USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Past and present of Mercer County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 14
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
New Boston-Otis S. Albee, $18; Laban B. Noble, $6; William Chidester, $5; Jesse M. Sanders, $8; Esom Jackson, $18; Harvey J. Fisher, $24; James R. Miner, $4; Sidney Beach, $10; Henry D. Southward, $20; William Smith, $4; Lyman H. Scudder, $15; Frances E. Landreth, $8; Henrietta Wilson, $8; Emily Burleigh, $8; Teresa Blackburn, $8; Henry Hires, $8.
New Windsor-Alex P. Petrie, $12.75; John Anderson, $18; Leonard Cummings, $8; Chauncey Smith, $6; Alfred B. Firkins, $6; Mitchell R. Lloyd, $6; Anna Crigler, $8; Phebe J. Regan, $20; Matilda Alexander, $8; Henry Middany, $6.
North Henderson-James G. Moore, $24; W. H. Brown, $6; Huldah Shafer, $8; Elizabeth M. Nash, $8.
Norwood-Peter Peterson, $18; W. P. Morgan, $4; James M. Lee, $4; Sarah McCartney, $8.
Preemption-Margaret A. Armstrong, $8; Frederick Heim, $4; Peter Cameron, $8; Mitchell T. Hunting, $8; William Hammond, $17; John L. Sample, $12.
Suez-William Puller, $6; Joshua H. Brown, $2.
Sunbeam-George Brown, $4; Thomas Cowan, $4; James G. Robinson, $18.
Swedona-Mary Love, $17; Anna C. Samuelson, $8; Charles F. Peterson, $2; John C. McElhinney, $6.
Viola-Melissa H. Fleming, $8; Miriam Gilliam, $8; Margaret Augustine, $8; Mary Griffin, $8; Laura McFarlan, $8; W. F. Winn, $8; Nancy A. Mitchell, $8; Elizabeth McKillip, $8; Isabel Mc- Gaughey, $8; Sylvanus B. Atwater, $6; Joel Hill, $4; Matthew B. Kennedy, $12; George Bolton, $4; John Forsythe, $8; Frederick
14.
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
Schroyer, $4; John Schmitt, $6; Elizabeth J. Shaunce, $8; Moses Florey, $4.
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
The destruction of the Maine in Havana Harbor early in 1898 did not cause much excitement in this county. The subject of war was discussed at every cross-roads and every village store, but no one believed that war was certain until after the Maine disaster had been declared by the investigating committee to have been the work of a mine-a Spanish mine, of course. Even then many thought the matter would be settled without a call to arms. But in the mean- time, as early as the middle of March, a company was partly recruited at Keithsburg with the expectation of entering the service in case war should be declared. Captain Hardy was the recruiting officer and the first volunteers were Charles Dryden, Lucien Murphy, Frank Duffy, W. C. Porter, John Shawley and Henry Wishar. The vol- unteers decided that Frank Duffy should be their captain. But as time passed and war was not declared, the company was discontinued.
No sooner did President Mckinley declare, in 1898, that a state of war existed between Spain and the United States than a large massmeeting assembled at Aledo to consider the question of taking steps to raise a company and of otherwise showing the patriotism of the county. The meeting was under the leadership of the Grand Army of the Republic and numbered over twelve hundred people who gathered in the skating rink. W. J. Graham called the meeting to order and Judge J. H. Connell was made permanent chairman. The first speaker was Colonel Sobieski, a temperance lecturer, who was here at the time; he delivered an eloquent and patriotic address. Other speakers were Guy C. Scott, Dr. M. G. Reynolds, J. M. Breces. Rev. W. S. Davis and Rev. A. M. Stocking. All favored action by the county to meet the demands of the governor and the President. Mr. Graham, who had received three years military training at the University of Illinois and had just been commissioned by the governor to raise a company, explained the situation and conditions and then called for volunteers and the following at once signed the roll: Charles Smith, Joy Galloway, George Hawks, James Palmer, William H. Dunlap, Louis C. Trovillo, Arthur C. Damp, James G. Gorman, Henry E. Abercrombie, James H. Bjork- man, Fred N. Taylor, Gussie Mohl, Charles P. Swanson, William E. Fox, Zachariah Partridge, Louis F. Chamberlin, John F. Mar- dock, J. H. Tomlinson, W. J. Graham, George R. Bitts, William
146
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
Braucht, H. C. Haverfield, Bert Beach, Omar Bevens, John Dal- rymple, W. N. Evans, Harry Decker, Frank Artz, Frank O. Goddard and C. E. Dixon. The meeting adjourned but the work of recruit- ing was rapidly continued until the full roll of 112 men was secured. Great expedition was used in order to get into the service as a unit. Men came from every township of the county and drilled regularly at the county seat. W. J. Graham was elected captain; F. N. Tay- lor, first lieutenant; George A. Cooke, second lieutenant. But it was found impossible to enter the service as a company and it there- fore soon dissolved and many of the men sought service in outside companies. At this time an effort to raise a company at Alexis was made; a large massmeeting assembled at the opera house and a dozen or more signed the roll, but they likewise were compelled to scatter out in order to get into the service, and but few did even under those circumstances. Charles H. Winders joined Company C, Sixth Illinois Regiment, and during the war was the correspondent of the Times Record. J. A. Wells, David Murphy and W. H. Dunlap also joined the Sixth Regiment. J. E. Mardock, Hayes Dool and Evart Farr joined Company L, Third Nebraska Regiment, under Col. W. J. Bryan. Homer A. Galloway went to the Philip- pines on the United States steamer Charleston. William M. Winders entered the First Washington Regiment, which left San Francisco for Manila late in 1898 and saw arduous service in several severe battles, skirmishes and campaigns. Mr. Winders was himself wounded, but survived. T. R. Awbrey entered the Ninth Illinois Regiment; Charles Thompson the One Hundred and Sixty-first Iowa; Benjamin J. Mitchell, the First Wisconsin; Kenneth Smith, Wentworth Smith and William Davis, the Sixth Illinois. Roe W. Vincent, F. E. Bogart, D. J. Van Meter, Walter B. Primley, C. L. Lutz, W. H. Braucht, John A. Hall, George White, G. T. Mehl, O. E. Carlstrom, I. H. Tomlinson, Clyde McPherren, R. C. Mc- Mullen, William Dungan, Clyde Saunders, G. G. Denning and others from this county saw service in various regiments of this and other states.
In September, 1898, upon the return of the Sixth Illinois Regi- ment the four Aledo boys were given a public reception at the court- house, on which occasion they were feasted and otherwise royally treated. On November 3, 1898, all the boys of this county who had returned were given a formal reception at the skating rink. The hall was beautifully decorated with banners and emblems and the best orators of the county were present. Of the eighteen soldiers invited the following only were able to attend : J. A. Wells, Charles
147
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
Winders, D. L. Murphy, William Dunlap, J. E. Mardock, William David, and Benjamin Mitchell. N. H. Guthrie was toastmaster. The following were the responses: "Our Honored Guests"-Rev. A. M. Stocking; "The Soldiers of '61"-Col. W. A. Lorimer; "The Soldiers of '98"-Charles Winders; "Effects of the Spanish-Ameri- can War"-Judge J. H. Connell; "Loyal Women of America"- Judge J. M. Wilson. Several of the boys were yet in the field.
As early as June, 1898, the Woman's Relief Corps and the Grand Army of the Republic of Aledo raised $20 for the relief of the Mercer County boys already in the service. Of this sum $10 was set apart for lemons and ice for the sick in the camp hospitals. This money was sent to Company C, Sixth Regiment. The Relief Corps of Aledo continued to do good and needed service while the war lasted, so far as it was permitted and able to do so. On November 17, 1898, the convention of the Woman's Relief Corps of the Tenth Congressional District met in Aledo under the care of Warren Shedd Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and the Relief Corps. On this occasion Warren Shedd Post gave a check to cover all the expenses of the banquet and reception tendered the returned soldiers on No- vember 3d. Mrs. Tillie Gregory delivered the welcoming address to the convention delegates. Mrs. Abbie Morey, district president, presided. The report of the Warren Shedd Relief Corps showed that the following expenditures had been made: Garments dis- tributed, $112.40; meals, $2 ; vegetables, fruits, etc., $3.20; delicacies, $5.95; cash, $3.95; muslin and thread, 40 cents ; hospital goods, $75; lemons and ice for the sick, $10; flag fund, $1 ; room in Anderson- ville College, $1 ; floral tributes, $4; total, $218.90.
After the Civil war the old soldiers almost instinctively began to assemble annually to talk over the stirring and dangerous scenes through which they had passed. Soon annual reunions of the various separate commands were held as the years passed, and a little later Decoration Day came to be a permanent and loved observance, in which not only the old soldiers participated, but the younger genera- tions took part with full appreciation of the heroism of their fathers. The orations on that sacred day, the file of old soldiers growing rapidly less, the grassy graves where sleep the brave men, the flowers and flags and the inspiration that fires the hearts of all beholders cannot be treasured too highly in view of the permanent land of liberty and law now enjoyed by all.
CHAPTER IX POLITICAL PARTIES IN MERCER COUNTY
Owing to the loss of some of the early records, or to the fact that they cannot be found now, it is difficult to determine accurately who were all of the officers from the organization of the county until the Constitution of 1848 was adopted. But it is very evident that at the time the county was organized the majority of the people were of the whig party, and that most, if not all, of the early officers were whigs.
Among the early officers and those first elected were Abraham Miller, Ephraim Gilmore, William Drury, three whigs. Subse- quently, William Drury and then James S. Thompson were clerks of the Circuit Court; Hiram W. Thornton, recorder; Silas Drury, Erastus Dennison, Abraham Thompson and A. B. Sheriff, sheriffs of the county, all of whom were whigs. Albert P. Taylor and Joseph Lloyd were, respectively, sheriffs of the county and were democrats. After the adoption of the Constitution of 1848 Benjamin D. Elliott, a whig, was elected sheriff of the county. The county was repre- sented in the General Assembly of the state these earlier years by Ephraim Gilmore, a whig, for different years, and by Dr. Thomas Willits, of New Boston, and Reuben H. Spicer, of Keithsburg, demo- crats. In 1852 James Garner was elected sheriff, succeeded by James H. Lynn in 1854, who was succeeded by Benijah Lloyd, Jr., in 1856, all democrats. Lewis W. Thompson, a whig, served as clerk of the Circuit Court for a short period in 1848, and after the adoption of the Constitution of 1848, Thomas B. Cabeen, a democrat, was elected clerk of the Circuit Court, and by the Constitution of 1848 the clerk of the court was ex officio recorder. Cabeen was succeeded by Alex- ander McArthur, and Alexander McArthur by William McManus, and William McManus by Samuel A. Nelson, who is the present incumbent, all of whom are republicans.
In 1858 James MI. Mannon was elected sheriff of the county, succeeded in 1860 by Samuelson H. Rodgers. Then came, in 1862, Oliver A. Bridgford, in 1864 John P. Clay, in 1866 Charles Barry, in 1868 William O. Dungan and Noah H. Guthrie and Joshua Brown, all of whom were republicans. J. M. Warwick, John S. Vol. I-10
149
150
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
Paxton, J. A. Cummins, all republicans, held the office of sheriff for two terms, not successive terms, however. Richard Graham, Cyrus A. Dryden, Reid Thomlinson, A. V. Larrance, F. M. Baker and C. A. Hickok, all republicans, have held the sheriff office since.
The judges of the County Court in the earlier years were not lawyers. Ephraim Gilmore, a whig, served for several terms; I. N. Hardy, William I. Nevius, Sr., whigs, each served for a term prior to 1848. William M. Hays, a whig, was elected in 1853 and served until 1857, when J. D. Matlock, a democrat, was elected and served out only a part of the term, and Henry Hoglan, a republican, was elected to succeed him for the unexpired term. In 1861 J. E. Griffin, a democrat, was elected and was succeeded by John R. Bassett, a republican. Then came Joshua Bruner, a republican; Thomas Likely, a democrat; John R. Bassett, a republican ; James M. Wilson, a republican; James H. Connell, a republican; William T. Church, republican, and Henry E. Burgess, republican, the present in- cumbent.
John S. Thompson, a whig, was elected clerk of the County Court after the adoption of the Constitution of 1848; in 1855 he was elected judge of the Circuit Court, as a republican, and Harvey S. Senter was appointed for the unexpired term of one year; John Ramsey was elected for the succeeding term and served for several terms, and was succeeded by Samuel C. Amberson, both republicans ; Samuel C. Amberson was succeeded by Charles F. Durston. Then came Charles Worden, republican; James S. Sexton, Henry E. Burgess, John W. Dilley, Fred Hendrickson, and Frank Gibson, the present incumbent, all of whom were republicans.
As to the office of treasurer, John Gilmore, a democrat, held it in the earlier years for one year; Harvey S. Senter, a whig, held it from 1853 to 1855; Isaac N. Bassett, a republican, from 1855 to 1859; General Shedd, a democrat, from 1859 to 1861; Mathew Sheriff, a democrat, from 1861 to 1863; Wilfred J. Ungles, a republi- can, from 1863 to 1865; Isaac N. Dunlap, a republican, from 1865 to 1869; William N. Graham, from 1869 until 1871 ; Daniel T. Hinde- man, republican, from 1871 to 1875, and all of the persons who have filled the office of treasurer from that time until the present have been republicans, S. S. Johnston being the present incumbent.
The state's attorneys since 1848 were William C. Goudy, who re- signed, and Alfred N. Craig, who afterwards became one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the state, and was elected to fill out the unex- pired term, and both were democrats. James H. Stewart, a republi- can, succeeded Craig, and the state's attorney's office from that time
151
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
until the present has been filled by a republican, John M. Wilson being the present incumbent.
The offices of coroner and county surveyor have never been con- sidered political places, but the most of the time both have been filled by republicans since that party has been organized. William B. Frew held the office of county surveyor for many more years than any other person, and was a very scientific, competent surveyor. The office is now ably filled by Robert L. Watson; and the office of coroner by Dr. A. N. Mackey.
In the last election in 1912 on the vote for President of the United States, the progressive republicans had a plurality of over four hundred, but in all presidential elections, commencing with 1856, the county gave the republican candidate a great majority; and the congressman from the district was for a large majority of the years a republican. Benjamin F. Marsh, of Hancock County, and James Mckinney, of Mercer County, both republicans, served for a greater length of time than any other. The present incumbent, Mr. Taven- ner, is a democrat.
Commencing with 1855, after the formation of the republican party, the county has been republican in the elections, except in 1861, when a majority of the democratic ticket was elected; and in 1877 when a majority of the candidates on the ticket opposed to the republican party, denominated as greenback or people's ticket. In the judicial election for Guy C. Scott in 1903 for justice of the Supreme Court, Mercer County gave him, a democrat, an over- whelming majority, and it did the same thing for George A. Cooke, a democrat, in 1909 and 1912, but his majority was not as great as Guy C. Scott's.
From the adoption of the Constitution of 1848 until 1870 the county was represented in the General Assembly by whigs first and by republicans subsequently until the adoption of the Constitution of 1870; Judge Ephraim Gilmore was elected for several different years as representative. Subsequent to the adoption of the Constitu- tion of 1870 the district with which Mercer County was connected has been strongly republican, but by the provision for accumulated vote there has usually been from the district one democrat sent to the Legislature, and on a few occasions the senator from the district was a democrat.
In the earlier times after the organization of the county, Hiram W. Thornton, a whig, was elected to the Legislature, and at the same time Judge Thomas Drummond, afterwards judge of the United States Circuit Court at Chicago, was elected from the Galena dis-
152
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
trict, and he and Mr. Thornton were great personal friends from that time until the death of the judge.
No special matters have arisen in the Legislature at any time that excited any great and absorbing interest in Mercer County. Perhaps the greatest interest manifested was in the two elections in regard to the county seat, removing it first from Millersburg to Keithsburg, and subsequently from Keithsburg to Aledo. In the latter election there was a bitter contest throughout the county, Keithsburg strug- gling to retain the honor, and, strange to say, Millersburg strongly supporting Keithsburg, while New Boston strongly favored Aledo. Keithsburg, it seems, has never felt right over that contest. How- ever, it has had a fair share of the county offices, that is, William A. Lorimer and William McManus, as clerks of the Circuit Court; Cyrus A. Dryden, sheriff; Mathew Sheriff and Wilford J. Ungles, treasurers of the county; also Charles Worden and Fred Hendrick- son, clerks of the County Court.
The republican party was formed in Mercer County in the State of Illinois, commencing in Mercer County in 1854 and over the state in 1858. This account of the formation of the republican party was prepared by I. N. Bassett for "Hill's History of Mercer County" in 1882, and the same is inserted here as being a correct statement.
Prior to the passage of what is known as the "Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854," Mercer County was a whig county in politics. The democratic party was in a minority of some two or three hundred. The anti-slavery feeling was strong in both of the old parties, and there were quite a number of voters who were abolitionists or free- soilers, and who would vote for the abolition or free-soil candidates when an opportunity occurred; but the most of these, in all except presidential elections, voted and acted with the other political parties.
When the "Kansas-Nebraska Act" was passed in May, 1854, it created such an excitement and alarm that a large number of the people of both of the old parties were ready to unite with the free- soilers and abolitionists in the formation of a new party, to resist the aggressive policy of the pro-slavery party, which controlled the two dominant political parties of the United States. Meetings were called as early as June 9, 1854, in two at least of the townships of the county, and resolutions passed in opposition to the "Kansas-Nebraska Act," and calling for a united effort of all persons opposed to the extension of slavery in the territories, to form a political party to stay the aggressive pro-slavery legislation.
153
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
Leading citizens of the county conferred with each other, and a convention of all persons in the county, of all political parties, who were opposed to the "Kansas-Nebraska Act" and the extension of slavery in the territories, was called to meet at Millersburg for the purpose of organizing a new political anti-slavery party.
The convention assembled in Millersburg pursuant to the call, in the summer of 1854, and was represented by delegates from all parts of the county and from all of the old political parties. John Collins, an old settler, and lifelong democrat, was elected president of the convention. A committee of nine was appointed to draft resolutions and articles of organization. The committee was com- posed of Judge E. Gilmore, a whig, and an old resident of the county, who had filled many important offices, and who is now (1882) resid- ing in Aledo; James H. Reed, a whig, who was afterward successively editor of the Oquawka Plaindealer, the Aledo Weekly Record and the Monmouth Atlas and who died in Monmouth; L. W. Myers, an abolitionist, then a young man, who is now and has been for a number of years editor of the Wapello Republican, Iowa; Isaac N. Bassett, a whig, who is still living, a lawyer in Aledo; John W. Miles, a whig, afterward quartermaster of the Seventeenth Regiment Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, who died in 1863; Harvey S. Senter, a whig, who filled various offices in the county and has since died in Aledo; Tyler Mic- Whorter, a democrat, now ( 1882) resident near Aledo; Samuel Mil- ler, an abolitionist, who has been dead several years; J. R. Whitham, abolitionist, now (1882) residing near Aledo.
There was an animated controversy in the committee room, and at one time it seemed impossible for the committee to agree; but finally resolutions and a platform were agreed upon that was satis- factory to all and a unanimous report was made to the convention, which was adopted, and the organization of the republican party of Mercer County was completed. The exact date of this convention cannot now be ascertained, but it is believed to have been the first county convention of the kind held in the state.
There had not at least been any convention called for a similar purpose in any of the adjoining counties, and Mercer County is properly entitled to the credit of being the pioneer county in the formation of the republican party. The greater part of the whigs in the county approved of the platform and at once became active members of the new party. Some of the political leaders in the whig party, however, approved the formation of the new party. John S. Thompson and Lewis S. Thompson (both lawyers, and one clerk of the County Court in Keithsburg), were at first violently opposed
154
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
to the new party organization, but another year gave the party such recognition throughout the state and United States that they, with other opponents, ceased their opposition and became warm supporters of the party. The abolitionists and free-soilers, with a considerable number of the democrats, were incorporated into the new party, which was, from the commencement, strong in numbers.
From that time until the present, Mercer County has been a republican county and has elected republican officers except as here- inafter shown. The republican party thus organized in 1854 held several meetings the next year for the purpose of strengthening the organization and settling upon a definite policy. The first was held at Millersburg on March 19, 1855, and in the call all men who were opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill were asked to be present. It was announced that J. Codding would be present to address the con- vention. There were nearly two hundred voters present. Mr. Cod- ding delivered a telling speech and immediately thereafter the party was duly and formally organized as it had been the year before and the following central committee was appointed: J. W. Miles, E. Stafford, J. P. Boyd, H. Hoagland and D. Jones. J. W. Jones and L. W. Myers were appointed delegates to the State Republican Con- vention. William Hays, Samuel Miller, D. Willits, Tyler Mc- Whorter, J. R. Whitham, Horace Greenman and H. H. Roberts were appointed delegates to the Congressional Convention. J. W. Dihel, E. Stafford, A. Prouty, Joshua Bruner, J. H. Trego and J. P. Boyd were appointed delegates to the State Republican Convention. Mr. Codding spoke at Jacksonville early in July, 1855, to an immense assemblage of republicans gathered from this portion of the state. Many citizens of Mercer County were present to learn more of the new party. Ohio and Pennsylvania were examples for the republi- cans of Mercer County to follow in their republicanism. In those states, whigs, know-nothings, locofocos and any other element op- posed to the Kansas-Nebraska program joined the party there and likewise in this county. At first the term anti-Nebraska was applied to the new party, but a little later the term republican was adopted and became permanent. The republicans held another convention at Millersburg on October 31, 1855, there being present delegates from every township in the county. By this time the party was firmly grounded here and in a short time had political control of the county.
The result of the election of June, 1855, was : For supreme judge: E. S. Leland, 625; J. C. Caton, 499; clerk Supreme Court: J. P. Root, 680; S. S. Leland, 348; circuit judge: John S. Thompson,
155
PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
782; Ivory Quimby, 409; for prohibition, 713; against prohibition, 483.
In March, 1856, Mr. Codding again appeared in the county and spoke at several schoolhouses in the leading villages. His addresses were clear, plain, logical and brought out clearly the measures laid down in the platform that had been adopted by the republican con- vention at Pittsburg. The republicans this year nominated for governor W. H. Bissell, and the democrats nominated W. A. Richardson. At the local election in May, 1856, Keithsburg gave the democratic ticket fifteen majority, and New Boston the republi- can ticket eighty-five majority.
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.