations have rapidly passed away, and will soon be numbered among the things that were. The faith in Christ still remains firm and unalterable, but the more boisterous and noisy devotion- al exercises are heard and seen only in a few places. That religion which was the hope and consolation of our fathers is passing away, and cold, constrained, phleg- matic formalism taking its place too much. The churches of this county are many and prosperous, and have exerted an influence in subordinating wickedness, encouraging education and morality. But I met some old men who told me that in the early day, when they neither had gospel nor meetings that the people were peaceable, friendly and happy; and as soon as preachers came into the country they got up "isms," "sects" and "systems," which ended in jars and feuds among the people, and that they have never seen any peace since. A diversity of opinion engenders strife and ill will, and these de- story peace. A genuine system of religion ought not to produce a diversity of opinion.
OF MILLS.
The first machinery used by our fathers for making meal, was the hominy block or
57
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
mortar. It was made of a large block of wood, three feet long, with an excavation burned in one end, wide at the top, and nar- row at the bottom, so that the action of the pestle on the bottom threw the corn up the sides, from which it continually fell to the center. When the corn was soft, the mor- tar did very well for making meal, but was slow work when it was hard. They some- times used a sweep of springing, elastic wood, thirty feet long, to lessen the toils of pounding the grain. When the corn was too soft to be beaten, a still more simple ma- chine than the mortar was used. It was the grater, a half circular piece of tin, perforat- ed with a punch from the concave side, and nailed by its edges to a block of wood, when the ear of corn was rubbed on the rough edges of the holes, and the meal fell through on a board and was discharged into a bowl. The mortar has not been used in this county since 1827 ; but the grater was used as late as 1855. Hand mills came into use about 1820, and were better than the grater or mortar. They were made of two circular stones, placed in a hoop, and a staff was let into a hole in the upper runner, near the outer edge and the upper end, through a hole in a board fastened to the joist. Two persons could work at it at once. The grain was put in by; hand. These mills are still in use in Pales-
58
THE HISTORY OF
tine. It was a mill of this kind that Jesus Christ alluded to when, in speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, he said: "Two women shall be grinding at a mill; the one shall be taken and the other left." The first horse-mill built in this county was built by Ragsdale Rollins, in 1817, on the north side of Phelps' Prairie. It was a new thing, and people went a long way to see it. In 1822, Solomon Snider removed it to the west side of Eight Mile. William Burns built the next one in 1819, in the Burns' Settlement. He also, in the same year, put up the first cotton-gin in the county.
The next cotton-gin was put up by Jona- than Herrin, on the Dilliard farm in 1825. At this time they used to go to "Harmony Town" Indiana, for carding. Delilah Har- rison, mother of D. R. Harrison, remem- bers this occurrence well. About that time the Burnes put up their mill, Martin Dun- can built one on the north edge of Phelp's Prairie. Burnes had improved his mill so that by 1830 he could grind twenty-five bushels of corn a day, and his boys would take meal on horse back to Equality, forty miles, and swap it for salt. In 1823 John Roberts put up a horse mill on his farm. In 1823 John Lamb built a mill on Herrin's Prairie, which was afterwards removed by Jasper Crain to Phelp's Prairie. About the
.
59
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
year 1825, George Davis put up a mill on the Erwin farm, and in a few years Stephen Stilly built one at his residence. Soon after this McDonald built the first water or tub mill, on the Saline in the Tanner settlement. The next was built by George Davis. Seven years later, John Davis built the third, now known as the Sims mill. Still later, Stephen Blair put up a water mill on Big Muddy. In 1838 William Ryburn built a good horse- mill on the Eight Mile, and Yost built one in Marion. The first steam-mill was built by Milton Mulkey in Marion in 1845. The next by Erwin and Furlong, in 1856, at Crab Orchard. In 1862 Herrins, Polk and Harrison built the Herrin Prairie mill. In 1870, Mann and Edward built a large woolen manufac- tory. Now the county is well supplied with both saw and flouring mills.
OF PESTILENCE.
This county has suffered less from pes- tilence, failures and drouth than any county in the state. The seasons are good, and peo- ple generally healthy. The doctor bills for the entire county do not exceed $40,000 a year. The cholera made its first appear- ance in July 1849, but caused only a few deaths. It re-appeared in 1866, and lasted for six weeks, during which over twenty- five persons were taken away, and the city
60
THE HISTORY OF
of Marion vacated. Among the deceased were the three beautiful Ferguson girls, la- dies without parallel in all the arena of beauty and refinement. The small-pox has visited this county on several occasions, but never resulting in many deaths until 1873, when a good many died in the south side of the county. The mortality rate in this county, on a basis of population of 23,000 is three per cent.
OF WITCHES.
The belief in witchcraft prevailed to a great extent in the east side of this county in an early day. To the witch was ascribed the usual powers of inflicting strange dis- eases destroying cattle by shooting them with a ball of hair, and inflicting curses and spells on guns. More ample powers for mis- chief can not be imagined. The means by which the witch inflicted these diseases were one of the hidden mysteries which no one but the witch understood; and no won- der, for there never existed any such power on earth.
The way they got to be witches was by drawing their own blood, writing their own names in it, and giving it to the devil, thus making a league with him. From 1818 to 1835, there were a great many witches in this county. The most noted one was an old lady by the name of Eva Locker, who lived
61
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
on Davis' prairie. She could do wonders, and inflict horrible spells on the young, such as fits, twitches, jerks and such like; and many an old lady took the rickets at the mere sound of her name. When she inflict- ed a dangerous spell, the parties had to send to Hamilton county for Charley Lee, the great witch-master to cure them. This he did by shooting her picture with a silver ball and some other foolery. It was a nice sight to see this old fool set up his board and then measure, point and cypher around like an artillery man planting his battery, while the whole family were standing around veiled and with the solemnity and anxiety of a funeral.
None of the wizards of this county could do anything with Eva. They had to pale their intellectual fires and sink into insig- nificance before the great wizard of Hamil- ton County. When a man concluded that his neighbor was killing too many deer around his field, he would spell his gun, which he did by going out early in the morn- ing, and, on hearing the crack of his rifle he walked backward to a hickory wythe, which he tied in a knot in the name of the devil. This rendered the gun worthless un- til the knot was untied, or it might be taken off by putting nine new pins in the gun and filling it with a peculiar kind of lye, cork-
62
THE HISTORY OF
ing it up and setting it away for nine days. One old man told me he tried this, and it broke the spell. He had drawn right down on a deer just before that, not over twenty steps distant, and never cut a hair. Cows, when bewitched, would go into mud holes and no man could drive them out; but the wizard, by laying the open Bible on their backs, could bring them out; or cut the curls out of their forehead and their tails off, and put nine pins in their tail and burn the curls with a poker. This would bring the witch to the spot, and then the matter was settled in the way our fathers settled their busi- ness. Witches were said to milk the cows of the neighbors by means of a towel hung up over the door, when the milk was extract- ed from the fringe. If such deviltry was practiced now-a-days, the parties would be arrested for stealing. In place of having a herd of bob-tailed cows, we have laws against cruelty to animals. There was an idea, too, that if you read certain books used by the Hard-shell Baptists, that the devil would appear. Happily for the honor of human nature, the belief in those foolish and absurd pretentions has been discontinu- ed, for forty years by an enlightened public. Medical science has revealed remedies for those strange diseases whose symptoms were so little understood. The spell has
63
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
been broken from the gun forever by un- tieing the knot of ignorance, and letting the light of reason flood the mind. The practice of finding water by means of a forked switch flourished from 1850 to 1860; but was so palpably silly that it died without opposition.
OF SCHOOLS.
The first schools were taught by sub- scription, for three months during the fall. The first school house was built in 1825, and others soon followed. Some of the first school houses were built of gum logs, which sprouted and had to be cleared about once a year. The first teachers taught spelling, reading and writing; but in 1840, a few fine scholars came into the county who under- stood grammar and arithmetic. The free- school law met a heavy opposition from some of our old men, and, notwithstanding our school system has exerted a powerful influ- ence in civilizing the county, yet it is still defective. We want better talent in our teachers and more of it. A. N. Lodge, the present superintendent, has lifted up the sick form of our system, renovated and in- fused new life and destiny in it, until it is in a better condition than ever before; but it still needs talent.
OF SECRET ORDERS.
In 1833, Picayune Davis ran a clande-
64
THE HISTORY OF
stine Masonic lodge at his house, two miles west of Marion. He initiated everybody, and a gallon of whisky was the fee. All the horse-thieves in the county belonged to this lodge, and in that day it was a powerful evil in shielding scoundrels and criminals.
In 1850, Fellowship Lodge of A. F. & A. Masons was chartered in Marion. Since then Chapter No. 100 has been chartered and a Council also. There are now five other lodges in the county. The Odd Fellows have five lodges in this county. In 1856 the Know-Nothings numbered about one hun- dred. In 1862 the Golden Circle reached a membership of over eight hundred, and in 1864 the Union League numbered over twelve hundred. In 1872, the Ku-Klux numbered one hundred and thirty members; but the same year they were broken up, and did not meet again until 1874, when a few of them formed a Klan in the west side of the county. The Grange was introduced in 1874, and has since spread rapidly among our farmers.
OF LAND TITLES.
Land was the object which brought our fathers into this wilderness, and they set- tled wherever they saw fit. Their first title to the land was the "Tomahawk Right," which was by blazing trees around the line, or cutting the name on a tree by a spring on the tract. The lands lay in an irregular
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 65
shape, but all disputes were settle amicably. After the Government survey, the Toma- hawk title became worthless; but the set- tler had the right of pre-emption.
OF THE PRODUCTS.
The early settlers made no change in the county, and,consequently, there were no products. A people clothed in skins and de- pending on the products of the hunt and the spontaneous abundance of nature, could maintain existence and a rude social organi- zation amid the forest, without manual la- bor. They lived rich in hope, but poor in worldly goods. Industry was consequently paralyzed by the absence of necessity. Agri- culture was but little encouraged for a long time, either by the industry of the people or the policy of the times. It was limited to a few patches of corn and wheat, which were cultivated with wooden plows, and it was as late as 1830 before the farmers pro- duced anything for market. Money was very scarce. When the few coins which the settlers brought with them had been expend- ed in the purchase of guns and ammunition from Kentucky, and other places, they had nothing to buy the necessities of life with, say nothing of the luxuries. So, they by mu- tual consent, established a custom of barter-
-F 6
66
THE HISTORY OF
ing articles of property, either at "trade rates" or "cash price." Some articles were very valuable and others shockingly low. A gun from Tennessee was current at $25.00 in trade; a sow and pigs at $2.00; a cow, at from $4.00 to $8.00. Hamilton Corder once bartered horses with a man and got ten cows and calves to boot. Pretty large boot when we consider that the cows would now be worth more than both the horses. An ax was sold for $4.00, and a home made one at that.
So, anything that required a mechanic to produce was high, but such articles as re- quired no skillful hand to produce, were very low. Hogs were scarce in an early day, and it was a long time before they got a start to raising them. They ran in the woods, and as late as 1850 nearly everybody had what he called his "wild hog claim." This claim en- titled him to go into the woods and catch and mark every hog he could, once a year. These claims were negotiable, and were often bought and sold; but got very cheap before they were all extinguished. A wild-hog claim in Big Muddy, or Pond, or Crab-Orch- ard bottoms was at one time very valuable; but their conflicting claims were often the cause of animosities, feuds and riots among our people. Some one had marked hogs al- ready marked, or some one had been steal-
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 67
ing and selling, and so there was a continued feud and fuss. Then it was the great hive from which sprung the innumerable number of "hog thieves" which were so common here once. But they are all gone now. The extinguishment of the claims ushered in an era of peace; feelings of safety and friend- ship were enkindled. For the last sixteen years this county has annually produced 1,000 hogs for market, about 1,000 head of beef cattle. During the war there were no less than 2,000 horses and mules bought in this county for Government service. It is also a sheep-producing country, and has some of the finest breeds in America. Among the mechanical productions, the first was the manufacture of hats by Aaron Young- blood, in an early day. This was followed by a shop at Bainbridge, run by Samuel Dunaway, who furnished hats for the whole country. Nearly everybody tanned their own leather. The tan-vat was a large trough, sunk to the upper rim in the ground, bark was pounded fine and put in. The hair was taken off with lime, and lard was used in place of fish oil to soften the leather, and soot to blacken it. All the shoes were home-made up to 1850; though the state of society called out every mechanical and in- ventive genius, yet the shoes would turn green in wet weather, and the soles try to
68
THE HISTORY OF
get on top. Nearly all the wagons were made in the county, as were also the looms, wheels and farming tools.
Thousands of pounds of pennyroyal oil, mint oil, and sassafras oil are annually pro- duced in this county. The first settlers raised a great amount of cotton for clothing. It was the main crop until 1840, when our people commenced to raise tobacco as a money crop. The usual crop of tobacco amounts to 1500 hogsheads, averaging 1500 pounds each. Cotton was extensively culti- vated during the war, but now there is very little raised; the average is 400 pounds per acre. In ordinary seasons the wheat crop averages about 15 bushels per acre; corn about forty ; hay about two tons per acre. Castor beans are also cultivated. And all kinds of fruits and berries have been propo- gated for over twenty years. Poultry is al- so a large source of income to our people. The sale of eggs alone reaches 40,000 dozen annually. In 1872, the Carbondale Coal and Coke Company was organized, with a capital stock of $50,000, and have been shipping coal from Carterville, in this county, at the rate of 60,000 tons per annum.
OF PROGRESS.
The causes which led to the civilization and prosperity of this county deserve some
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 69
consideration in this book. The state of society and the manners of the early settlers were indeed low enough; they were poor and illiterate, and addicted to the rude diversions which I have described. So little progress was made that, in 1826, sixteen years after the first settlement, the total value of the real and personal estate was only $19,500, or about the value of Goodall & Campbell's storehouse. No county in the state was set- tled on so little capital as was this. The immigrants generally paid his last money for crossing the Ohio. I have been unable to find a man in the county worth $1,000 un- til after 1830; but the increase since then has been marvelous. Today the county is worth over seven millions of dollars. The constant travel and intercourse with other counties gave a new current to public and private feeling, and new life to pursuit. The schools and the Gospel have had much to do in civilizing this county; but the enforce- ment of good laws has been the most ef- fective means of making men better. As early as 1830, the huntsmen began to change their clothes for those of the farmer. Tre rude sports were giving place to the more noble ambition for mental endow- ments and skill in the arts. Industry took the place of idleness. The clamorous boast, the horrid oaths, the provoking banter and
70
THE HISTORY OF
the biting sarcasm have given place to cour- tesy and a conversation enlivened by silence and chastened by moral culture. The three- legged stools, moggins, trenchers and wood- en bowls gave way to the furniture of our day. The "tents," "lodges," wigwams," "stockades" and "log-cabins" have given place to the splendid mansions that now adorn our county. The first cabins had the "stack" chimney, and in a few years, when the man got able, he built another house to the chimney, and that is why our log-houses are double and one larger than the other. The Benson House, in Marion, was of that kind.
The first brick house built in the county is in Schoharrie Prairie, and was built in 1840 by James M. Campbell. It is still standing, but the second story was blown down in May, 1876. It is in the most beau- tiful spot in the county, and ought to be haunted, because it does not decay. The
powers of darkness must watch over it, and by invisible means, prop its crumbling walls and replace its falling brick. Schoharrie, so named from the fact that a band of disguis- ed men were once whipping a hog-thief in it, and one of them kept crying out "Score him, Harry!" The next brick building was the Court House in 1841, and the Western Exchange, in 1842. The first business house
71
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
in Marion was built by John (Bone) Davis, when the town was located. He was in such a hurry to sell whisky that he bought a set of stable logs from A. T. Benson, and put up on the square, a few feet north of the well. When the town was surveyed he fell into the square and had to move. He used to fasten his door by filling it with poles. Sterling Hill's grocery was the next, and is still standing. D. L. Pully put up a grocery on the Westbrooks corner, and J. D. Pully built "Our House,"" on the west side. John Sparks put up a hat shop on the north-east corner. The first store in the county was kept at Bainbridge in 1818, by Mr. Kipp. The next by John Davis, on the Sampson Bell place, in 1821. Then Thompson put up one where Mr. Small now lives. Coffee was 75 cents per pound, and calico 50 cents per yard. Thompson was succeeded by Warren Spiller, and he by Cripps. In 1836 Hugh Parks put up a store where Crossley now lives. In the same year, Wm. Ryburn commenced keeping goods at the Hinchcliff farm. In 1830 John Davis opened out at Sarahsville, and in 1848 John H. Mulkey and George Aiken went into busi- ness at Blairsville. In 1856 Oliver Herring had a store in Herrin's Prairie, and two years later, D. R. Harrison commenced in the same house, and is now one of the most
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.