USA > Illinois > Menard County > Past and present of Menard County, Illinois > Part 2
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MENARD COUNTY
lock, stock and barrel, went down in the gen- eral crash. Was it "Teddy's" popularity or Parker's telegram. that did it? Bonnell, Lanning. Watkins. Clary and Miller all sank to rise no more.
ABORIGINES.
A history of Menard county would he im- perfect that did not include some account of the aboriginal inhabitants. Indeed. to very many men no subject is more intensely interest- ing than this. Little can be said of the In- dian tribes of this locality, but that little will be given, but another and far more interesting people than they once held dominion here and roamed these prairies and woods. I refer to the "mound builders." This strange and un- known people were once as numerous bere. no doubt. a> the present population. but unfortu- nately they left only enough mementoes of their existence to arouse in us a desire to know more of them. Even here in this county there are, or were a few years ago. abundant evidences of the teeming thousands that lived here. Unfortunately nearly all the monu- ments they left were the earth-mound- they built. at the expense of untold toil and per- serverance. Many of these, by rain and -torm and the erosive power of the plow, have been partially or entirely obliterated. but a quarter of a century ago they were plainly visible in many localities. Along the bluff- overlooking the Sangamon river they were to be seen in great numbers. Years ago the writer opened a number of these mound- and was amply re- warded for his labor. In many nothing was found except the decaved bones of the Imriel dead. but others were rich in relies. Pipes. avec. spades, totems, etc., were found in afund- ance, and I have no doubt that vast munbers are still hidden under the soil here that may never be seen In man, unless by some accident they are unearthed. In digging a cistern, an arrow-point was found at a depth of nine fort below the surface. A stone ax was found. in digging a grave, five feet down. The writer found a sand-stone av. a half mile from Salem. that was embedded in the shale. A chisel.
hammered out of native copper, was found in a mound nine mile- north of Petersburg, that was eight feet under ground. Several copper arrow-points have been found in the county. There can be seen in the collection of It. .. Marbold, at Greenview. One kind of mound that was not uncommon is worthy of descrip- tion: This was on the bluff. four miles north of Petersburg. Before it was tampered with. it was about six feet high and perhaps twelve l'est across. Some two and a half feet blow the top of the mound two skeletons were found. supposed to be of a male and a female, lying on clay that had been burned almost as hard as a brick. Careful examination indicated that a mound. some three or four feet high. had been built and on top of this was formed a lasin. about the proportions of a soup-dish, lined with clay. made into a mortar and then thoroughly burned. This hasin was about six feet across and eight or ten inches lower in the center than at the edge. That the bodies had been placed in this basin. fuel piled on them and then burned was clearly evidenced by the fact that the upper surface of the bones were burned away. the sides charred black and the under side untouched by the fire. The whole skole- tons, except the smaller bones which were burned up. showed us that this was the case. as they were found mingled with the ashes and dead coals in the bottom of the basin. Several -neh monnds as this were opened by the writer. After the body was burned three or four feet of earth was added to the mound. What are these, however, compared to the works cast of St. Louis, in Illinois, where there are over two hundred large mounds in the area of one town- Ship, six miles square? These mounds are all large, but the king of them all is Cahokia mound. It was surveyed by Chicago parties several years ago and they found that it cov- ered eleven acres of ground and was ninety- seven feet high, after all the past years of erosion la the elements. There is perfect avi- done that the earth was carried a distance of over four miles to build it. St. Louis hears the nickname of "Mound City" from the immense mound that one stood in the very heart of the city. Vast numbers of relics were obtained from each of these, a number of which may be
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MENARD COUNTY
seen in Marbold's collection. The huge paint- ing, called "The Piasa Bird," that was on the smooth face of the chif above Alton. one hun- dred feet from the base and seventy-five feet below the top. was the work of these people. This painting was there when Marquette and Joliet went down the Mississippi river in 1612, and remained there, bright and clear. till 1848, when the cliff fell into the river. When we contemplate the huge piles of earth on almost every bluff along the Mississippi, the Missouri. the Ohio, the linois and, in fact, almost all the rivers of the country, we may well wonder concerning the strange people who built them. The "Hini" Indians, as they called themselves. who lived at the mouth of Piasa ereck. when the first white man visited this country, had no more idea of who painted this picture than we have to-day. Their principal village was al- most in a stonethrow of the painting but they knew nothing of its history. The picture was in three colors, red, yellow and black. The body was as large as a cow, a face like a human. horn- like a deer, tooth of great size, ontspread wings, like a hat. four legs. each with four terrible claws, a huge tail. wrapped three times around the body. and the whole body and fail covered with scales, like a fish. It was a ter- rible looking picture. The Indians had a strange and weird tradition concerning it but we have not space to record it here.
Of the Indians, in relation to this county. but little can be said. Ahout the time that the first settlers came to this county, the Indians made a raid on the settlements south of here and after killing a citizen or iwo they stole a young lady and started north with her. She was the daughter of a Captain Whitesides and the father and a company of citizens started in pursuit. The Indians were overtaken just this side of Elkhart Grove. There a fight occurred. The young lady was on a pony, which was led by an Indian, while a rope was tied around the girl's neck and held by her captor. When the fight began the Indian in the excitement drop- pod the rope and the girl sprang off the pony and staried to run back to the whites. But the Indian, seeing his prize about to escape. threw his tomahawk at her. driving the blade into the small of her back. Her father being near
and seeing this, galloped between her and the Indians, when one of them firing at him sont a ball entirely through his horse. However, the horse did not fall and the father. sparring him forward, reached the girl and seizing her by the arm, bore her back to the whites. The blood was sporting from the wound in the horse's vitals but the faithful animal, with his fast ebbing strength, bore her to safety and in a short time died. In the retreat the Indians crossed the Sangamon river near where the iron bridge. south of Petersburg, is located, and their pursuers. returning the same way. brought the young lady to a settler's cabin near Salt- bury, leaving her there till she recovered. When the first settlements were made in the limits of this county the Indians had nearly all been removed : a few were still in the timber on Indian creek. in the neighborhood of Indian Point : and two old men, with about a dozen of their relatives, remained for some time. These were Shiekshack and Shambolee. They lived two or three years just south of the residence of the late Judge Robert Clary. on the high hill overlooking the lake. They then re- moved to a high hill within a mile of the site of the present town of Chandlerville. Here Shickshack died at a very advanced age and was buried there, and the hill is still known as "Shickshack's Hill." After his death the rest of the little band in sadness left the haunts of the pale-face and were heard of no more.
There being no trouble with the Indians in this section after the first settlements here and there being varions forts near the frontiers. as Fort Clark at Peoria and at other points. there was never any need of any forts or block- houses in this section of the state. The trouble spoken of above, with a band whose town was at Elkhart Grove, was the last, and perhaps the only trouble, that was over in this im- mediate part of the state. Further northeast. at Old Town Timber, in MeLean county. and over toward Fort Clark, now Peoria, there had been considerable warfare. The Mound Build- ers are gone and the Indians are gone, and the hills and woods and streams have no tongue to tell the story of the past. All the record we have is the chipped flint. the polished stone-ax and the curiously wrought pipe and banner-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MENARD COUNTY
stone to tell their strange story. How we long to extort from thee mute stones the story of those long gone years, but our appeal is an- heard and the look is sealed, only as we may imagine, guess and wonder.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Quite a number of settlements had been made in the territory of what is now Sangamon county some time before any were made in the bounds of what is now Menard. The reader must bear in mind that this county had no ex- istence till the year 1839, hence the history of the settlement and development of the county is connected with the history of Sangamon county.
Although the white man had frequently vis- ited the "Sangamon country," as it was called. and had traveled over the beautiful prairies and explored the deep woods of this locality, vet we have no evidence that any one ever settled in the area of the county prior to April. 1819. We have indisputable evidence that the first settler of the county was John Clary, who came with his family at the date above named. He settled in a grove in the southwest part of the county, near the present site of the village of Tallula. This grove was ever after known by the name of its first settler and it is to-day noticed on the maps and known and spoken of Tar and near as "Clary's Grove." Mr. Clary settled on the southwest quarter of section 32. township 18, range 2; the land now belonging to the heirs of George Spears, Sr. Mr. C. Clary built what was known to the pioneers as a "three-faced" camp : that is, he built three walls, leaving one entire side open. as amplo means of ingress and egress. These walls were built about seven feet high, then polos were laid across about three feet apart and "clap- boards" were laid on these for the roof. and as mails were not to be had. "weight-poles" were laid on the boards to hold them to their place. These boards were generally four fort in length and from ten to fourteen inches in width. They were split out of oak timber. with an instrument. common in those days, called a "Proc." No floor was laid in the camp, nor
was there any such thing as a window or door- shutter or chimney connected with the strue- ture. Now these are facts and we doubt not that the young people of to-day are skeptical on the matter. The one side left out served as door, chimney. window and all. Just in front of the open side, a huge log-heap was built, which served to furnish heat in cold weather and for cooking all the year round. and gave what light they needed at night. We de- scribe this camp so particularly because in such dxelling> as this, the carly settlers all spent the first few years of their sojourn in the new country. Mr. Clary had a family when he first came to the Grove, the late lamented Judge Robert Clary being six weeks old when the family reached its wild home. The large and respected family of Clarys now living in this county are all descendants of this hardy pioneer. Not long after Clary located in the Grove. Solomon Pratt with his family took up his res dence in a cabin, which he built on sec- tion 8. township 12. range i. this going near Mr. Clary. During the fall of 1819 and the spring of 1820 emigration came in pretty rapidly. but there being no record kept of the order in which they came and the names of some being forgotten. it is impossible to give the detail correctly. About this time the Armstrong, Greens and Spears came to the grove: a more detailed account of whom will be given in another place. It was stated above that the first settlement in the county was made at Clary's Grove. This we believe to be true. but there is great diversity of opin- ion on this subject among the oldest citizens who were alive thirty years ago, with whom the writer often talked the matter over. Amberry Rankin. late of Athens, in this county, was of the opinion that Judge Latham was the first white man to take up his abode in the limits of the county, and it is a known fact that Sugar Grove, in the northeast part of the connly, was settled very soon after Clary's Grove, if not at the very same time. From a document left by Charles Montgomery, de- erased. and from statements made to the writer by Alexander Meadows, we gather some very important facts. These statements are fully reliable, as the gentlemen named were members
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MENARD COUNTY
of the first party that settled on the east side of the Sangamon river. Jacob Boyer and James Meadows, who were brothers-in-law, came to Sugar Grove from the American bottom, near St. Louis, and located in that greve in the spring of 1819. They had lived one or two years on Wood river. in the American bottom. a few miles from Alton. Meadows brought with him a wagon. drawn by two horses, a yoke of yearling steers, which had been broken to work when sucking calves, and some thirty head of hogs. Boyer brought three horses, two milk cows and perhaps a yoke of oxen. About the same day that Boyer and Meadows came, the Blane family, consisting of four brothers, one sister, and the mother, came to the same grove. This family was of Irish blood, and it was from them that "Irish Grove" got its name. The Blanes brought two two-horse teams and six or seven yoke of oxen. Boyer and Meadows erected a cabin on the south side of the grove. which was occupied by Boyer, and Meadows put up a "three-faced camp" on the ground now occupied by the Sugar Grove cemetery. Be- fore the Blanes settled there they had camped for several days in the Grove, and it was this camping that gave the Grove the "Irish" pro- fix. and this makes it probable that they were camped there when Clary settled in Clary's Grove.
The Blanes at once took claims. erected cabins and began business in earnest. These were doubtless the first settlers on the cast side of the Sangamon river. Before giving an account of the further settlement of Sugar Grove. it may not be amiss to relate an inci- dent in the carly history of this settlement, illustrating the fact that human nature is ever the same and that even in this carly day mon had need of civil courts. It will be neces- sary to explain that although the trouble be- gan when but few families had settled there, it was some time before it culminated in a suit at law, as there were no courts of justice within reach till some time later. As stated above, Meadows brought two horses, thirty head of hogs, and two yearling calves with him to the grove. Not many months elapsed until both of the horses were missing and the hogs had all strayed away and were lost. Not a great while
after these misfortunes, one of his little oxen was found dead in the woods. Diligent search was made in every direction for the missing stock. as they could not be replaced without great trouble and expense, owing to the dis- taner from any older settlement. In his anxiety Mr. Meadows applied to a fortune teller, who strolled through the new settlement practicing his art. as the ancient troubadour used to stroll from village to village to rehearse the deeds of his heroes. This seer told Mr. Meadows that his horses were in the possession of the Indians and that he would recover them after awhile. though but one at a time. Sure enough, the horses were found in the hands of the Indians, who said that they had traded for them from a Frenchman. The horses were so jaled that they were of no service and soon after died. The hogy, he was told, had gone down the Sangamon river. where one-half of them had been eaten by a "squatter" and the rest he would recover. Meadows faithfully followed the di- rections given, found the cabin of the suspected settler but found none of the hogs. He, how- over. traded for a frying-pan from the worthy citizen. the one that he supposed his hog- had been fried in. but the remainder of the hogs were found as had been predicted. The for- Inno-teller further said that the steer had como to its death at the hands of one of Mr. Meadows' neighbors in the following manner: The neighbor was making rails in the timber. his coat lying on a log near by. when the poor calf came browsing along, and spying the coat. con- cluded to make a meal of it. The laborer ser- ing his coat about to be swallowed by the calf. ran and struck the brute on the loins with his maul, and the blow proved sufficient to kill it on the spot. Although this was only the state- ment of a superstitious fortune teller. yet it was believed -trongly enough to induce Meadows to begin a suit against the accused party. which was in the courts for several years, cost a vast sum of money, and cansed a fond between the two families which lasted to the third or fourth generation. This is spoken of as the first law- suit of any importance in the county, and also as illustrating a superstitious belief in fortune- tellers, which at that time was almost uni- versal.
PAST AND PRESENT OF MENARD COUNTY
Not long after the settlement of Boyer. Meadows and the Blanes, another caravan of immigrants came to the Grove. John Jennison. Mr. Hill and William MeNabb, his wife, son and daughter, were of that company. James MeNabb, son of William MeNabb, above named, was a surveyor and taught the first school that was over taught in the Grove. A few years later he was drowned in the Sangamon river, which stream he was trying to swim. with his compass tied on his head. It is said that he had been drinking or he would not have made the attempt. A few months after the arrival of those last named. others came, among them Roland Grant and family. Benjamin Wilcox and Ward Benson, About the same time a Mr. Pentecost came from Kentucky, bringing a family of four sons and three daughters. He settled near the present residence of Judge 11. H. Marbold. near Greenview, Cavanis. for whom Cavanis creek was named. also came from Kentucky, about this time. The next to find their way to this Grove was a company from Deer Creek. Ohio, composed of the Alkires and William Engle, all of whom in later years per- formed such an important part in the develop- ment of that wealthy portion of the county. No party of weary travellers over entered a new country that was destined to exert a strong- er influence on the future growth and prosper- ity of a community than this little band. Leonard Alkire brought considerable means with him and invested it largely in "claims." which he entered later on. He purchased the claims of Meadows, Grant. Wilcox and the Blanes, which marked the beginning of change among the settlers of this grove. Hill, who wa- spoken of above, removed to St. Louis: John Jennison farmed for a year or two in the Grove and then removed to Baker's Prairie. three miles southeast of Petersburg. Meadows moved to the lower end of the Grove, where he bought the claim of Pentecost. MeNabb and Wilcox also removed to Baker's Prairie, where they took claims, which they entered as soon as the land came into market. There they reared families and many of their descendants were there for many years, but almost all of them are now gone. Not long after the ar- rival of Alkire and Engle, Matthew Bracken
came to the neighborhood, bringing a large family with him, and after him came Nicholas Projet : then Wallace and William Sweeney. Milton Reed, and Thomas and William Cald- well. From this time the tide of immigration constantly grow deeper and wider, pouring in its hosts of earnest. industrious and enterpri -- ing men to develop this most highly favored body of country, and well did they perform their task.
While the settlement was being made in this locality, the other portions of the county were not neglected. It is a remarkable fact, how- ever. that no settler ventured ont on the prairie for a number of years but the groves of timber contained settlement and each became the nucleus for a community, Of the more im- portant of thes . more will be said in the proper place. It may be of interest to the reader to know that the first marriage in the county, on the east side of the river, was ohm dennison to Patsy MeNabb: the second was Mr. Henman to Rosina Blane: and the third was William Engle to Melissa Blane. The last named couple were joined in wedlock by Harry Riggin. 1. P. The first death on the east side of the river was an infant son of Jacob Boyer. named Henderson. The second death was Jacob Boy- er: and the third was Joseph Kinney. who was thrown from a horse. He was brought home alive but soon afterward died. Kinney was buried in Sugar Grove cemetery, and soon after an elm tree came up out of the grave. almost from its center, and it is now a large. wide-spreading tree : and although it- roots and stem have obliterated all signs of a grave vet it is a verdant monument to the memory of Joseph Kinney.
The first schoolhouse built in Sugar Grove was erreted in 1522 by Meadows. Boyer. Wil- cox. MeNabb and Grant. It was about six- teen feet square and was built of split logs. This house was furnished on a par with all the school houses in the early settling of the country. Covered with split boards, held in place by weight-poles, the floor of puncheons. or split logs, the seats of half of a split log. with four legs, saplings, driven into anger. holes bored into the round side of the log, and the window. if any. was a log ent out of one
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MENARD COUNTY
side of the wall. The writing desk was a puncheon placed on pins in the wall. The text- books were few in number and the teacher made all the pens used out of goose quills. The books used were the New Testament for a reader, with now and then a copy of the old English Reader : Pike's or Smiley's arithmetic, and Murray's or Kirkham's grammar. The teacher who could "work through the single and double rule of three" was a genius whose services were always in demand. (We will say for the enlightenment of our school girls and boys that the single and double rule of three meant single and double proportion. ) The
books named above, with the indispensable Webster's spelling-book. were the texts that children had in those early days. Then the schools in those days were never held longer than three months, in mid-winter. These
schools were all gotten up by private subscrip- tion. for the young people must bear in mind that we had no free school system at that time. I speak of these things particularly that the present generation may know the truth con- corning the privations that their parents and grandparents experienced in preparing the in- heritance that they left to them. I speak thus particularly of the school privileges of those carly times, that the young people may com- pare their own opportunities with those of their ancestors. None of the statements concerning the early schools and the helps of those times are exaggerated in the least, for the writer at- tended such a school and used part of the of the books named but could not secure all of them. If your parents accomplished what they did with such helps, what should you do with your opportunities ?
James MeNabb, who was drowned in the Sangamon river, was the first teacher in Sugar Grove; he was followed by Daniel MeCall; and he by one Mr. Templeman ; then others came, and the count was lost.
The first preaching in Sugar Grove was in the cabin of Roland Grant, by one Elder Hen- derson. a preacher of the "New Light" faith, as it was then termed. The New-Lights and the followers of Alexander Campbell afterward united. forming what was at first denominated "The Church of the Disciples." but afterward
changed to "The Church of Christ," sometimes called Campbellites. Of this a more extended ale- count will be given under the head of Religious Denominations. When the settlement was first begin at Sugar Grove, and for some time after. the nearest physician was in Springfield, then a mere village. Dr. Allen of that place was the first practitioner of the healing art that was called professionally to visit the community at the Grove. Not a very great while elapsed. however, till Dr. Winn settled near Indian Point, and began the practice of the profession.
Having thus glanced hastily at the history of the early settlement of Sugar Grove, we turn now to other localities where settlements were made in an carly day, as New Salem. two and a half miles from Petersburg. up the Sangamon river: the vicinity of Indian Point : and Concord, three miles north of Petersburg. The Indian Point settlement includes that of Lebanon and Athens, while that of New Sa- lem is connected with Rock Creek. These, with Clary's and Sugar Grove. before mentioned. were the most important of the early centers of civilization: indeed all the others may be regarded as off-shoots of these. About the year 1820 the settlement at indian Point began. The first white man to take up his permanent abode there was Robert White, who settled on the farm on which his grandchildren, John White and Mary Van Emons now reside, adjoin- ing the ground on which the Lebanon Cumber- land Presbyterian church now stands. With him came James Williams, father of Colonel John Williams, late of Springfield, Illinois, and fam- ily, consisting of two sons and four daughters. Archibald Kincaid. Jacob Johnston and Dr. Charles Winn came about the same time, with those named above, and soon after John Moore also settled in this vicinity. William B. Short was also one of the early settlers here. His son, James Short. now past eighty years of age, still lives on the farm that his father first located on. Those were all earnest. intelligent. enterprising people, and by their industry and economy laid the foundation of the success of that community. The descendants of those named above make up the larger part of the population of Indian creek at the present time. Indeed we are not surprised at this when we
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