USA > Illinois > Illinois, historical and statistical, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state, Vol. I > Part 20
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
His success in this direction stimulated his mind to the con- ception of still grander and more far-reaching schemes. He fixed his eye upon Mexico. The separation of this province from Spain had been a cherished project ever since the unsuc- cessful attempt of Gen. Miranda, in 1797-8, to enlist the govern- ments of Great Britain and the United States in the scheme of revolutionizing South America. The difficulties between Spain and the United States growing out of the navigation of the Mississippi, had reached such a point that war with that country now seemed inevitable. It was a critical and exciting period. The people of the West were in a state of ferment, and a large element was ripe to engage in plans of revolt or conquest. The inhabitants of New Orleans had never acquiesced in this transfer of their territory to the United States, and were willing listeners to any proposition which would place them under some other flag. The plan of forming Mexico into an independent republic, whose leading officers should be Americans, with Col. Burr at the head, was popular and seemed feasible, if the nec- essary men and means could be raised. Gen. James Wilkinson, then at the head of the army, the available portion of which had by him been lately transferred to the Sabine River, was con- sulted, and no doubt at first entered heartily into Col. Burr's plans. Conferences were had with him, in 1806, at Fort Massac and St. Louis. Consultations were had also with Gen. Andrew Jackson and Gov. Wm. H. Harrison, and other leading citizens. Kaskaskia and Vincennes were visited. Large sums of money were promised, and recruits were raised and enrolled, and Blen- nerhassett's Island appointed as a place of rendezvous. Just what the great agitator intended to accomplish remains in doubt.
223
AARON BURR.
At New Orleans, it is alleged, he openly avowed his intention to divide the American Union. With some, his theme was the settlement of his colony on the Wishita, with others, he held out. to view the inviting prospect of a new republic in Mexico.
On Nov. 3, 1806, at Frankfort, Kentucky, while on his way to join his expedition, he was arrested "for treasonable practices," but the grand-jury refused to indict him. On Nov. 27, 1806, President Jefferson having received what he declared was suffi- cient information of the treasonable character of Col. Burr's. expedition, issued his proclamation warning all loyal citizens against engaging therein. In December, Burr left Nashville with but two boats to effect a junction with Blennerhassett's fleet of nine barges at the mouth of the Cumberland, whence they proceeded down the Mississippi. At Chickasaw Bluffs, a post commanded by Lieut. (Jacob ?) Jackson, it is said, that officer was strongly urged to join him, but he firmly declined. Becoming convinced that his situation was now desperate, he- boldly declared that the sole object of his expedition was to plant his colony in Louisiana; and he destroyed the evidence of its military character by throwing his chests of arms into the river. On Jan. 17, he gave himself up to Gov. Cowles Mead, acting-governor of Mississippi Territory, but the grand-jury declared there was no evidence against him, and pending his. request to be released on his own recognizance, learning that he would again be arrested, he disguised himself and escaped. He was re-arrested in Alabama, and taken to Richmond, Virginia, for trial. It was a celebrated case, attracting world-wide atten- tion, and resulted, as is well known, in a verdict of acquittal, under the rulings of the court, that the prisoner must have been present when the overt act was committed, which fact was not established.
Burr was more of a hero than a prisoner while undergoing this trial. His rooms in the jail were daily crowded with friends and admirers of both sexes, who brought him the best of the land to live on, and loaded his table with flowers and fruits. As to the main charge, Burr on his death-bed, in answer to the question if he had at any time contemplated a disruption of the Union, replied: "No; I would as soon have thought of taking possession of the moon and informing my friends that I intended
224
ILLINOIS -HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
to divine it among them." Still the popular verdict was against him, and the cloud which hung over him at the time of his death, has never lifted.
4
On Sept. 11, 1804, an election was held in the Territory to decide upon the proposition to advance the government to the second grade. Only 400 votes were polled of which a majority of 138 were in its favor-Randolph County, with 61 votes, gave a majority of 19 in favor of, and St. Clair, with 81 votes, re- turned a majority of 37 against, the proposition. An election of delegates to the first territorial general assembly was held on Jan. 3, 1805. The members elected from St. Clair County were Shadrach Bond, sr., and William Biggs; S. Bond, sr., becoming a member of the legislative council, S. Bond, jr., in May, was elected in his place. From Randolph County, George Fisher was returned. The body met at Vincennes, Feb. 7, 1805; and having recommended a list of persons from whom to select a legislative council, adjourned. Those finally appointed from Illinois were Pierre Menard and John Hay. On July 29, the assembly again convened in regular session. Provision was made for a revision of the territorial laws by John Rice Jones and John Johnson. This revision was published in one volume, and included the laws passed at that session. Benjamin Parke was elected territorial delegate to congress.
The second session of the territorial legislature began Aug. 17, 1807. The members from St. Clair County were William Biggs and Shadrach Bond, jr .; and from Randolph County, George Fisher.
The question of the division of the Territory had been for some years a subject of exciting and acrimonious controversy. Upon a petition to congress in 1806, praying for separation, a committee of the house reported that it was at that time "inexpedient." A special session of the territorial legislature was called to meet on Sept. 27, 1808, when this subject once more became an issue of absorbing interest. In the meantime fortuitous circumstances had occurred which now insured its favorable consideration. Pierre Menard from Randolph County, and John Hay from St. Clair County, having resigned from the council, Shadrach Bond and George Fisher, members of the house, were appointed to fill the vacancies thus created. A
1
225
GOVERNOR HARRISON.
special election, being ordered in these two counties, resulted in the choice of Rice Jones from Randolph and John Messinger from St. Clair, thus replacing two opponents of separation by two zealous advocates of that measure. Jesse Burgess Thomas, member of the house from Dearborn County and speaker of that body, was a candidate for congress, to the successful issue of which question he was willing to subordinate all others. He found it not difficuit therefore to effect a combination with those who cared more for division than for a choice of congress- man, looking to the accomplishment of both purposes. The bargain was struck and as has been asserted a written obligation from the beneficiary for its faithful performance was exacted. However this may have been, the agreement was promptly and scrupulously carried out.
The final passage of the act of separation on Feb. 3 1809, renders it unnecessary longer to follow in this work the fortunes of Gen. Harrison. His military career, and skilful treatment of the Indian complications of the Northwest, fairly earned for him a reputation as broad as it has proved lasting. He was a statesman of the old school. Opposed to slavery in the abstract yet he was willing to introduce the institution into Indiana and Illinois. How he subsequently became a prominent member of congress, and finally reached the presidential chair, are familiar facts, calling for no further reference in this volume.
AUTHORITIES : Dillon's "History of Indiana"; "History of Randolph and St. Clair Counties"; United-States compilation of "Indian Treaties"; Blaine's "Twenty Years in Congress"; " Magazine of Western History"; Hammond's "Political History of New York"; Foote's "Texas and Texans"; Schoolcraft's "Indian Tribes "; Davis' "Memoirs of Aaron Burr"; " American State Papers"; "Indiana, a Redemption from Slavery," by J. P. Dunn, jr.
15
CHAPTER XV.
The Territory of Illinois-First American Settlers-Early Diseases-Manners, Customs, and Recreations-First Preachers, Lawyers, Doctors, and Merchants.
T HE Act of Congress of Feb. 3, 1809, dividing Indiana Territory into two separate governments, revived the name of Illinois, which had officially disappeared after the organization of the Northwest Territory in 1789. It was a name dear to the inhabitants, however, had become familiar by long usage, and was never willingly surrendered. Judge Thomas was there- fore but carrying out the unanimous wishes of its inhabitants, when, seizing upon the first opportunity which offered, he secured the restoration of the old name, as that by which the "Illinois Country" was henceforth to be designated.
The language of the Act was as follows: "That from and after the first day of March next, all that part of the Indiana Territory which lies west of the Wabash River and Post Vin- cennes, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary govern- ment, constitute a separate government, and be called Illinois." The seat of government was established at Kaskaskia.
No history of Illinois could claim to be complete which failed to make mention of that sturdy element in the first settlement of the country, which exercised an influence so potent in the development of its virgin resources, and which constituted at once the prototype and the example of that class honored to- day from Lake Michigan to the Ohio as the "American pioneer."
At the time of Clark's conquest there do not appear to have been any but French inhabitants, except the party of hunters who joined his expedition, and Thos. Brady and Rich'd McCarty, already mentioned, who resided at Cahokia in 1777. Aside from the members of Clark's command, some of whom doubt- less remained continuously in the country, the first original im- migrant appears to have been Capt. Nathaniel Hull, from Mas- sachusetts. Then a young man, he at first settled on the Ohio,
226
227
FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS,
at a point near the present site of Golconda. His place was called Hull's Landing. He laid out the first road to Kaskaskia, along which he soon journeyed in search of a new home, which he found in the American Bottom. He was a patriotic, leading, and influential citizen, always ready to repel Indian aggressions, and faithfully to discharge the official duties he was called upon to perform. He raised a large family, and well improved his farm, where he died in 1806.
In 1781, an enterprising company of immigrants, consisting of James Moore the leader, James Garrison, Shadrach Bond, sr., Robert Kidd, Larkin Rutherford, and James Piggott, with their families, came from Maryland, and settled on the American Bottom-this name originating with them. All of them, with the possible exception of Garrison, had been soldiers under Clark, and it was the glowing descriptions of the natural advan- tages of the country which they, and others of Clark's com- mand, gave on their return, that induced so large an emigration from Virginia and Maryland, of which this party formed but the advance guard.
Before and during 1783, the following additional soldiers in the Clark campaign had also become inhabitants; William Biggs, Robert Seybold, Jacob Groots, John Hiltebrand, John Dodge, George Camp, Levi Teel, James Curry, Robert Whitehead, George Lunceford, Joseph Anderson, David Pagon, John Doyle, John Montgomery, Thomas Hughes, and William Murray, who settled in and near Kaskaskia.
The New-Design settlement was begun in 1782, and included a number of those whose names have been mentioned above. It was located on a beautiful elevation overlooking both the Mississippi and Kaskaskia rivers, about four miles south of Belle- fontaine, where Moore and others of his party had settled.
A settlement was also made about the same time east of the Kaskaskia River, by Henry and Elijah Smith, Daniel Hicks, Hayden Wells, Leonard Harness, Michael Huff, James Hender- son, and Isaac Chalfin. These were soon reinforced by the fol- lowing: William Arundel, at Cahokia, John Seeley, Francis and John Clark, John Edgar, Joseph Ogle, Joseph Worley, James Andrews, James Lemon, James McRoberts, George Atchison, David Waddle, Ichabod Camp, Henry Golding, Thomas and
228
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
Elijah Flanary, John McElmuny, John Murdoch or Moredock, (two of this name,) Jacob and Samuel Judy, Benjamin Ogle, John Cook, and John K. Simpson, who settled at one of the above-named places or at Kaskaskia.
From 1780 to 1788, inclusive, there were, according to the reports of the Commissioners to Congress confirming their claims to donations of land, under the act of congress, one hun- dred and thirteen American heads of families in the Territory.
Prior to this time, owing to the hostile attitude of the Indians, only the hardiest and boldest pioneers ventured to immigrate; but with the treaty of Greenville came the blessings of peace, and although the difficulties in regard to land-titles were a seri- ous hindrance, yet many settlers from the older states, attracted, by the reports of the extraordinary productiveness of the soil, continued to come in.
Among the arrivals in 1797 was a colony from Virginia, headed by Rev. David Bagley, numbering one hundred and fifty-four. The season was unusually wet, and the hardships and exposures of the journey left them in but a poor condition to begin life in a new country where there were no houses to be occupied, nor any of the ordinary comforts of life to be procured. A malignant fever broke out among them, which resulted in the death of half the colony. A prevalent disease at that day, and for many years afterward, and one to which all new-comers in such a rich country are liable, was what was called the "fever and ague," which was produced by the malaria arising from decaying vegetable matter in the early Fall. It was not, how- ever, a fatal disease, and generally yielded to the then universal remedies of "tartar emetic, calomel and jalap, and Peruvian bark.
Another disease peculiar to these early times was known as the " milk-sick" which, it was claimed, was induced by drinking the milk, or eating the butter or meat of an animal infected with the poison. What this poison was could not be ascertained, the general supposition being that it was emitted from some mineral substance which, rising in a gaseous form covered vegetation or infused itself in the matter, thus communicating disease. It was generally fatal to both man and beast. The experience of these new settlers very naturally gave rise to the report that
229
EARLY SETTLERS.
Illinois was a sickly country, which rumor for some time pro- duced a marked effect upon the tide of immigration.
Important additions were made to the population from 1790 to 1800 by the arrival of the following settlers: John Rice Jones, Pierre Menard, Shadrach Bond, jr., William, James and Robert Morrison, John and Israel Dodge, John Hays, John Hay, James McRoberts, William, John and Samuel Whiteside, Joseph and William Kinney, Isaac Darnielle, Rev. John Clark, John de Moulin, Robert Reynolds, John Messenger, Dr. George Fisher, William Goings, sr. and jr., R. E. Heacock, John T. Lusk, John, William, Stephen, and Nelson Rector, Dr. William L. Reynolds, Benj. H. Doyle, James Haggin, William Mears, Dr. Caldwell Cairnes, Dr. Wallace, Dr. Truman Tuttle, Nicholas Jarrot, John Pulliam and Dr. James Rose, nearly all of whom afterward became well known, and officially connected with either the territorial or state governments.
In 1805, a colony of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians arrived from South Carolina: the Andersons, Thompsons, Erwin, MacDonald, McBride, Cox, Miller, Couch, and others, which in a few years increased to forty families.
Immigration was further stimulated in consequence of the conclusion of treaties with the Indians in 1803-4-5, and the establishment of the land-office at Kaskaskia, in 1804.
The larger proportion of these first-American settlers came from Virginia and Maryland. While a few had received a rudimentary education, and had lived among communities which may be said to have been comparatively cultured, the most of them were hardy, rough, uncultivated backwoods-men. They had been accustomed only to the ways of the frontier and camp. Many of them had served in the war of the Revolution, and all of them in the border wars with the Indians. While they were brave, hospitable, and generous, they were more at ease beneath the forest bivouac than in the "living-room" of the log-cabin, and to swing a woodman's ax among the lofty trees of the primeval forest was a pursuit far more congenial to their rough nature and active temperament than to mingle with society in settled communities. Their habits and manners were plain, simple, and unostentatious. Their clothing was generally made of the dressed skins of the deer, wolf, or fox, while those of the buffalo
230
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
and elk supplied them with covering for their feet and heads. Their log-cabins were destitute of glass, nails, hinges, or locks. Their furniture and utensils were in harmony with the primitive appearance and rude character of their dwellings, being all home-made, with here and there a few pewter spoons, dishes, and iron knives and forks. With muscles of iron and hearts of oak, they united a tenderness for the weak and a capability for self-sacrifice, worthy of an ideal knight of chivalry; and their indomitable will, which recognized no obstacle as insuperable, was equaled only by their rugged integrity which regarded dis- honesty as an offence as contemptible as cowardice. For many years they dwelt beyond the pale of governmental restraint, nor did they need the presence of either courts or constables. Crimes against person, property, or public order were of so infrequent occurrence as to be practically unknown. In moral endowments-even if not in mental attainments-these sturdy pioneers of Illinois were, it must be admitted, vastly superior to many of those who followed them when better facilities for transportation rendered the country more accessible.
Although the distance from the older states was so great, and the modes of conveyance so slow, and notwithstanding the reports of an unhealthy climate, and the efforts of the Ohio Land Association, and proprietors of the Western - Reserve country to attract purchasers to their localities by offering them lands at the low price of forty cents per acre, the rich prairies of Illinois proved a superior inducement, and immigrants continued to pour in. Gradually but surely, old settlements were ex- tended and new ones formed in what afterward became Madi- son, Pope, Alexander, and Gallatin counties, and the white population which, in 1800, did not exceed 2500, in 1810 num- bered 12,282.
Freed from the fear of Indian depredations, by the formal ex- ecution of treaties, they found time to cultivate the arts of peace. Land was reclaimed, farms improved, and trade extended. Al- though the officers and general administration of the territorial government had been so far away as to exercise over them but a nominal control, yet a knowledge of its existence had given them hope of the adoption of regulations better suited to their advancement when its arm should reach and embrace them.
231
CUSTOMS AND CHARACTERISTICS.
The people generally had no costly tastes to gratify, no expensive habits to indulge. They neither possessed nor cared for luxuries. Their living, such as they required, cost but little of either time or labor. The corn from which they made their bread, came forth from the prolific soil at the touch of their rude plows. Their cattle and hogs found abundant sustenance on the broad prairies-which in the summer yielded the richest grass - and from the woods, where in the fall the ground was covered with mast. They raised flax and cotton, and their sheep furnished them wool, from which the women manufactured their homespun garments, which were sufficient for their wants and tastes.
Of leisure they had a superabundance, and it was cheerfully devoted to mutual assistance, without thought of recompense except in kind. Thus the labor of house-raising, harvesting, and plowing was rendered light by "changing work" and assist- ing each other. And if any one fell behind through sickness, or other misfortune, his neighbors would "turn in and help him out," making the occasion a frolic, thus mingling labor with amusement.
If a field of flax was to be pulled, or of wheat to be cut, the neighbors came in with their wives, daughters, and sons; and while the men were pulling the flax or reaping and shocking the wheat, the women at the house were preparing the harvest- noon feast. The rough table, for which the side and bottom boards of the wagon were frequently used, was laid under the shade of a spreading tree in the yard. The visitors contributed from their own meagre stock such dishes, knives and forks, and spoons as might be needed. Around the table, seated on benches, stools or splint-bottom chairs, with such appetites as could only be gained from honest toil in the open field, the company partook of the bounties before them.
These consisted, in addition to the never-failing cornbread and bacon, of bear and deer meat, of turkey or other game in its season, and of an abundance of vegetables, which they called "roughness." The bread was baked on "jonny" or journey boards, which gave it the name of jonny-cake. These boards were smooth, two feet long and eight inches wide. The dough was spread out on the boards, which were then placed before
232
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
the fire; after one side was baked, the dough was turned and baked on the other.
However it might be abstained from at other times, a harvest without whisky was like a dance without a fiddle. It was par- taken of by all-each one, male and female, drinking from the bottle and passing it to his or her next neighbor. Drinking- vessels were dispensed with as mere idle superfluities .*
Dinner over, the company scattered. The elders gathered together, and seated or stretched themselves upon the ground, and after the filling and lighting of the inevitable pipe, con- versation became general. The news of the day-not always, as may be imagined, very recent-was commented upon, and then, as now, politics were sagely and earnestly discussed. Stories, mainly of adventure, were told; hair-breadth escapes from Indian massacre were recounted and the battles of the Revolution again fought over beneath the spreading branches of the trees. Meanwhile, the boys and girls wandered off in separate and smaller groups, and enjoyed themselves in sing- ing, and playing, and making love as they do today.
Another amusement of those days, and one which did not fall into disfavor for many years, was what was known as "shucking bees." To these gatherings were invited both old and young. Stacks of corn in the husk were piled upon the ground near the crib where the golden ears were to be finally stored. Upon the assemblage of the guests, those who had "made a record" as the best corn-huskers were appointed leaders; each leader filled the ranks of his own party by selection from the company present, the choice going to each in rotation. The corn was divided into piles of as nearly equal size as might be, and each party was assigned its own pile. The object of the contestants was to complete the husking, each of their own allotment; and the party first attaining this result was declared the winner. The lucky finder of a red ear was entitled to a kiss from the girls. The contest ended, supper followed, and after supper came the dance. Swiftly were the tables stripped of dishes, and no less quickly were they drawn aside and the room swept by eager hands. Then came the struggle for partners and the strife to be "first on the floor." The only music was the violin, and
* Reynolds' " Pioneer History of Illinois," 2d ed., 316.
233
HABITS AND MANNERS.
"fiddlers" were in great request. The figures most in favor were the reel and the jig, in which all were moving at the same time, and all participated with a zest and abandon unknown in the modern ballroom. "They danced all night till broad day- light and went home with the girls in the morning," some on foot, and some on horseback, the only modes of conveyance.
But the amusement par excellence in those early days was horse - racing. This was patronized by all classes, and turf- meetings brought out the entire population. They were made in a great measure to serve the purpose of the modern county- fairs. While they exhibited nothing save themselves and their horses, trading of all kind was transacted, contracts entered into, debts paid, and questions of the day discussed. Besides the running of horses, that of men was indulged in, as also were wrestling, jumping, and other athletic pastimes. Whisky was freely used and the meetings generally wound up with "fist and skull," "rough-and-tumble" fights, in which every advantage was taken, and "fouls" were unrecognized. The excitement and enjoyment were most intense when some rough, sleepy-looking horse came out ahead in the race, or some small, wiry man gained the victory over a large one in a fight.
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.