USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Past and present of Mercer County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 4
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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
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
ACT OF CONGRESS, FEB. 3, 1809 2 Stat. at Large, 514
Dividing the Indiana Territory into two separate governments, and establishing the Territory of Illinois .- Michigan was formed January 11, 1805 : 2 Stat. at Large, 309. Wisconsin was formed April 20, 1836: 5 Id. 10.
I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That from and after the first day of March next, all that part of the Indiana Terri- tory which lies west of the Wabash River, and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash River and Post Vincennes due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Illinois.
ACT OF CONGRESS, APRIL 18, 1818 3 Stat. at Large, 428
Enabling the people of Illinois to form a State Constitution.
I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the in- habitants of the Territory of Illinois be and they are hereby author- ized to form for themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper; and the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union upon the same foot- ing with the original states, in all respects whatever.
2. And be it further enacted, That the said state shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash River; thence up the same, and with the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner of said state; thence east with the line of the same state to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake, to north latitude 42° 30'; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi River; and thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River; and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore, to the beginning: Provided, that the convention hereinafter provided for, when formed, shall ratify the boundaries aforesaid; otherwise they shall be and remain as. now prescribed by the ordi- nance for the government of the territory northwest of the River Ohio: Provided, also, that the said state shall have concurrent juris- diction with the State of Indiana on the Wabash River, so far as said river shall form a common boundary to both, and also concurrent jurisdiction on the Mississippi River, with any state or states to be
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formed west thereof, so far as said river shall form a common boundary to both.
What is now Mercer County may be considered to have been a part of the "County of Illinois," which was established by the Colony of Virginia in 1778. The boundaries of that county were not speci- fied, but the county was to include all of the territory northwest of the Ohio River belonging to the Virginia Colony or likely to belong to it as a result of the Revolution or the expedition of George Rogers Clark in 1778. In 1784 when Virginia surrendered her claims to the Northwest Territory in favor of the general government, the "County of Illinois" came to an end. Nothing further was done until 1787, when Congress sitting under the Articles of Confedera- tion passed an act for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River.
In 1790 the territory was divided into two counties-St. Clair in April, and Knox in June, but neither was made to include what is now Mercer County, which was thus left without government be- cause it had no white inhabitants.
On October 5, 1795, Randolph County was created from the southern part of St. Clair County. The three counties-Knox, St. Clair and Randolph-were east of the Illinois River. Mercer County was a part of neither. In February, 1801, William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana Territory, which had just been cre- ated, enlarged St. Clair County so as to include all of Illinois except a small portion in the southern and southeastern parts of the state and all of Wisconsin and a part of Michigan and Minnesota. It included Mercer County.
By proclamation of Governor Ninian Edwards, September 12, 1812, Madison County was created to include all of the present Illi- nois north of an east and west line along the present Madison County boundary. It thus included Mercer County. No further change was made with Mercer County soil until January 31, 1821, when Pike County was created to embrace all the state north and west of the Illinois River and thus was made to include Mercer. In 1823 Pike County was cut down to all of Illinois west of the Illinois River and south of a line extending from Beardstown west to the Missis- sippi River and to it was attached the territory to the north as far as Rock Island and west of the eastern boundary of the present Mer- cer County. Thus Mercer continued to be connected with Pike County.
In 1825 by a single act ten new counties were created-all north- west of the Illinois River-Calhoun (January 10) and Adams, Han- Vol. I-3
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cock, Henry, Knox, Mercer, Putnam, Schuyler and Warren (Janu- ary 13) and Peoria by a separate act of the same date. Mercer County was named in honor of Gen. Hugh Mercer, a soldier of the Revolution, who was killed at the Battle of Princeton. The act gave to Mercer County its present boundaries and also all of Rock Island County north of Mercer County and west of the eastern boundary of Mercer County extended northward. Mercer County was at- tached to Schuyler County by this act. In 1826 Mercer and Warren counties were attached to Peoria County. In 1827 Mercer County was reduced to its present limits, but as it had not been organized it remained with Warren attached to Peoria County. In February, 1831, Mercer County was attached to Warren and so remained until fully organized. The organization was ordered by the Legislature, January 31, 1835, by the following act:
AN ACT TO ORGANIZE MERCER COUNTY
Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That on the first Monday of April next, between the hours of 8 o'clock in the morning and 7 o'clock in the evening, an election shall be held in the Town of New Boston, at the house of Eli Reynolds, and the house of George Miller, in the County of Mercer, for three county commissioners, one sheriff, and one coroner, for said county, who shall continue in office until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified.
Section 2. That James Irvin, George Piper and Benjamin Vannatta, or any two of them, shall be judges of the election to be held at the Town of New Boston, and George Miller, David Shonce (Shaunce) and Ebenezer Cresswell, or any two of them, shall be judges of the election to be held at the house of George Miller. Said judges shall be authorized to appoint two clerks at each precinct, and said judges and clerks shall be qualified in the same manner as judges and clerks of elections are now required by law, and said elections shall in every respect be conducted in conformity with the election laws of this state.
Section 3. Until the county seat of said County of Mercer shall be located, it shall be the duty of the county commissioners court of said county to procure a suitable house at New Boston, and the several courts shall be held at New Boston until suitable buildings are furnished at the county seat thereinafter to be located, and the said Town of New Boston is hereby declared the temporary seat of said County of Mercer until the same shall be permanently located by law.
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Section 4. Said County of Mercer is hereby declared to be organized, with such corporate powers as belong to other counties in this state.
This act to be in force from and after its passage.
Approved January 31, 1835.
When the war between the United States and Great Britain was impending in 1811, Congress passed an act "for completing the exist- ing military force," and another act "to raise an additional military force," in which it was solemnly promised to give to each non-com- missioned officer and soldier who would volunteer in that service a bounty of 160 acres of land. To carry out this promise in good faith the following act was passed :
(1) That the President of the United States be and is hereby authorized to cause to be surveyed a quantity of the public lands of the United States fit for cultivation not otherwise appropriated and to which the Indian title is extinguished not exceeding in the whole 6,000,000 acres, 2,000,000 to be surveyed in the Territory of Michi- gan, 2,000,000 in the Illinois Territory northwest of the Illinois River, and 2,000,000 in the Territory of Louisiana between the River St. Francis and the River Arkansas. The said lands to be divided into townships and subdivided into sections and quarter sections (each quarter section to contain as near as possible 160 acres), in the manner prescribed by law for surveying and sub-dividing the other public lands of the United States; the same price to be allowed for surveying as is fixed for surveying the other public lands in the same territory. And the lands thus surveyed, with the exception of salt springs and lead mines therein and of quantities of land adjacent thereto as may be reserved for use of the same by the President of the United States, and the section number sixteen in every township to be granted the inhabitants of said township for the use of public schools shall be set apart and reserved for the purpose of satisfying the bounties of 160 acres promised the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the United States, their heirs and legal representatives by an act entitled "an act for completing the existing military estab- lishment," approved the 24th day of December, 1811, and by an act entitled "an act to raise an additional military force," approved this 11th day of January, 1812.
(2) That the secretary of the department of war for the time being shall from time to time issue warrants for the military land bounties to the persons entitled thereto by the two last-mentioned acts, or either of them; provided always that such warrants shall be
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issued only in the names of persons thus entitled and be by them or their representatives applied for within five years after the said per- sons shall have become entitled thereto; and the said warrants shall not be assignable or transferable in any manner whatever.
(3) That every person in whose favor such warrants shall have been issued, shall, on delivery of the same at the office of the secre- tary of the treasury, or of such other officer as may at the time have by law the superintendence of the general land office of the United States at the seat of government, be entitled to draw by lot in such manner as the officer at the head of the land under the direction of the President of the United States may prescribe, one of the quarter sections surveyed by virtue of the first section of this act in either of the said territories, which the person in whose favor such warrant has issued may designate. And the patent shall thereupon be granted to such person for such quarter section without requiring any fee therefor.
(4) That no claim for the military land bounties aforesaid shall be assignable or transferable in any manner whatever until after patent shall have been granted in the manner aforesaid. All sales, mortgages, contracts or agreements of any nature whatever made prior thereto for the purpose or with intent of alienating, pledging or mortgaging of such claim are hereby declared and shall be held null and void; nor shall any tract of the land granted as aforesaid be liable to be taken in execution or sale of any kind, such sale, mort- gage, contract or agreement, or sale of any of the debt contracted prior to the date of the patent, either by the person originally en- titled to the land, or by his heirs or legal representatives, or by virtue of and process, or suit at law, or judgment of the court against the person entitled to receive his patent as aforesaid. Approved May 6, 1812.
After the war was over it was found that the lands in Michigan were not of the quality "fit for cultivation," and for this or some other cause, the following act was passed :
(1) That so much of the "act to provide for designating, sur- veying and granting the military bounty lands," approved the 6th day of May, 1812, as authorizes the President of the United States to cause to be surveyed, 2,000,000 acres of the lands of the United States in the Territory of Michigan, for the purpose of satisfying the bounties of land promised to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the United States be, and the same is hereby repealed ; and, in lieu of the said 2,000,000 acres of land, the President of the United States be and he is hereby authorized to cause to be surveyed
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
the lands of the United States fit for cultivation not otherwise appro- priated, and to which the Indian title is extinguished, 1,500,000 acres in Illinois Territory, and 500,000 acres in Missouri Territory, north of the Missouri River; the said lands shall be divided into townships and be sub-divided into sections and quarter sections (each quarter section to contain as near as possible 160 acres), in the man- ner prescribed by law for surveying and sub-dividing the other lands of the United States; and the lands thus surveyed, with the excep- tion of the salt springs and lead mines therein, and of quantities of lands adjacent thereto as may be reserved for the use of the same by the President of the United States, and the section number sixteen in every township to be granted to the inhabitants of such township for the use of public schools, or according to the provisions of the above recited act, be set apart for the purpose of satisfying the bounties of lands promised to non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the late army of the United States, and their heirs and legal representatives by the act entitled "an act for completing the existing military estab- lishment," approved the 24th day of December, 1811, and by an act entitled "an act to raise an additional military force," approved the IIth day of January, 1812.
(2) That every person in whose favor any warrant for military land bounty is issued, shall be and is hereby authorized to draw by lot one of the quarter sections surveyed, by virtue of this act, and shall obtain a patent therefor in the same manner in every respect as is or shall be provided by law for patents issued for other military land bounties, or as is provided by the act first above recited for patents issued for such lands. Approved April 29, 1816.
This was why and when and how this section of Illinois came to be called the "Military Tract." By this last act it would seem that 3,500,000 acres of land were set apart in Illinois for the soldiers of the War of 1812 so far as needed by them. This tract included all land between the Illinois and the Mississippi, from the mouth of the Illinois northward to an east and west line passing through what is now the northern boundary of Mercer County extended. Not all of the land comprised within those boundaries was military land ; only 3,500,000 acres, and only what was "fit for cultivation." Surveyors were instructed to make the deeds or "patents" to the soldiers for the best quarter sections in the tract.
When settlers came to this section and went to the land office they found that the best lands were already deeded to these soldiers and that nearly all of the tract was vacant or unoccupied. What made it worse, these lands being held under actual deeds, became taxable
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under Federal and state laws in five years after the deeds or patents on parchment were issued. These lands were assessed, and the owners being non-resident and unknown, the tracts were sold for taxes and thus "color of title" was secured by the purchaser at the tax sales. For twenty-five years this section was cursed with specu- lators, not only in these tax titles, but in the original patents. Many of the soldiers holding these "patents," caring little and knowing less of their value, would trade them off for five dollars or any other sum, and sometimes for even a drink of brandy. These speculators ransacked the country to find soldiers or holders of these "patents," or sent out agents to secure them. There were forged and fraudu- lent patents. The "paramount title," or patent in those early days overrode the tax titles and holders of them would pounce on the settler or "squatter" and make him pay whatever the cupidity of the holder of the patent would demand. On account of the numerous forged patents, many settlers were made to pay two and three times in order to perfect their title. Many men are known to have paid three times to pretended holders of these patents. Matters came to such a pass on account of these troubles about "titles" that often there came near being mobs and lynchings. Several acts of the Legislature were passed from 1823 to 1835 to give validity to these tax titles. But none seemed effective till the act of 1839 was passed "to quiet possessions and confirm titles to land," two sections of which are as follows :
Hereafter, whenever a person having color of title made in good faith to vacant and unoccupied land shall after the passage of this act pay all taxes legally assessed therein for seven successive years, he or she shall be deemed and adjudged to be the legal owner of said vacant and unoccupied land to the extent and according to the pur- port of his or her paper title. All persons holding under such tax- paper by purchase, devise or descent, before said seven years shall have expired, and who shall continue to pay the taxes as aforesaid, so as to complete the payment of taxes for the term aforesaid, shall be entitled to the benefit of this section: Provided, however, if any person having better paper title to said vacant and unoccupied land shall during the said term of seven years pay the taxes assessed on said land for any one or more years of such term of seven years, then and in that case such taxpayer, his heirs and assigns shall not be entitled to the benefit of this section.
But even this did not deter the "landsharks." They fought the constitutionality or validity of the act in the courts, but the Supreme Court persistently decided the law valid, till finally a case was
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carried to the United States Supreme Court, about 1849 or 1850, which confirmed the validity of the act. Since 1850 or 1851 there have been no troubles concerning these "military land titles," but the early troubles retarded the settlement of this "tract" for many years.
When the bounty lands were given to the soldiers of the Mexican war, a different plan was adopted. Simple "warrants" for a certain number of acres were issued to the soldier, and he or his assigns could "locate" his warrant anywhere on public land. But on this Illinois military tract every soldier had deeded to him a specific quarter section of land.
CHAPTER IV
GEOLOGY, MINES, TEMPERATURE, ETC.
Mercer County is hilly, with many valleys not only on the larger streams, but on the small creeks. This insures excellent drainage for the whole county, with the single exception of the flat lands along the Mississippi River. The county is well watered. Edwards River enters the county at Township 15 north and takes a course a little to the south of west until it reaches Mannon, where it turns almost directly south and enters the Mississippi a short distance below New Boston. Pope Creek is the next largest stream. It enters the county not far from the line dividing Townships 13 and 14 north and thence flows nearly west but a little south and finally joins the Mis- sissippi at Keithsburg. It has numerous small branches, a few of which have been named. The southern tier of townships is partly drained by North Henderson Creek and its branches. The northern tier, except Eliza Township, is drained by Camp Creek, which has numerous small affluents. Eliza Creek drains the northern portion of Duncan Township and a considerable portion of Eliza. The western part of New Boston and Eliza townships have a number of small streams and lakes which drain that section of the county. The stream known as Edwards River was called by the Indians Chi-kosh- se-poo. In ascertaining the meaning of this term the question was referred to Dr. William Jones, a Sauk Indian, connected with the American Museum of Natural History. He answered as follows : "That part of the word Chi-kosh-se-poo, in the last two syllables, se-poo, means river. It is not certain what Chi-kosh is. It might mean the refuse and dregs, or it might mean onion. The first mean- ing, then, might be an unclean stream or river of dregs or filth. The second meaning might be onion river, that is, wild onion river. This would be my guess." As Edwards River in no sense can be con- sidered an unclean river, it must be inferred that the meaning of the term as applied to this stream was wild onion. It is not known whether Pope Creek was designated by any special Indian name or not.
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Mercer County has about five hundred and fifty square miles and the fourth principal meridian runs along the eastern border. It embraces Townships 13, 14 and 15 north and Ranges 1, 2, 3, 4 and parts of 5 and 6 west. The highest point in the county is in Preemp- tion Township and is 849 feet above the level of the sea. Aledo is 737.8 above the level of the sea.
A large portion of the county was originally prairie. The so- called barrens are along the streams where the water has cut deeply into the drift deposits. The soil generally is a black or chocolate loam with a yellowish or dark brown clay subsoil. That is the soil of the prairie generally. The soil of the barrens is the same, but has a lighter color and is not as deep. On the bluffs the humus and other valuable soil constituents have been largely drained out by the rains and streams and hence the soil there is not as fertile as that of the level prairie. The black soil in some places is covered by the yellowish subsoil which comes near the surface in places on slopes and bluffs. In several places the black soil has been wholly washed away, leaving the subsoil exposed, and this is usually yellow- ish in color. The soil along the Mississippi and at frequent places along Edwards River, Pope Creek and even the smaller streams, is alluvial and very rich in plant food. The Mississippi Valley in this county is from two to five miles wide. There are numerous swamps, lakes and bays cut with ridges of sand and loess.
The first settlers sowed much wheat, which at first returned a large and profitable crop. After a few years it was found that the yield per acre had become greatly reduced ; so much so that the wheat crop was largely abandoned and corn was planted in its stead. At first the farmers did not understand why this should be so, but now it is clear that they exhausted certain vital constituents in the soil needed by wheat, and did not replace the same with compost or any other substance. It is now known that phosphorus and potassium are vital articles in the growth and development of the wheat crop. Hence, if the farmers now will supply the food constituents needed by wheat, they can raise as large crops of wheat as they formerly did. All of the streams in early times were heavily timbered, but now much of it has been removed. There were the following varie- ties: White burr, black, red and laurel oak; red and white elm; blue and white ash; hickory, maple, cherry and occasionally black walnut. In the bottoms were also found locust, sycamore, cotton- wood, box elder, plum, crabapple and occasionally pecan and buckeye. Wild grape vines grew abundantly. In early times the
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excellent water-power on Edwards River and Pope Creek was utilized by numerous sawmills and grist mills erected for the con- venience of the early settlers.
The surface soil of the county embraces the quaternary alluvium loess and drift. The alluvium deposits of greatest extent are in the Mississippi River bottom. This land in New Boston and Eliza townships is much cut up by swamps, lakes and bayous. It is low, but usually rich, and makes excellent meadow and pasture. Through this low land extends a number of sand ridges which have been washed up from time to time by the river. The loess deposit is found on the top of the Mississippi bluffs and varies in thickness from five to forty feet. It is brown or buff in color and is a marl. Fre- quently it contains a considerable quantity of bleached shells from fresh water. The drift deposits cover the entire surface of the county . above the bluffs of the Mississippi. Scattered over the valleys of water courses are the igneous rocks, composed of granite, horn- blende, cyanite, feldspar, quartz, green stone, porphyry, trap and lime- stone. The drift deposits vary from nothing in a few places to over two hundred feet in others. Thus nearly all the soil used by the farmers of Mercer County was brought here by glaciers from distant points to the northward and was dropped or deposited where it now remains when the glacier melted upon reaching the warm climate to the southward. The permanent formations here, then, that were not brought here but were formed here are, first, the Paleozoic for- mations and constitute the coal measures which extend over the entire county above the Mississippi bluffs and embrace various strata of limestone, sandstone, clay, shale and coal, all aggregating the thick- ness ranging from a few feet to approximately two hundred feet; second, limestone to be found at the mouth of Edwards River which has been placed with the Kinderhook group of the Lower Car- boniferous period. Tyler McWhorter thought it was Devonian limestone. It is an important fact that when the deep well, over three thousand feet, was sunk at Aledo it was found that all the older formations, such as Silurian, Devonian and Lower Carboniferous, are beneath the coal measures and perhaps extend over the whole county. The principal groups of the Carboniferous rocks are the St. Louis, Keokuk limestone, Burlington limestone and the Kinder- hook, all of the Lower Carboniferous age. With one exception all the sandstone strata found in the county belong to the coal measures. Many quarries of this stone have been opened and worked in dif- ferent parts of the county and immense quantities have been used for
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