USA > Illinois > Christian County > Past and present of Christian County, Illinois > Part 6
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PAST AND PRESENT
While Christian county has made such improvements and constructed such build- ings as were necessary and convenient for the business interests of the county, it has not been unmindful of the poor; in 1870, a poor farm of 160 acres was purchased in the northern part of the town of Rosemond, for which the county paid $6,400, and lo- cated thereon a building at a cost of $3.534, which was burned in 1892, and a new one erected at a cost of $4.500. A keeper is in charge of this poor farm and raises grain and other products thereon, and raises meat and vegetables to supply the inmates of the poor farm, and it is said that those who are so unfortunate as to become inmates of this house are well cared for.
During the same year ( 1870) the county erected the present jail at a cost of $5.360, which took the place of the old one above described, and has since that time made quite a valuable addition thereto, practically doubling the capacity of the jail and making it more convenient : has improved its sani- tary conditions; it is now a safe and whole- some place for the unfortunate ones who are incarcerated therein, and since the erection of the new jail the Sheriff or keeper thereof has constantly resided in rooms connected with it. and under the same roof. The jail is at present occupied by T. W. Brents, the present Sheriff of the county.
For several years prior to 1900, it be- came evident to all thinking people that the old courthouse was not sufficient to accom- modate the courts of the county, preserve the records and files of the different offices and to meet the wants of the people, and that the time had come when a new court- house should be built. The question was agitated, at least two or three years, before it was submitted to a vote of the people, and while it had many advocates. there were
quite a few who opposed the building of the courthouse, because they feared that it would burden the county with an indebted- ness that it could not easily rid itself of; the Board of Supervisors had no money with which to build the courthouse, and they were powerless to levy a greater tax than was being levied for general purposes, ex- cept by a vote of the people. It therefore became necessary to submit to the voters of Christian county the question of authoriz- ing the levy of a sufficient tax for this pur- pose. Accordingly A. S. Martin, Super- visor of the Town of Taylorville, introduced a resolution in the Board of Supervisors au- thorizing the levy of a courthouse tax to the amount of $100,000, to be used in build- ing a new courthouse. This resolution was adopted by a vote of 13 to 5 of the super- visors, but was, at the March meeting, 1900, reconsidered and rescinded by a vote of 12 to 5. However, at the June meeting, 1900, of the Board of Supervisors, a resolution to authorize the submission to a vote the levy- ing of a special tax of $75,000 for court- house purposes, was introduced by the com- mittee on public buildings and adopted by the vote of the following named super- visors : G. W. Adams, G. F. Barrett, T. T. Berry, J. E. Downs, O. B. Fraley, R. A. Gray, H. H. Herdman, A. S. Martin, H. O. Minnis, J. H. Morgan, F. F. Weiser, W. O. Wilcox and Joseph Hale, and this propo- sition was submitted to a vote of the people at the November election in 1900, and car- ried by a majority of 990 in a vote of 7,408; IO townships gave a majority for the propo- sition, one had a tie vote and this gave a majority against the proposition; a major- ity of the votes of the county being in favor of the appropriation, the old courthouse was sold and immediate steps taken for its removal.
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CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The board immediately advertised for plans and specifications for the new court- house, many of which were submitted, but the plans of J. W. Gaddis, an architect of Terre Haute, Ind., were adopted by the building committee in February, 1901, and a contract for the building of the new court- house was made upon the recommendation of the building committee by the Board of Supervisors with V. Jobst & Sons of Peo- ria, Ill., on June 3, 1901, for the amount of $80,000. Owing to the increase in the price of building materials, it soon became evi- dent to the committee and members of the Board of Supervisors that the amount an- thorized to be levied would not be sufficient to build such a courthouse as was needed, and the supervisors, after having respect- ively canvassed the matter with their con- stituents, determined that the appropriation would when desired be increased, and ac- cordingly laid its plans for the construction of a courthouse with the furniture that would cost about $100,000. The building was constructed as speedily as possible and completed Sept. 29, 1902, at a total cost of building and furniture of $100.535.80. While the building was being built a vote for a future appropriation was had and adopted, and by the time the building was completed, the taxes had been levied and collected. When the courthouse was dedi- cated, it was fully paid for. The construc- tion of the courthouse was under the im- mediate supervision of the building com- mittee, which during the first year was composed of the following named gentle- men: Robert A. Gray, chairman; J. H. Morgan, A. S. Martin, A. B. Fraley and P. M. Klinefelter, but owing to the fact that during this time, an election was held to fill the places of the Supervisors whose term of office expired, some of them were
not candidates for reelection, and a new committee was composed of A. S. Martin, chairman; G. W. Adams, John Kennedy, O. B. Fraley and C. D. Cutler. It can be said to the credit of both of the committees, they carefully watched over the work as it progressed, investigating every detail and it may be well said that every dollar of the money appropriated by the people for the building of this court house, actually went into its construction, and as a result the money expended has produced a building that is a credit to the county and is estimat- ed by many people to cost much more than it really did.
The corner stone of this building was laid with the usual formalities of the Masonic craft, the Grand Master C. F. Hitchcock of A. F. & A. M. of Illinois being present and participating in its exercises. The little box placed in the corner stone was filled with a short history of Christian county, pre- pared by the Committee, together with a copy of practically all of the papers pub- lished in the county, and a history of many of the churches, secret orders, building as- sociation and many other enterprises in which the people were interested, and this box was placed in the northeast corner and sealed by the Grand Master who pronounced the work to be "good work, true work and square work" and thereupon addresses were made by the Hon. James B. Ricks, Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Wm. T. Van- deveer, the Hon. W. M. Provine, all resi- dents of Taylorville. The occasion was a memorable one, and the addresses were ex- cellent, and well adapted to the occasion.
After the court house had been completed, it was duly and formally accepted by the Board of Supervisors, the Hon. R. W. Mor- rison presiding. and dedicated on the day of its acceptance.
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PAST AND PRESENT
The dedicatory exercises consisted of the usual and necessary action of the Board of Supervisors, music, and of addresses made by the Hon. I. W. Kitchell of Pana and J. C. McBride, of Taylorville, and closed by the address of R. W. Morrison, Chair- man of the Board of Supervisors.
The writer of this article. J. C. McBride, desires to record the fact that he made the last address in the old court house and the first one in the new.
Christian county now has a beautiful and commodious courthouse of the length of 117 feet and of the width of 90 feet. three stories high with a room for the Board of Supervisors. County Superintendent of Schools, State's Attorney and a rest room for the ladies of the county on the lower floor ; rooms for the County Judge, County Clerk, Sheriff. Treasurer, and Circuit Clerk on the second floor with a private office for cach of the officers all nicely furnished with the best steel furniture; on the third floor is the Circuit Court room, Judge's room. room for the attorneys, library, grand jury room. two petit jury rooms, two witness rooms and other rooms not now needed or used: all of these rooms are supplied with the modern conveniences; it is remarked by many that the courtroom is of convenient size. and beautiful in appearance; in fact the whole courthouse from top to bottom is a credit to the county, and reflects honor upon its builders.
This courthouse would appear to a casual observer to meet the conveniences and re- quirements of this county for 100 years to come, but who can tell: measured by the progress of the past. the ingenuity of man, its wealth producing capacity, it may not supply the wants for a half century, but one thing is certain, it will meet the require- ments for many years to come.
JUSTICES DISTRICTS.
The County Commissioners' Court at the June term, 1839. divided the county into four districts called by them justices dis- tricts, and an election for selecting Justices of the Peace and Constables of the respec- tive districts was called for August 5. 1839. For the first district Thomas Young, Jesse Murphy and Isaac Harris were appointed Judges : for the second district Thomas And- erson, Robert Richardson and Francis Adams were appointed Judges : for the third district James Fletcher. Geo. Fearson and Geo. Dickerson were appointed Judges, and for the fourth district Elija Palmer and Peter Ketchum were appointed Judges. These districts were known as the Taylor- ville or Central District, Stonington District. North Fork District and South Fork Dis- trict, and there were to be elected two Jus- tices and two Constables in each of the districts. except the Taylorville or Central. which was to have three; the election was held at that time and at the respective vot- ing places in the different districts, and for the Taylorville District W. M. Thomas, Eli Matthews and Richard Simpson were elect- ed as Justices and James R. Lucas and John P. Nelson as Constables ; for the Ston- ington District Peter R. Ketchum and David Simons were elected as Justices and Wm. L. Hammer Constable; for the North Fork District A. D. Northcut and James Baker were elected Justices of the Peace, and J. M. Fletcher and T. F. Farris Constables ; for the South Fork. Presley Peck and Aquil- la Council were elected Justices and Amos Richardson and J. L. Cagle were elected Constables.
It appears from the records that J. I. Vol- lentine and Samuel Brents were also elected as constables at this election, but it is un-
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CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
certain from which district. The highest vote received by any of those elected was 55 and the lowest 23, and the highest vote received by any of those defeated was 23 and the lowest 12, and while it is difficult to determine the exact number of voters, owing to the absence of the poll book, it is estimated that there were about 200 votes cast at this election in these four precincts. which shows the voting population of the county at that time; the voting was not by ballot as at the present time, but by viva voce, which vote when given was recorded. At the election succeeding this one and held August 3, 1840, the highest vote being for State Senator, shows E. D. Taylor, Demo- crat, to have received 208 votes and E. D. Baker, Whig, to have received III votes, making a total of 319 votes.
At the presidential election in November, 1840, Martin Van Buren received 147 votes and Wm. H. Harrison 89 votes, making the total number of votes cast at this election 236. At that time, however, the local of- ficers were elected at the August elections, and not in November.
The above is a sufficient amount of the statistics of the elections held at about these times to show the number of electors in the county. The first Representative elected from this county was Martin White, and at the same election Aquilla Council was elect- ed County Commissioner, Wm. S. Ricks, Sheriff; Jacob Lovely, Coroner; John C. Goode, Clerk of County Commissioners' Court, and Gabriel Jernigan, Treasurer, all Democrats, and at the election held August 2. 1841, Overton Williams and Richard Simpson appear to have been elected for County Commissioners and Leonard Kil- burn for Treasurer (to fill a vacancy) and John W. Wheat for School Commissioner.
At the August election in 1842, H. M.
Vandeveer was elected Representative. Amos Richardson, Sheriff; and in October of the same year A. B. Peabody was elected County Surveyor and Thomas Dougherty County Recorder, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of H. M. Vandeveer, who had just been elected to the legislature, and at the election held August 7, 1843, W. S. Frink was elected Probate Justice, P. C. Ferguson, County Clerk : Thomas B. Dough- erty, County Recorder; Jesse Elgan, Coun- ty Commissioner ; Wm. A. Goodrich, County Surveyor, Thomas S. Leachman, . School Commissioner, and Jesse Murphy Assessor and Treasurer ; at the election held in Aug- ust, 1844, Wm. S. Ricks was elected as Rep- resentative from this county. The total votes cast at that election were 431 ; at the same election, Henry Hardin was elected Sheriff; Geo. Dickerson, Jesse Elgan and John H. Bilyeu, County Commissioners ; G. B. Ketcham, Coroner, and O. B. Ficklin, Democrat, received a majority of 70 votes over U. F. Linder, Whig, as a candidate for Congress.
A review of the officers elected as above, and the votes which they received at the different elections will give to the reader a fair idea of the men who assisted in the organization of the county, with its early counselors, and carried the burden of the beginning of a wild and practically unset- tled county.
It is quite clear that the offices held by the different men were anything but lucra- tive; in many instances it required a great sacrifice upon the part of the individuals to fill the offices of the county, but some one had to perform these duties, and no one was better qualified or more interested in having the duty faithfully performed than these men who were striving to build up a
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PAST AND PRESENT
county government in the wild prairies of Christian.
In many instances the record discloses that the officers remitted the small pittances allowed them by law for the services per- formed for the purpose of aiding the county.
CIRCUIT COURT.
In the year 1839, the counties of Sanga- mon, Tazewell, McLean, Livingston, Macon. Dane, Logan, and Menard composed the Eighth Judicial District of the State of Illi- nois, with the Hon. Sam'l H. Treat, presid- ing Judge; he held the first term of court at Taylorville on November 4, 1839, in a small frame house 12x14 owned by H. M. Vandeveer, and situated on the north side of the public square, and it is said that this small house had to serve the purpose of hotel, stage office and courtroom; from the representations of the oldest citizens, it is clear that houses were very scarce in Tay- lorville at that time. It is said in jury cases, that body had to retire for its deliberations out of doors under a black-jack tree where now stands the calaboose, accompanied by Deputy W. L. Hammer, who provided the jury with the necessaries of life, and such refreshments as the jury desire and the court will permit.
This improvised courtroom will be re- membered by many of the older citizens as Dr. Chapman's office. and the old landmark has given place to a large brick building. The officers of the court were the Hon. Sam'l H. Treat, Judge; H. M. Vandeveer, Clerk; Wm. S. Ricks, Sheriff ; David P. Campbell, State's Attorney ; Benjamin Will- iams, Coroner.
The only attorney attending this term of court from abroad was the Hon. James C. Conkling of Springfield, and it is said the panel of grand and petit jurors made at the
first term of the County Court seemed to be based upon an assumed census of 100 persons, that is, single men and heads of families; these, with the county officials added, comprised nearly all the names in the county, excepting only some half dozen whom it was the intention to indict.
The first grand jury was composed of John Young, foreman ; Berry Rose, Thomas P. Bond, Geo. D. Pearson, John Martin, David Cagle, James Weeden, Thos Young, Robert Richardson, John Finley, Jacob Wy- dick, E. J. Leigh, A. B. Peabody, Christo- pher Ketcham, Joshua Brents, Alfred Curry and Louis Jernigan, who, after being duly sworn, were charged by State's Attorney Campbell.
This grand jury retired, and after sol- emnly deliberating, returned into court an indictment against Thomas Farris, indicting him for challenging Thomas W. Davis to fight a duel with deadly weapons, and was based upon the following letter written by Farris to Davis :
"Dear Sir :- I take this method of finish- ing our career. I will give you the chance of a dewel. I would rather fight manley than to do any other way. I will give you a shott at 12 o'clock P. M.
"(Signed) T. V. E. FARRIS."
He was required to give bond, and at the June term, 1840, of said court, the case was again continued upon the affidavit of the defendant until the October term, 1840, when the case was tried and the defendant found not guilty.
There was also found at that term of court an indictment against Samuel McKin- sey and Gabriel McKinsey, charging them with riot, who were tried at the June term, 1840, of the Circuit Court and found guilty, and sentenced to pay a fine of $10 each;
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CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
this was all the work done by the grand jury Judge. In one case, the jury failing to at that term.
As appears from the records of the county there was no petit jury empaneled for the November term, 1839; the first petit jury ever empaneled in the county as appears by the records was at the June term, 1840, for the purpose of trying the case of the People vs. Samuel and Gabriel Mckinsey. indictment for riot, and this jury was com- posed of Geo. Oller, Overton Williams, Simeon Brents, Wm. Sheldon, Ezekiel Young, Robert P. Langley, Wesley West- brook, Henry Dixon, Henry Judy, Wm. Wallace, Isaac Richardson and Wesley Blount.
There was at the same term another jury empaneled and tried John Gilbert for selling liquor without a license, but the jury were unable to agree and were discharged, and these were all of the jury trials at that term of court.
In giving some of the reminiscences of this court. Mr. Goudy says of some of the early trials of the court : "Another case was Peter R. Ketcham vs. Gabriel Mckenzie, ac- tion for slander : damages laid at $2,000. J. C. Conkling, attorney for plaintiff. In the declaration, it was alleged that the defendant had used words to this import : "Old Pete Ketcham is a d-d old hog thief." This trial seemed to involve the whole county and elicited a great deal of interest. It was known to many as the Methodist preacher against the Roman Catholic; attorney B. S. Edwards conducted the defense. The jury found for the plaintiff $47.08.
In making up their verdict, the jury seem to have entertained a very nice esti- mate of a man's character so as to take into consideration the fractional part of a dime.
Juries occasionally returned to the court- room for further instructions from the
agree as to the facts in the premises re- turned for instructions. The Judge in- quired as to the difficulty. The foreman re- sponded with apparent honesty and simplici- ty: "Why, Judge, this 'ere is the difficulty : Some of the jury want to know whether that ar what you told us, when we first went out, was raley the law, or whether it was only just your notion." The Judge having informed the jury that such was the law in the premises, a verdict was reached accord- ingly.
In these days, Mr. Lincoln was a frequent visitor of the Christian County Court, and was at one time associated with Judge Van- deveer upon the trial of an important case with Judge Robbins of Springfield on the other side, and in reply to a point made. Judge Robbins said, "If that is so, I will agree to eat this desk." Mr. Lincoln very promptly replied : "Well. Judge, if you do eat that desk, I hope it will come out a brand new manufactured wagon."
Mr. W. A. Goodrich informs the writer that the convening of court was a great holiday with the people at that time, and everybody was anxious to attend court; it offered an opportunity for people to meet one another and talk of the many hardships that were endured by them ; he says that on one occasion, probably in the year 1841, he came from Mt. Auburn to Taylorville to attend court and to his utter disgust found the one lodging place in the town fully oc- cupied, but a friend invited him to go out with him to a log cabin that was then situ- ated near where the Wabash depot is now and he would find a bed. When he arrived there he found a bed for them to occupy ; the bedstead was made by boring a hole in one of the logs that formed the cabin, put- ting one end of a pole in the log and the
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PAST AND PRESENT
other resting on wooden forks standing on the floor, and the remainder of the bed was made up in the same crude manner, but he assured me that it formed a good resting place for a man who had traveled from Mt. Auburn in those days, and that he enjoyed the night's sleep very much.
It is said that hardly had the last peg been driven in the location of the county seat when James Harris commenced prep- arations for the erection of a two-story frame hotel, formerly known as a part of the Globe Hotel, and located on the north side of the public square. The want of ac- comodations compelled the use of it at first in an unfinished condition : a ladder. was used to reach the upper story with its loose boards for a floor ; its accommodations were necessarily limited.
The landlord was under the necessity of dividing his guests into squads or divisions, some retiring early only to be aroused to give place to another division as time crowded on to midnight. About the latter
hour. the stentorian voice of the landlord . of a community than the bench and bar. could be heard calling the first lot to get up and give place to others : "that Judge Treat and other noted lawyers wished to turn in;" Judge Edwards of Springfield relates that he preferred the luxury of wrapping him- self in the folds of his coat and taking the courthouse floor for it, where he could have the whole night to himself. In the early days of Christian county, and before Lin- coln, Douglas, Davis and others had ac- quired the notoriety they afterwards en- joyed, they were often seen in attendance at the court of Christian county, and many and amusing are the anecdotes that the early settlers told concerning these honorable vis- itors. Of course everything that any of them said or did (and many things that never happened) are remembered by the
carly settler and told by him, and notwith- standing the many hardships endured, he loves to recall these early days, and with pleasure recites his many adventures. There is nothing so pleasant to mankind as the memory of times and events in which he participated that tried men's souls.
The writer frequently conversed with Judge H. M. Vandeveer in the latter part of his life, and many were the interesting and profitable as well as amusing incidents that he could tell concerning the people of the early day, their struggles, and concern- ing the men who afterwards became so noted. He, too, looked upon the trials and tribula- tions of the early day. his struggles with poverty, his battling against inconveniences, as being happy days, and those which he loved to recall, which he did with credit to himself and pleasure to the listener.
BENCH AND BAR.
There is no class more intimately con- nected and associated with the public events
The courts are the final arbiters of the disputes that arise in any community. Prop- erty rights, rights of personal liberty and all other matters over which a contention exists are finally determined by the courts, and these courts are valuable in proportion to the legal learning and integrity of the bench and bar and those summoned before this tribunal to assist in the administration of justice.
Inasmuch as the bench and bar sustains such a relation to the public events, it is proper in a work of this character to give a short history of the courts and of the bar, especially of the members of the bar that have passed away. It is fitting only to com- ment upon the records and events of the lives of the deceased members of the bar
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CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
and bench, leaving the events of those now living and the work that may have been performed, whether good or bad, to be judged by the people and recorded by an- other pen.
In times of public excitement and strife, the Judge upon the bench, and the advocate at the bar are the people to whom those connected in such strifes look for protection and are willing to confide their interests ; the sterling qualities of the Judge, the able and earnest advocate always have and always will be admired by the people of the com- munity not only for their character and abil- ity, but for the power they possess of aiding in the building up or destruction of the rights of mankind, and for that reason, it for no other, they are entitled to have their names enrolled upon the history of a com- munity and the good or evil that was per- formed by them in their lifetime recorded.
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