USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Past and present of Mercer County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 28
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sion of the lower court, and held that the law was constitutional. This follows the ruling in several other states in which it was held that under the police power of the state, such statute was constitutional. The Illinois court in citing the latter case referred to the case decided in the 155 Ill., and cited the distinction in the wording of the former one prohibiting the employment for more than eight hours in the twenty-four hours, and the latter case prohibiting the employment for more than ten hours out of the twenty-four hours. Justice Hand, who wrote the opinion of the case, quoted with approbation what the Supreme Court of the United States had said, to wit : "Law is or ought to be a progressive science." There are many persons now both in the Legislature and in political conventions advocating a change of the Constitution, not only of the State of Illinois, but of the United States, giving women the right to vote upon all questions the same as is given to men.
The people of Mercer County were not, as will be seen, active participants in most of the foregoing matters, but they were affected by such matters, and took an interest in the proceedings of the courts in this and other states, and the growth and development of the law in favor of the enlargement of women's rights. Prior to the Civil war there were no avocations open to women in Mercer County, except the drudgery of housekeeping and manufacturing to a certain extent the cloth and garments for the family. Clerks and book- keepers and salesmen in stores were confined entirely to the men and teachers in the common schools were largely composed of men, being not more than one-tenth women. When the Civil war commenced the avocations were open to women as clerks, accountants, sales- women, and largely as teachers in the common schools. They volun- tarily also did much work on the farms and in other places that had been done by the men before they went into the army. After the close of the war the women continued in these avocations and as teachers in the common school. The order in which they stood to the other sex has changed, there being now only one male teacher to nine of women in the common schools, and women are found everywhere in the mercantile houses and other business places as accountants, cashiers and saleswomen, and in addition to that they are more numerous as stenographers than the other sex. They have thus been enabled to receive better pay for their services, and because of their employment in these vocations have become more independ- ent. They do not receive, as a general thing, as much wage for their work as is given to the men who perform like services. It is alleged, however, that the reason that they do not receive as much for the
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same services as men, is on account of their physical and sexual constitutions. They are not able to endure as severe labor as the men, and they do not become as perfect and reliable in the per- formance of their work, as a general rule, as the other sex, because they cease to follow these vocations when they become married women, while the men, on the other hand, continue the same voca- tion after marriage and thereby become more proficient. But by reason of the employment to these avocations, women have become far more intelligent and independent and much better prepared to struggle with life than formerly.
CHAPTER XIII
TEMPERANCE
The people of Mercer County were generally temperate, but there was no great temperance movement in the early settlement of the county. There was a temperance organization in New Boston in the early '50s, William Drury and Elmore J. Dennison, two prominent merchants, being members thereof, and in the latter part of 1852 or 1853, I. N. Bassett became a member of that organization. There was also an organization in Keithsburg, "The Sons of Temperance," of the "Good Templars," and among the members in that organization was John S. Thompson. No doubt there were other organizations in the county. There was no saloon selling whisky or intoxicants in New Boston in 1852, but doubtless the drug stores were selling it, but in 1853 and 1854 William Becket opened a saloon in New Boston and continued the same for several years in violation of the law. He was an aggressive saloon man and defied the public opinion and sold liquors to everybody that he could entice into his saloon to buy. When suit was commenced against him, he would contest the same energetically and would pay his fines, his profits being sufficient to enable him to pay several fines during the year and still make money in his business. Finally however the prosecutions were so vigorous that he surrendered and left the place. New Boston would have saloons however from time to time, after it was incorporated under the laws of the state until about eight or ten years ago when it suc- ceeded in getting an anti-license council, but some two years later a license board was elected and thereupon granted licenses to three persons, and they each erected a cement building in the city and opened a saloon. About two years later there was an anti-license board elected and the saloons closed, and New Boston has been a dry town ever since, and the buildings have been sold and each are occupied for other purposes.
Keithsburg in the early years had open saloons. Dan Keith was among those who sold liquors in violation of the law in the early '50s, and there was no term of court for quite a number of years but there were two or three indictments against Dan Keith. He was doing such a thriving business that he could afford to pay a
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considerable number of fines and the expense of litigation, but his death finally put an end to the saloon business. Patrick T. Hughes also about 1855 or 1856 opened a saloon in Keithsburg and continued selling in violation of law for a number of years. He was indicted also at several terms of court for selling whisky and fined. How- ever the saloon men were frequently victorious in their suits. The witnesses often had bad memories and juries were not so ready in those days to find a verdict against a liquor seller as they are now. The temperance movement in the county was active in very many other places and especially so in Aledo. In 1856 and 1857 when Aledo was first settled it was strongly temperance and has continued to be strong as will be shown hereafter. In the fall of 1857 at the first term of the Circuit Court held in Aledo after the removal of the county seat from Keithsburg, Dan Keith came to Aledo and put up a large tent and with a large supply of liquors commenced the sale of the same. His tent disappeared the first night and Mother Earth drank up all his liquors. Keith bundled up his effects that were left and returned to Keithsburg. The temperance movement continued for the most of the time in many places of the county for a number of years.
The Civil war coming on checked the movement, but imme- diately thereafter temperance workers appeared and the Good Templars' organizations became more active at all the principal centers of population in Mercer County. On May 16, 1867. the Good Templars of Mercer and adjoining counties met in convention at Aledo and called to the chair A. Y. Green, grand worthy marshal. The following lodges were represented: Aledo, No. 849; General Sherman, No. 848; General Grant, No. 946; Viola, No. 914; Friend- ship, No. 862; Beulah, No. 950; and Everett, number unknown. Among the delegates were L. L. Troy, A. Shaw, Mary McCandless, Mrs. S. A. Hasbrook, Rev. J. J. Fleharty, J. A. Forsythe, Jennie Garrett, Kate Ward, Mrs. A. McBride, Libbie Gould, Mrs. E. Welliver, and Mr. Allen. Many questions of importance to the order were discussed. A permanent county organization was deter- mined upon and a charter from the grand lodge was ordered. It was determined to hold the next meeting at Berlin, where there was a strong organization of the order. The officers elected for the ensu- ing year were: Rev. J. S. Poage, W. C. T .; Miss Libbie Gould, W. V. T .; Lewis L. Troy, W. R. S .; A. Shaw, W. F. S .; Mrs. Samantha Harriott, W. T .; J. A. Forsythe, W. M .; Rev. J. J. Fle- harty, W. C .; J. H. Southwell, W. A. S .; Miss Lou A. Spicer, W. D. M .; Miss Emma Girton, W. I. G .; Mrs. S. A. Hasbrook, R. H.
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S .; Miss Marcella David, L. H. S .; Thomas Baldwin, P. W. C. T. Strong temperance resolutions were adopted. A. Y. Green, Mr. Camp and Mr. Allen from the grand lodge were present.
A big temperance meeting was held at Viola, May 30, 1867, to consider ways and means to promote the cause in that place. J. S. Cooper served as chairman and W. N. Harriott, as secretary. W. Patterson, Leander Tidball and J. A. Forsythe were appointed com- mittee on resolutions. James M. Walker, N. H. Pond, William Patterson, Mrs. Dora Southwell and Miss Julia Perkins were appointed to prepare a pledge for the association that was to be formed. Several spirited speeches were made and the organization was effected. The name adopted was Viola Total Abstinence Society and Anti-Whisky League; the object was to promote total abstinence and suppress the sale of intoxicants. The pledge adopted was strong, covering all alcoholic, spirituous or malt liquors, wine or cider as a beverage; but it was provided that nothing in the pledge should be so construed as to conflict with any duty as citizens or Christians. The latter was evidently meant to cover the use of wine at the Lord's Supper.
It was at this time that the villages began to divide on the ques- tion of license or no license. At Keithsburg, New Boston, Aledo, Millersburg, Viola and perhaps elsewhere, the temperance question began to cut an important figure. At Aledo the temperance people were determined to root out the few saloons here and accordingly placed in the field a temperance ticket. At this time, in 1869, there were two saloons in the village conducted by Messrs. Bamer and Summers. The object was to suppress the sale of liquor in the town. The saloon under the Button House was conducted by Mr. Sum- mers, who repeatedly violated the existing law, whereupon the town constable, Underwood, was sent to his place of business with a war- rant to effect his arrest. Mr. Summers resisted, drew his revolver on the officer and a scuffle ensued, during which several other persons interfered and prevented anything serious. Mr. Summers was arrested and bound over to court in the sum of $500. He was also arrested on a warrant from Underwood on the charge of assault with intent to kill. This event occurred in January, 1870.
The temperance ticket managed to win but probably by the slen- derest majority in the history of the county. The following was the vote of the temperance ticket: J. S. Pinkerton, 68; R. Mentzer, 69; H. R. Morrison, 69; A. J. Holmes, 68; I .. N. Dunlap, 69. License ticket: Jacob Cool, 67; S. W. McCoy, 67; Joseph Haney, 68; S. Button, 68; T. Irvin, 69. Thus three out of the four trustees
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elected were opposed to license. There was a toss up between the others as to who should be elected. In the end the temperance ticket won. At the same time a similar contest was held in New Boston, Keithsburg, Viola and perhaps elsewhere in the county.
Again in 1871 the question at Aledo was license or no license. The temperance people had during the previous two or three years controlled the sale of liquor through the election of no license trustees. Previous to that time the village indebtedness was about four hundred dollars, but during that period the no license board had managed to pay off all the debt except thirty-two dollars, notwith- standing the obliteration of the income from licensed liquor shops. Not only that, but the village board had improved the sidewalks and streets and had advanced the village in temperance ideas to an unusual degree. In 1871 Rufus Mentzer, Nicholas Edwards, Thomas Maddux, Hugh L. Thompson and John Geiger were the trustees. They had been elected on the no license ticket. The majority in their favor, however, averaged only about ten or fifteen, showing that the liquor element was strong in Aledo. It was successful in Keithsburg and undoubtedly was in New Boston. During these few years it was noted that almost every vote in the village was polled either for or against the temperance movement.
In the spring of 1872 the Legislature passed a new temperance law, which went into effect on July Ist of that year. Ratification meetings were held in various parts of the county as soon as this law was signed by the governor. The meeting in Aledo was held in Professor Henderson's schoolroom and was attended by all the tem- perance people of the village. This law made liquor sellers respon- sible for the damage done by reason of their sales. Many suits resulted as will be seen in the following pages. In the summer of 1872 Reverend Doctor Ross held temperance meetings in five or six of the leading villages of the county-Aledo, Viola, New Boston and at several of the country schoolhouses. The ratification meeting in Aledo was held April 2, 1872, N. Edwards, chairman; H. Bige- low, secretary. The committee on resolutions were Reverends War- ner. Poage and Spurlock. Resolutions strongly in favor of prohibi- tion were passed by this meeting. The senators and representatives were ready to oppose to the bitter end the repeal of the existing and recently passed temperance law. The liquor element was making a strenuous attempt to kill this law. In the end the repeal measure in the house was laid on the table by the decisive vote of 98 to 30.
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At the Aledo meeting the following preamble and resolutions were passed :
"Whereas, We have noted with alarm the increase of intemper- ance during the past few years among the people of this state coming in upon us like a flood with its baneful influence, corrupting the youth, despoiling the fair fame of the gifted and noble, destroying homes that were otherwise happy, robbing a host of innocent vic- tims, not only of the comforts of life, and causing immeasurable suffering, sorrow and woe; therefore, it is by us the citizens of Aledo in mass convention assembled
"Resolved, That we hail with satisfaction as the dawning of better days, the effort of our Legislature to check this cruel tide and hereby declare our hearty approval of the temperance law by them enacted, as a measure of expediency, justice and humanity.
"Resolved, That, abating nothing from the drunkard's criminality in his voluntary drinking to drunkenness, we regard the principle made central in this law, that the vendor of ardent spirits, like any other man engaged in an occupation attended with danger to the community, should be held responsible for the damages caused by his traffic, as eminently just
"Resolved, That the giving to the hitherto defenseless, whom both the drunkard and the drunkard maker have trampled upon with impunity, the power of self-defense as does this law, is approved by every sense of what is right, chivalrous and humane.
"Resolved, That ceasing not our efforts at reform by moral suasion and recognizing ever the fact that a state of virtue cannot be brought about by legislation alone, we will stand by the law so long as it stands and as far as belongs to us will seek its due enforcement.
"Resolved, That our hearty thanks be given to the Legislature for their wise, patriotic act."
Remarks on the resolutions were made by Rev. M. Spurlock, Rev. P. F. Warner, Rev. J. D. Taylor, N. Edwards and John Geiger. They were then passed without a dissenting voice.
It was in March, 1872, that there was passed by the Legislature the bill "to secure all persons freedom in the selection of an occupa- tion, profession or employment." This measure was directly signed by the governor and gave women the right to occupy any office in the state.
In 1873 the liquor question again came prominently before the villages of this county. B. F. Brock, state's attorney, made repeated investigations, but the liquor sellers were so sly and adroit that it was difficult for him to secure sufficient evidence to convict. It was
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declared at Aledo that a compact existed between the village board and the one saloonkeeper who still held forth. Mr. Brock asked the village authorities to repeal the local liquor ordinance in order to enable him to conduct prosecutions under the state law. The board chosen seem to have complied with his request. Five cases against M. R. Good were decided against him, whereupon he appealed, but in the end the cases were dismissed at his costs. Two cases from New Boston were appealed to the Circuit Court in 1873. One was the state vs. Ferguson, who was fined $170 for selling liquor to an habitual drunkard. The other was the case of Olive Dobbins vs. Ferguson, the latter being fined $130 for damages resulting from the sale of liquor to her father. These cases were decided in the Circuit Court against the liquor seller.
A large temperance meeting was held in Collegiate Hall, Aledo, in August, 1873. It was called by a score of ladies who began an- other movement for the suppression of drunkenness in the village. It was at this time, 1873, that another temperance reform movement swept the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. An immense convention in New York started the wave. Among the ladies in the temperance movement and in the movement for woman's suffrage were Louisa M. Alcott, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Lydia Maria Childs, Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone and other prominent suffrage and temperance workers. This was probably the most aggressive and successful temperance wave that swept the United States. The wave reached Aledo in the latter part of 1873, but did not take effective form until the spring of 1874. Temporary meetings had been held, but late in March the women of the county were prepared to take aggressive and unusual steps. The women of Aledo met at the Methodist Episcopal Church in the afternoon, organized and proceeded in a body, forty-six of them, to the saloon of Mr. Berris- ford, on Seventh Street, and drew up before his door. He cordially invited them in and then turned the key in order to prevent inter- ruption from outsiders. The ladies appealed to him to forsake the liquor traffic, but he politely refused. They then asked permission to sing and pray in the saloon, which request he granted, whereupon they spent a half hour there singing and praying. Upon their de- parture he invited them to call again, which they promised they would do. They then went to the saloon of Mr. Severin. He had anticipated their coming and had fitted up a large sign in front of his place of business with the words: "Prayer meeting at 2:30." Though not quite on time they held the meeting just the same and were invited inside the saloon. They appealed to him to forsake the sale, but he also refused and showed more opposition or spirit
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than had been manifested by Mr. Berrisford. He told them he had ยท been raised to think his business right and proper, that he paid his taxes, was permitted by the authorities to sell, had done much for the improvement of Aledo and did not care to suffer the loss which the closing of the business would entail. He stated to the ladies that many of his permanent customers were members of the churches which the ladies attended. He said, "Reform my customers and you reform me." Upon their departure the ladies reassembled at the Methodist Church and prepared for further movements to pre- vent the sale of liquor in this village. On the following Saturday they again visited the saloons, held their services and were courteously treated. It was evident that the ladies had made a strong impres- sion on the saloonkeepers, because there was less opposition and a spirit of submission was manifested. This whole community was awakened as never before. On Sunday all the churches took up the question and many praying and singing temperance services were held and pledges were circulated and signed by over five hundred persons to abstain further from the use of spirituous or malt liquors as a beverage. On Sunday afternoon a temperance massmeeting was held at the Presbyterian Church, on which occasion the following resolution was passed :
"Resolved, That we, the citizens of Aledo and vicinity, do hereby pledge ourselves that if Mr. Severin and Mr. Berrisford will give up their present business of selling intoxicating liquors, we will to the extent of our influence assist them to enter upon any lawful busi- ness they may wish to engage in."
The next day the ladies again visited the saloons, but without definite results. During the entire week they kept up the visits in the churches and in the saloons. On Thursday both saloonkeepers appeared with their families at the Methodist Church. Being called upon for remarks, Mr. Severin stated that his building had cost much to fit up as a saloon and that if they would pay him $400, the cost of his equipment, he would quit the business. This put the sub- ject squarely before the meeting, whereupon a committee was ap- pointed to value his fixtures and reach a definite conclusion. The next week began with meetings even stronger than those that had gone before. Frequently as high as 600 people were present at these temperance massmeetings. Mrs. I. N. Dunlap was president of the ladies' temperance society at this time. She presided at an immense massmeeting held on Thursday this week. Mr. Severin appeared, as did the committee, with their report. Being called upon he said that he had decided to quit the business forever. This caused Vol. 1-19
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an outburst of applause that made the welkin ring. The meeting raised $300 by subscription to reimburse the old board of trustees, who had been fined for making false imprisonment of one of the saloonkeepers. There had yet to be raised $100 more to cover the costs. The ladies visited the Severin saloon and were told by the proprietor that on the following morning he would turn over the stock to them to do with as they pleased. Accordingly they gathered at the saloon, the stock was rolled out in kegs and barrels and all was emptied into the street. On this occasion upwards of one hun- dred in number gathered in front of the building, formed a circle and themselves destroyed seventeen kegs of beer and many bottles of stronger drink. At the same time the church bells of the city rang, the whistles of the flour mill were blown and cheers resounded through the streets. Immediately thereafter the furniture and fix- tures were sold at public auction, there being realized about fifty dollars. Many of the visitors paid fancy prices for the various articles. This event was pronounced at the time to have been the most important that ever occurred in the village.
Mr. Berrisford continued to hold out against the movement, whereupon the meetings at his place of business were continued. At first he absented himself and finally refused them admittance, where- upon they held services on the street in front of his saloon. At the end of a few days he promised he would quit the business at the end of the month. This was the best that could be accomplished, but the society continued its organization and kept up its active work. It occurred that both men continued the business after the election of the license trustees in April. Thus the village authorities in a measure counteracted the good work which had been accomplished by the ladies. The contest for the success of the no license trustees was exciting in the extreme. Both factions were determined, aggres- sive and outspoken. The friends of the liquor movement formed clubs and thus in a measure evaded the law. They had a large membership and plenty of money and did everything in their power to win success and in a measure succeeded. In order to circumvent the law one of the saloonkeepers began selling clothing and the other opened a grocery in connection with their sales of liquor, but the fight continued, and in the end the temperance movement won, so that by the spring of 1875 Aledo was free from saloons for the first time in many years. The only sales of liquor were by druggists. During the previous term of the village board there were sold in this place according to close estimates, 5,000 gallons of beer, which cost the consumers $6,000. In addition large quantities of whisky
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and other intoxicants were sold. During these years New Boston, Keithsburg and Viola had similar experiences. The temperance movement by desperate efforts would manage to elect a temperance board, then a license board would succeed and would pass a license ordinance or repeal a no-license ordinance. Thus the villages of the county for several years were first under the influence of temperance and then under the influence of the liquor element.
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