History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois : "centennial record", Part 4

Author: Power, John Carroll, 1819-1894; Power, S. A. (Sarah A.), 1824-; Old Settlers' Society of Sangamon County (Ill.)
Publication date: 1876
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : E.A. Wilson & Co.
Number of Pages: 824

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois : "centennial record" > Part 4

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HISTORICAL PRELUDE.

seven companies, and proceed west. The secret and real instructions were for him to raise seven companies, of fifty men each, proceed to Kaskaskia, and take and destroy the garrison of Fort Gates at that place; and that the object of the expedition must be kept a profound secret. The instructions were given January 2, 1778, by the Governor at Williamsburg, then the Capital of Virginia. Col. Clarke left Virginia on the fourth of February for Pittsburgh. He took with him twelve hundred pounds in depreciated currency to defray the expenses of the expedition, and raised three companies in Pitts- burgh. He procured boats, and with his supplies, arms and ammunition, descended the Ohio river to "Corn Island," opposite the present city of Louisville, Kentucky, where he was met by Captain Bowman, who had gone down through Kentucky to raise a company of men. When all were assembled on the island, Col. Clarke first declared to them that his point of destination was Kaskaskia, in the Illinois country. From Corn Island he descended with his forces to Fort Massac, at the west side of the Ohio river, about forty miles above its junction with the Mississippi. The party left their boats at this point, and marched across the country to Kaskaskia, a distance of one hun- dred and twenty miles, through an unbroken wilderness.

They arrived within sight of the village on the morning of July 4, 1778. He con- cealed the main body of his men, and sent out spies to reconnoitre. At night the men were divided into two bodies, one to take the village and the other, Fort Gage. After all was in readiness, with the soldiers drawn up in line on the banks of the Kaskaskia, Col. Clarke delivered a short address to his troops, in which he reminded them that it was the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and that they must take the fort and village at all hazards. Fort Gage was a work of considerable strength, mounted with eannon and defended by regular soldiers. So secret had been the move- ments of the attacking party, and so little were they expected, that they reached the very gates of the fortifications unperceived. In addition to this, they were so fortu- nate as to get into communication with an American belonging to the fort, who led a detachment of soldiers, under the celebrated Simon Kenton, inside, through a back gate. The first intimation the Governor had of their presence, was by Kenton giving him a shake to arouse him from his slumbers. The conquest was achieved without the shedding of a drop of blood. The mortifieation of Governor Rocheblave was so great when he found himself a prisoner in the hands of so small a body of raw malitia, with- out having an opportunity to fire a gun, that he refused to acknowledge any of the courtesies extended to him on account of his official position. The only alternative for Colonel Clarke, was to send him in irons to the Capital of Virginia.

Soon after the capture of Kaskaskia Colonel Clarke communicated the result of his expedition to the Governor, and expressed a desire to have civil government extended over the conquered territory. An act was passed by the law-making powers of Vir- ginia, in October, 1778, to establish the county of Illinois. " It embraced all that part of Virginia west of the Ohio river, and was probably the largest county in the world, exceeding in its dimensions the whole of Great Britain and Ireland." To speak more definitely, the county of Virginia, called Illinois, embraced the territory now included in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan.

After capturing Fort Gates, the next point to be reduced was Fort St. Vincent, now Vincennes, Indiana. This fortification, with Governor Hamilton and seventy-nine men, fell into his hands February 24, 1779.

HISTORICAL PRELUDE.

Until this stage of its history, the Illinois country had been successively under savage, military, and monarchial rulers; but the time for another change was at hand. The first republican Governor of Illinois was no less a personage than the renowned Patrick Henry, the great orator of the American Revolution. He became the Governor of Virginia in 1776, and by re-election continued to hold the office until 1799. The law of Virginia establishing the county of Illinois having been enacted in October, 1788, it was in this way that he became the first republican or democratic Governor of Illinois.

On the twelfth of December, 1788, Governor Henry appointed John Todd civil com- mandant and Lieutenant Colonel of the new county. He wrote Commandant Todd a lengthy letter of instructions, in which he says: " The grand objects which are disclosed to your countrymen, will prove beneficial or otherwise, according to the nature and abilities of those who are called to direct the affairs of that remote country. * * One great good expected from holding the Illinois is to overawc the Indians from war- ring against the settlers on this side of the Ohio." Near the close of his letter, Gov- ernor Henry says: " I think it proper for you to send me an express once in the month with a general account of affairs with you, and any particulars you may wish to com- municate."

The headquarters of Commandant Todd, or the seat of government for the county, was at Kaskaskia. The stay of Colonel Todd in Illinois was not of long duration. Being under orders to return to Virginia, he made it convenient to visit his family at Lexington, Kentucky, on the way. While at Lexington, news came that the Indians west of the Ohio were crossing over into Kentucky. He returned at the head of his command, to assist in repelling the savages, and was killed at the battle of Blue Licks. See sketch of the Todd family in this volume.

In 1780 Congress recommended to the several States having waste or unappropriated lands, in the western country, to cede it to the United States government for the com- mon benefit of the Union. In January, 1781, Virginia responded to the overture of Congress, by yielding her claims to the territory northwest of the Ohio river, with cer- tain conditions annexed. By an act of Sept. 13, 1783, Congress proposed to comply in the main with the wishes of Virginia, but suggested some modification of the terms. On the 20th of Dec. following, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act accept- ing the modified terms proposed by the United States Congress. By this settlement the United States was to refund to Virginia all the money that had been expended by that State in her military operations in conquering and holding the territory: It was also stipulated that a quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres, promised by the State of Virginia, should be allowed and granted by the United States to General George Rogers Clarke, and to the officers and soldiers of his regi- ment who marched with him when the forts, Gates, at Kaskaskia, and St. Vincent, now Vincennes, were reduced; and to the officers and soldiers who were afterwards incorporated into that regiment. By this act the representatives of that State, in Con- gress, werc instructed and empowered to transfer the territory, by deed, to the United States. The deed was executed March 1, 1784, and signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe. By Virginia protecting the frontier settlers from the crueltics of Indian warfare, she very justly goes down to posterity with the honor of having donated to the general government, territory from which has grown five of the very best States of the American Union. But while she was generous to

ORDINANCE OF 1787.

the public, she failed to be just to the man who was instrumental in bringing so much honor upon herself. In Butler's history of Kentucky it is said of George Rogers Clarke: " The government of Virginia failed to settle his accounts. Private suits were brought against him for public supplies, which ultimately swept away his fortune, and with this injustice the spirit of the hero fell, and the General never recovered his ener- gies, which had stamped him as one of nature's noblemen. At the same time it is feared that a too extensive conviviality contributed its mischievous effects." The latter was, most likely, the real cause of his misfortunes.

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.

July 13, 1787, an ordinance for the government of the Northwestern Territory, ceded by Virginia to the United States, was enacted by Congress, and General Arthur St. Clair appeared at Marietta, on the Ohio river, and put the new government in opera- tion. Washington county was the first organized, and included a considerable portion of the present State of Ohio. In February, 1790, Governor St. Clair and his Secre- tary, Winthrop Sargeant, arrived at Kaskaskia and organized the county of St. Clair, which embraced more than half the present State of Illinois. The first legislative body for the Northwestern Territory assembled at what is now Cincinnati, September 16, 1789. On the third of October, General William H. Harrison was elected the first del- egate to represent the Northwestern Territory in the Congress of the United States, and for more than ten years its government continued without change.

May 7, 1800, an act of Congress provided for the organization of a territorial gov- ernment to be called Ohio. November 29, 1802, it was admitted to the Union as a State, with its seat of government at Chillicothe.

From the time the territorial government of Ohio was organized, the remainder con- tinued to be governed as the Northwestern Territory. The same year Ohio was admitted as a State-1802-the Territory of Indiana was organized, with William Henry Harrison as Governor. In 1803 the first legislature of Indiana Territory assem- bled at Vincennes. Illinois being then a part of Indiana Territory, St. Clair county sent three representatives. Indiana was not admitted as a State into the Union until 1816, but seven years previous to that time had lost more than half its area.

By an act of Congress, approved February 3, ISog, Illinois was separated from In- diana, and provision made for organizing a Territorial Government. Hon. Ninian Edwards, Chief Justice of Kentucky, was appointed by President Madison, to be the first Governor of the Territory of Illinois. The government was organized, in the absence of Governor Edwards, by Nathaniel Pope, Territorial Secretary, April 28, 1809. Governor Edwards arrived at Kaskaskia early in June, and on the eleventh of that month took the oath of office. He was Governor during the whole territorial existence of Illinois. His first commission was dated March 7, 1809; re-appointed November

HISTORICAL PRELUDE.

12, 1812; again re-appointed Jan. 16, 1816. From 1809 to 1812 all the legislation was done " By authority of the Governor and Judges." They did not enact laws, but selec- ted from the territorial laws of Indiana, and from the State of Kentucky such as were suitable to the situation, and declared them to be the laws of the Territory of Illinois. During those three years the Territory was without a voice in Congress.

The first election in Illinois was held by order of Governor Edwards, March 14, IS12, for the purpose of ascertaining if the people generally desired to take part in the government and relieve the Governor and Judges of so much responsibility. The re- sult of the election was favorable to the change. That involved the necessity for another election, which was ordered for October ninth, tenth and eleventh, for the pur- pose of choosing a delegate to Congress and members of the Territorial Legislature. The members thus elected assembled at Kaskaskia November 25, 1812, being the first legislative body in the territory. From that time to ISIS, all business was done in the name of the "Legislative Council and House of Representatives." That body assem- bled annually in December.

By an act of Congress, approved April IS, ISIS, the people of Illinois were authori- zed to advance from a Territorial to a State Government. In August an election was held for State officers and a representative in Congress. The State was admitted into the Union Dec. 3, 1818. Shadrach Bond, who had been a delegate in Congress from 1812 to 1815, and receiver in the land office from that time until the State was admitted to the Union, was elected the first Governor under the State organization. Ex-Gov- ernor Edwards and Jesse B. Thomas were chosen by the legislature to be the first United States Senators.

SANGAMON COUNTY.

When Illinois was admitted to the Union it was composed of thirty-three counties, but Sangamon county and Springfield were unknown. The county was created, by a law of the State, entitled:

"An aet establishing the County of Sangamon"-Approved January 30, IS21.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That all that tract of country within the following boundaries, to-wit :- Beginning at the northeast corner of township twelve north, on the third principal meridian, thence north with said meridian to the Illinois river, thence down the middle of said river to the mouth of Balance or Negro creek, thence up said creek to its head, thence through the middle of the prairie which divides the waters of the Sangamon and Mauves Terre, to the northwest corner of township twelve north, range seven west, of the third principal meridian, thence east along the north boundary of township twelve to the place of beginning, shall constitute a separate county to be called Sangamon.

SANGAMON COUNTY.

SECTION 2. Be it further enacted, That so soon as the county commissioners of said county shall be elected and duly qualified into office, they shall meet at some con- venient place in said county, and determine on some place as near the centre of the pop- ulation of said county as circumstances will admit, and such place, when selected by said county commissioners, shall be the temporary seat of justice for said county, until otherwise provided by law: Provided, however, that if any settler or settlers, owner or owners, of the place so selected as aforesaid, shall refuse to have the temporary seat of justice fixed on his, or her or their improvements, then the said commissioners may de- termine on such other place contiguous thereto as they may deem proper.

SECTION 3. Be it further enacted, That said county commissioners shall be allowed the same compensation for the time necessarily employed in fixing the temporary seat of justice as in other cases.

SECTION 4. Be it further enacted, That the citizens of Sangamon county are here- by declared in all respects entitled to the same rights and privileges as are allowed in general to other counties in this State; Provided, always, that in all cases where free holders only are capable of performing any duty, or are entitled to any privilege; house- keepers shall, for all such purposes, be considered as free holders in the said Sangamon county, and shall and may do and perform all duties appertaining to the different offices in the county.

SECTION 5. Be it further enacted, That the county of Sangamon shall compose a part of the first judicial circuit of the State.

That all may understand the difference between the boundaries of the county when organized, and the present boundaries, it is only necessary to spread before you any late township map of the State and trace the following boundaries: Commencing at the northeast corner of Locust township, in Christian county, thence north to a point on the Illinois river, about two miles west of the city of Peru, thence down the middle of said river to what is now the boundary line between Cass and Morgan counties, thence east to the northeast corner of Morgan county, thence south on the line between Morgan and Sangamon counties, to the northwest corner of Otter township, in Macoupin county, thence east to the place of beginning. It will be seen that the boundaries between this county and Morgan, Macoupin and Montgomery, are unchanged. The original metes and bounds of Sangamon county, as given, embraced the following counties and parts of counties, as at present constituted: Part of Christian, a small part of Macon, all of Logan, part of McLean, all of Tazewell, part of Woodford, part of Marshall, part of Putnam, all of Mason, all of Menard, and all of Cass.

The territory constituting the county was thus set apart by law, but it was without officers. For the purpose of supplying them an election was held Monday, April 2, 1821, at the house of John Kelly. At this election William Drennan, Zachariah Peter, and Rivers Cormack were elected county commissioners. They met the next day, each took the oath of office, and at once entered upon the discharge of their duties. The following is a transcript from the original records of their first term of court :

APRIL 3, 1821 :

At a Special Term of the County Commissioners' Court for the County of Sanga- mon, begun and held at the house of John Kelly, on Spring creek, on the third day of

HISTORICAL PRELUDE.

April, 1821 : Present, Zachariah Peter, Rivers Cormack, and William Drennan, com- missioners. Ordered by the Court that Charles R. Matheney be appointed Clerk of the County Commissioners Court for the county of Sangamon; who thereupon took the oath prescribed by law, also the oath of office, and entered into bond, as the law directs, with James Latham his security. Ordered that court adjourn.

ZACHARIAH PETER, WM. DRENNAN, RIVERS CORMACK.

The Commissioners met again in Special Session, April 10, 1821, at the same place. Present: Z. Peter and Wm. Drennan. John Spillers was allowed ten dollars for con- veying election returns to Vandalia. James Sims was appointed County Treasurer. John Lindsay, Stephen Stillman, and John Robinson, were appointed to the office of Justice of the Peace. The following report was made with reference to the location of the county scat :

WHEREAS, the Act of the General Assembly, entitled An Act, establishing the county of Sangamo, required of the County Commissioners when elected and qualified into office, to fix a temporary seat of justice for said county: Therefore, we, the under- signed, County Commissioners for said county, do certify that we, after full examina- tion of the situation of the population of said county, have fixed and designated a certain point in the prairie near John Kelley's field, on the waters of Spring creek, at a stake marked Z. & D., as the temporary seat of justice for said county; and do further agree that the said county seat be called and known by the name of Springfield.

Given under our hands this Ioth day of April, 1821.

ZACHARIAH PETER. WM. DRENNAN.

There is no explanation of letters used in marking the stake, but it is probable that the only two commissioners present agreed to use one initial from each of their names.

The point chosen was near what is now the northwest corner of Second and Jeffer- son streets. The first court house in the county was built on the same spot.

We find the county of Sangamo organized, and the county seat temporarily located and named. It may be interesting to note some of the incidents that influenced the selection of that particular spot. Towns and cities are born, live, and die, subject to the contingencies of birth, life, and death, analagous to that of human beings. About the year 1818, an old bachelor by the name of Elisha Kelly emigrated from North Carolina to this State, stopping first in Macoupin county. Mr. Kelly was exceedingly fond of the chase, and in prospecting for good hunting grounds, wandered in between two ravines, a couple of miles apart, running in a northwesterly direction, and emptying into Spring creek, a tributary of the Sangamon river. The deer with which this country abounded before the advent of civilization, made their homes in the timber along the larger water courses. In the morning they would leave the heavy timber, follow up the ravines, along which the trees became smaller, and finally ran out on the open prairie, They would pass the day amid the tall and luxuriant grass, roaming about and grazing at pleasure, and as nightfall approached, return down the ravines, to the places they had left in the morning, cach to seek its lair for repose. The deer in passing down thesc ravines, gave Mr. Kelly an opportunity for the full gratification of his ambition for

SANGAMON COUNTY.

game. It seemed to him so much like a hunter's paradise, that he returned to his old home and induced his father, Henry Kelly, and his four brothers, John, older than himself, and Elijah, William and George, younger, to emigrate with him, those who had fam- ilies bringing them. He induced other families among his acquaintances to emigrate also. More families continued to move into the country, and generally settled at long distances from each other, but the principal settlement clustered around the Kellys. When the commissioners came to locate the county seat, it was discovered that the Kelley settlement was the only place in all the county, large as it was, where enough families could be found in the vicinity of each other to board and lodge the members of the court and those who would be likely to attend its sessions.

The records do not show that anything more than locating the county seat was done that day, but in another part of the book we find a copy of a contract that was evi- dently entered into after adjournment, and before they separated. There is no evidence of any advertising for proposals to build a court house, but here is the contract :

Article of agreement entered into the 10th day of April, 1821, between John Kelly, of the county of Sangamo, and the undersigned, county commissioners of said county. The said Kelly agrees with said commissioners to build, for the use of the said county, a court house of the following description, to-wit: The logs to be twenty feet long, the house one story high, plank floor, a good cabin roof, a door and window cut out, the work to be completed by the first day of May, next, for which the said commis- sioners promise, on the part of the county, to pay the said Kelly forty-two dollars and fifty cents. Witness our hands the day and date above.

JOHN KELLY, ZACHARIAH PETER, WM. DRENNAN.

As the temple of justice approached completion the commissioners found that it would be a very nice summer building, but they evidently had some doubts about it for winter. So we find another contract, of which the following is a copy :

Jesse Brevard agrees with the county commissioners to finish the court house in the following manner, to-wit: To be chinked outside and daubed inside. Boards sawed and nailed on the inside cracks, a good, sufficient door shutter, to be made with good plank and hung with good iron hinges, with a latch. A window to be cut out, faced and cased, to contain nine lights, with a good, sufficient shutter hung on the outside. A fire place to be cut out seven feet wide, and a good, sufficient wooden chimney, built with a good, sufficient back and hearth. To be finished by the first of September, next.

JESSE BREVARD.

June 1, IS21.

June 4, 1821, the court assembled in the court house for which they had signed the contract twenty-four days previous. A contract was entered into that day to build a jail, first drawing up the specifications and then writing the contract on the back, of which the following is a copy :

Robert Hamilton agrees to build the within named jail for the county of Sangamo, and to have the same completed hy the first Monday in September, next, for the sum of eighty four dollars and seventy-five cents, for which the commissioners agree, on

HISTORICAL PRELUDE.

the part of the county, that the said Hamilton shall be entitled to a warrant on the county treasury for the sum of eighty-four dollars and seventy-five cents, as aforesaid. ROBERT HAMILTON.

June 4, IS21.

The following is a " description of a jail for Sangamo county," to-wit: The timber to be cut twelve feet long, hewed twelve inches square, raised seven feet between the floors, the upper and also the under floor to be of the same kinds of timber, hewed and fit on the sill with a shoulder of at least three inches. The under sill to be let in the ground so as to let the floor rest on the surface of the earth. The logs to be matched with a half dove-tail, and made to close. The building to be covered with a good cabin roof, a window cut eight inches square, half cut out of the timber above and half below. A bar of iron let into the log above and one below, one-half inch thick and two inches wide; three bars of iron standing upright one inch square, let in through the top and bottom bar and into the timber. One door cut three feet in width and five feet high, to be faced, or cheeked, with good timber, three inches thick, put on with good spikes; a strong door shutter, made of good oak plank, put together cross- ing and angling, with rivets, at least four in each cross of the plank, and fourpenny nails, drove from each side of the door, not more than one-half inch apart. To be hung with three good, strong, iron hinges, so turned as not to admit of the door com- ing off, and a good, strong bolt lock. The building to be completed by the first Mon- day in September, next.

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History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois : "centennial record", Part 4

Author: Power, John Carroll, 1819-1894; Power, S. A. (Sarah A.), 1824-; Old Settlers' Society of Sangamon County (Ill.) Publication date: 1876 Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : E.A. Wilson & Co. Number of Pages: 824

Author: Power, John Carroll, 1819-1894; Power, S. A. (Sarah A.), 1824-; Old Settlers' Society of Sangamon County (Ill.)
Publication date: 1876
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : E.A. Wilson & Co.
Number of Pages: 824