USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Past and present of Mercer County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 40
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Among the members besides those mentioned at the organization were : Mrs. Joseph McCoy and daughters, Laura and Lizzie; Mrs.
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Fountain and Stand, Monument Park Presbyterian Church VIEWS OF ALEDO
Bird's-eye View
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John Geiger, Mrs. J. H. Connell, Mrs. I. N. Bassett, W. N. Graham and wife, Mrs. Mary McHard, D. H. Hayes, E. L. Larkin and wife, W. C. Galloway and wife, Dr. A. L. Craig and wife, Mrs. Joseph H. Abercrombie, Rev. Mr. Grouse and wife, Rev. Mr. Smith and wife, the Misses Amanda and Matilda Frazier, A. U. Barler, Rev. Mr. Farrar, Alexander McArthur, Andrew Lorimer, Horatio Wells, A. H. Law, O. B. Arthur, P. F. Warner, Archibald Corkin, C. F. Durston and wife, and some others not now remem- bered, among whom were two Congregational ministers, one Metho- dist minister, and a Presbyterian minister. The society existed for some seven or eight years and the attendance would be from twenty to thirty and sometimes more, but on account of the death of several members, and others moving from Aledo, it finally suspended. The society was highly educational and among the women who took an active part in the leading were Mrs. Mary McHard, Mrs. Joseph McCoy and daughter, Laura, and others. The records of the society have been lost, so that all that can be given now is that remembered by the members now in Aledo.
Other questions discussed were: The prohibition question, not only in the temperance aspect, but as to the political party; the license question ; the question as to gold, silver and other money as being the standard of value; and the discussion from time to time of the different religions, especially the Persian, Mohammedan, Brahmatic, Buddhistic, Chinese, besides the Jewish and Christian. In reality there was not any question but what some of the members of this society thought they were able to handle, and frequently the leader was not very well posted, but there was a great deal of excellent information obtained. In fact, there was no better educational insti- tution in Aledo than this club. One very intelligent member of the club remarked that he had learned more in that club than he ever learned in the same given time in any other way; that it caused him to think; that it gave him information that he had never been able to obtain in other ways. Mr. E. L. Larkin, mentioned in connection therewith, was afterwards assistant professor of astronomy in Knox College, and is now and has been for a great many years in charge of the telescope at Mount Lowe, California.
The Columbian Club was organized March 31, 1892, by Mrs. Marcia Louise Gould, of the Illinois Woman's Exposition Board, and was first named the Mercer County World's Columbian Expo- sition Club, but after the great fair at Chicago the name became the Mercer County Woman's Columbian Club. When first organ- ized it included women from all parts of the county and the design Vol. I-26
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was to gather an exhibit in Mercer County and send it to the world's fair. A carved wooden cabinet was built under the instruction of Miss Alice E. Hall, of the Chicago Art Institute. Mrs. Clarence Brock was appointed president of the committee on world's fair ex- hibit. A class was formed, was instructed and was the means of developing local art talent of a high character. A few men belonged to the class. Mrs. Ella Reynolds carved the maple-leaf panel of the cabinet and Mrs. Hortense Moses, the rose panel. Mrs. Lorimer was a special committee to collect historic relics, which were shown in the cabinet in the woman's department of the Illinois building. There were also shown the samples from the strata passed through when drilling the deep well at Aledo-3, 116 feet.
At the close of the world's fair the organization was merged into a study club, which has continued in existence ever since. At first there was no specific line of work, the first studies being history, particularly of the Mississippi Valley. Now there is a printed pro- gram and the studies have been extended to literature, art, science, etc. Meetings were at first held in the homes of the members, but upon completion of the courthouse the club was given a permanent home in the court library room. A course of study for the entire year is now prepared in advance and is studied diligently by the members with great profit and progress. After taking up the regu- lar course of study the first officers were Mrs. Mary F. Byers, presi- dent; Mrs. Theresa Dool, vice president; Mrs. Della Harr, secretary and treasurer. The membership has varied from forty to about sixty. Every progressive and educated lady of the county should be a mem- ber of this highly important club.
More extended mention of the club will be found in the final chapter (Miscellaneous) of this volume.
CHAPTER XIX
KEITHSBURG TOWNSHIP
The second settler of the county was John Vanatta, who located at Keithsburg in May, 1827. He opened a supply yard to furnish wood for the steamboats. A year or two afterwards his brother Benjamin joined him. He had preempted a claim on the southeast quarter of section 22 in 1833. John Bates settled on section 34 and a few years later Isom Lakey located on the same farm. About the spring of 1835 Samuel Vanatta, a brother of John, arrived, but in the fall of the same year all the Vanattas sold out to Robert Keith, a Scotchman, and removed to Muscatine, which was then called Bloomington. In the spring of 1836 Abner Martin built a house on section 13, but sold out the same year to John McH. Wilson. In the same year William and Paul Sheriff settled on section 24. The next year William Sheriff built a sawmill on Pope Creek on sec- tion 23. He built a large dam and at first the mill seemed destined to become very useful, but it was located on quick sand, which undermined the structure and the mill was abandoned and finally rotted down. A. B. Sheriff arrived about 1836 and Matthew Sheriff a year or two later. T. B. Cabeen came about this date. Daniel Justice located on section 1 in 1836; John W. Nevius arrived the next year. William Wilson, the father of John McH. Wilson, arrived in 1836 also and settled on section 13. Bennett Hurst located a claim on section 2. Joel A. Hall, a millwright, arrived in 1838 and established a farm on section 13. In 1837 Benjamin F. Gruwell built a home on section 1. Later he kept a hotel in Keithsburg. Joseph J. Wordin arrived in 1837. Rev. James Ross reached the township about 1841. James Garner arrived about 1842 and started a small store at Keithsburg. He sold whisky and merchandise and was one of the first business men of the village. Robert Keith was the founder of Keithsburg. The place at first was nothing but a woodyard for the steamboats and was known as such, apparently not having any other name. In the spring of 1835 it became known as Keith's Landing. In July, 1837, Hiram Hardie, deputy county surveyor, laid off the Town of Keithsburg on sec- tion 23. The original plat shows Main and Washington streets east
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and west and crossed by First, Second, Third, etc., streets. In all thirteen blocks were surveyed and the first sale of lots occurred in July, 1837. They brought from twenty to sixty dollars each, but the place could hardly yet be called a village. The landing made it what it was and not any stores or shops. Garner sold out in 1839 to David Bower and moved out on section 25. In 1847 he returned and opened a hotel, was justice of the peace and sheriff. Bower went to Rock Island. A Frenchman named Rochelle arrived early in the '40s, and with a small quantity of goods brought up on a steamboat, started a store. Omy Brothers succeeded to this store. In 1842 Zephaniah Wade arrived and located on section 14 and the following year Nicholas Edwards settled on section 5 at the mouth of Edwards River. The previous year William Willett and Josiah Brown built a sawmill on the river, but in 1843 Willett sold his interest to Brown. In 1837 a Mr. Gavitt established a claim about a mile below the landing at Keithsburg and immediately laid off a small tract, which he named Columbia City. It was located on a high plateau and was the site of an old Indian encampment where yet could be seen the fields used in growing corn and vege- tables by the Indians. Numerous evidences of their presence were shown, among which were pits of ashes and a few wigwam poles or bark of houses. This plat was not recorded and Columbia City. amounted to nothing. The claim passed to Alexander Davis. In 1837 Bluff postoffice was established at the house of Frederick Frick in Abington Township. Keithsburg mail came there until 1846. The village amounted to very little until about 1846. Another early settler in the township was Rousy Bower, who arrived about 1834. He occupied a small house on the river bank and was employed by the Vanattas in chopping wood for the steamboats. Jesse Mount ar- rived about 1835.
Keithsburg became the county seat in 1847 and thereafter was a pretentious and promising place. However, the settlement of the township was still in progress. A body of farmers in 1844 formed an organization and endeavored to build a warehouse in Keithsburg for the storing and handling of grain. In those years the farmers back on the river brought their grain to river points because it could there be shipped to the large markets. Robert Keith assisted in this warehouse movement and contributed several lots upon which to erect the building. William Willett succeeded in getting title to the property soon after the frame was up and Col. J. B. Patterson, of Oquawka, secured an interest therein about the time it was finished. Patterson soon after this opened a store in the Keith Building and
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with him was associated Booth Nettleton. They sold dry goods and groceries on Washington Street. Patterson really came to Keiths- burg in 1845 for permanent residence, although he still had a home in Oquawka. His location at Keithsburg was for business purposes. His firm immediately began to buy large quantities of produce, grain, etc., from the farmers, and in turn they sold enormous quan- tities of store goods to the farmers back from the river for many miles. They had a large establishment here, including one frame house, one log house and three cabins. His trade in 1845 was 3,690 bushels of wheat, 512 barrels flour and 2,250 bushels corn. Patterson himself had other interests and left after a year or two and the management of the concern passed to Noble & Gayle, who built a one-story frame store on Main and Second streets and a large ware- house on Lot 10. In 1848 they erected a brick packing house and at that time McConaha & Rife established a combined saloon and gro- cery. In 1848 also Jonathan Juda established a store. He was a Jew and a successful merchant. In 1848 also Wilford J. Ungles established a store on Washington Street and built a large warehouse in 1855, at which time he had become very prosperous. Seth Red- man built a brick business block about 1855. Before it was finished he sold to Dr. A. B. Campbell. In 1849 McConaha & Rife dis- solved, the latter engaging in the grocery business, but later added dry goods. Still later he put up a brick building. In 1848 T. B. Cabeen built the brick block on Main and Second streets. It was a three-story structure, his family occupying the upper stories. Below Miss E. Smith kept a store. She had come from New Boston and was a successful business woman.
In 1858 R. H. Spicer & Company seem to have succeeded Miss Smith, although she was eventually a member of the concern. The location of the county seat at Keithsburg in 1847 gave it a great boom, and numerous shops and business houses of all kinds were started. In a few years Keithsburg was one of the most active and prominent of the smaller places on the Upper Mississippi. In consideration of the location there of the county seat, Mr. Keith gave half of the land of the first addition to the county authorities. It was officially laid out in January, 1848, and the division was made by giving the county and Mr. Keith the choice of alternate blocks. The county blocks were subdivided into lots and sold or used for county building purposes. Mr. Keith was a saving and close-fisted Scotchman who believed that the village was destined to become a great city. Accord- ingly he refused to sell his lots except occasionally. The first court was held in Willett's Warehouse, which was used for many other pub-
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lic purposes. Finally the courthouse was built on Block 7 and finished in 1851. It was a good building, though low, and looked more like a schoolhouse than a courthouse. It was a one-story brick structure, about 40x50 feet. Late in the '40s William Willett began exten- sively buying grain from the farmers of the back country. He had associated with him Mr. McConaha for a short time, but in 1850 the latter went to California, whereupon Willett and Doughty formed a partnership and continued business. In 1851 they established a store or grain trading station at New Boston. Mr. Doughty was left in charge of the establishment at New Boston. A little later A. B. Sheriff became associated with Willett & Doughty, but in 1852 Doughty sold out to the other two. The firm was then Sheriff & Willett, who continued to do a large and successful business until 1864, when Willett retired just in time to save himself from the decline of prices at the close of the war. Mr. Sheriff was swamped and lost much of his property. The building they had occupied was used as a grain storage warehouse until 1875. It was occupied by Phelps & Brewer for a short time before it was burned.
It would be difficult to describe the importance and activities of Keithsburg from 1847 to 1856. The trade on the river, the landing of steamboats, the arrival of goods from St. Louis and other cities, the cargoes of molasses and sugar which came from New Orleans and Memphis, the river men who often made Keithsburg their stopping point, the immense amount of grain that poured in for shipment of: the river, the wood, the ferry, the pork-packing, all combined to make the city one of prominence and one in which it was a pleasure to live. In October, 1850, Colonel Patterson published the Oquawka Spectator and connected with it a department called the Keithsburg Observer, which occupied the third page, with James W. Doughty as the Keithsburg editor. This paper served to advertise extensively the little city. In 1850 the Calhoun House was built by John Moore. Its proprietor was H. G. Calhoun, who a little later changed the name to Keithsburg House and rented it to J. B. McConaha. About this time numerous societies and lodges were started here. The Sons of Temperance organized about 1850 and two years later the Daugh- ters of Temperance established a lodge. A debating society was founded in 1850 and was patronized by Robert Keith, John C. Pepper, B. C. Taliaferro, N. C. Adams, R. C. Cabeen, O. C. Allen, Dr. E. L. Marshall and others. Many public questions of that day were debated by these men and others. James A. Noble started his slaughter and packing house in 1850, and at the same time Mr. Gayle built a new warehouse. Mr. Noble started a drug store in 1851.
MAIN STREET. 1875, KEITHSBURG
BAKERY
MAIN STREET, 1911, KEITHSBURG
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That was the year when the river was higher than it had ever been before since the first settlement. Water stood from four to seven feet deep on the streets of Keithsburg. By May 29th the water was up as high as Fifth Street. In later years the streets have been graded to a higher level so that the river does not make the encroachment that it formerly did. The flood of 1851 continued high until about the IIth of June and for several weeks all merchants placed their goods in the second stories or conveyed them to higher grounds. The river was from seven to ten miles wide and was a sight to be seen. Rafts and boats ran in the streets. The flood did not subside until about the 20th of June. The other big floods in early times were in 1828 and 1844.
On July 15, 1852, Keithsburg was incorporated as a town, and on the 26th of the same month elected officials as follows: Trustees, William Willett, J. J. Wordin, T. B. Cabeen, Alexander Davis and N. B. Partridge. These men put the town machinery in operation.
Early in the '50s William Gayle built a steam sawmill on Pope Creek at the railroad bridge, but soon afterwards sold it to John H. Marshall & Company, who in 1856 transformed it into a flour mill, which became widely known as the Ogden Mills, but after a few years' success it was destroyed by fire. The second steam sawmill was built by Ender & Eckley at the foot of Van Buren Street. It likewise was burned down and another was built, but did not prove successful. William D. Smith had possession of it. It was moved to Jackson Street, near Eighth, and was conducted as a saw and planing mill combined. In 1857 the third steam sawmill was put up for the Warsaw & Rockford Railroad, on John E. Willits' land. Thousands of ties were sawed there for the railroad company. The mill was moved to Keithsburg in 1857, but was later torn down. The fourth steam sawmill was built on the site of Ender & Eckley's old mill about 1865. It was the largest in the county at the time, employed about thirty-five men and continued until about 1872. In 1864 James C. Stevens built a grist mill on Eighth Street near Main. It was dismantled in 1877, not having proven wholly suc- cessful. In 1868 the elevator, flour mills and the Rife warehouse buildings were burned down. Keithsburg was unlucky because of many fires in early years which destroyed its best business establish- ments. In 1855 a distillery was built on the river bv Mathews & Richardson. The following year they sold to William Gayle. Benjamin Phelps became the owner in 1857 but sold to Mr. Picker- ing. Others owned and conducted this property. It was finally burned in 1872, and at that time was owned by Mason & Crosley,
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of Chicago. In 1880 C. A. & L. L. Morse conducted a saw and planing mill in the first addition of Keithsburg.
In 1853 the ferryboat, Dave, owned by Seth H. Redman, ran daily between Keithsburg and Huron and Prairie Point. This ferry was operated by horse power. Three years later the steam ferryboat Iowa was started and conducted for many years by Mr. Redman.
In 1853 Mr. Gayle built a 2-story packing house and began doing a large business in that line. From 1850 to 1856 several additions were laid out to the town, among which were Keith's Second, Sheriff's and Cabeen's. At this time it was one of the best produce markets north of St. Louis. Teams came here from a distance of thirty-five miles. In February, 1854, on one day, there arrived here 250 teams from the country distant from the river. Eighty remained over night, because they could not get back the same day. At that time Gayle & Company and the Noble Brothers were packers. The first con- siderable packing here was done in 1846-7 by Noble & Gayle. Gore & Gamble were prosperous merchants in 1854. They also did con- siderable packing, continuing until the time of the war. In 1855 William Gayle & Company, A. Rife, Sheriff & Willett, B. P. Frick & Company, Gore & Gamble and P. T. Hughes were storekeepers and produce dealers in the town. Several were packers. Goods were usually sold to farmers on a year's time. The merchants bought their goods twice a year-spring and autumn-and the stock they were often compelled to carry over the winter was enormous. Nearly all of the merchants, particularly Gayle & Rife, advanced large sums of money to the farmers, taking a mortgage on their crops. In fact they did almost a banking business, dealing largely in commercial paper of various kinds. They bought grain, hogs, cattle, and in this way secured the trade of the farmers. This custom was prac- ticed extensively in the West in early years by the merchants who had the means. Such merchants would secure all the farmers' products and in return would supply them with all the store goods they needed. In fact the merchants did everything wanted done by the farmers, but in the end secured pay for this service.
From October 1, 1850, to October 1, 1851, the grain shipped from Keithsburg was as follows : Wheat, corn, oats and rye, 169,366 bushels. In addition immense quantities of meat and other products, such as potatoes, hides, etc., were purchased and shipped. The same year 4071/2 tons of merchandise were received here and distributed to the farmers. On February 24, 1852, 3, 176 bushels of grain were received. The receipts for the week ending February 28 of the same year were over twenty thousand bushels. During the packing season of 1854-5,
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6,852 hogs were slaughtered by William Gayle & Company; 4,790 by Rife & Company; 1,064 by J. A. Noble, and 853 by W. H. Ungles. From May 10 to June 14, 1856, there were shipped from Keithsburg 48,231 pieces of bulk pork, 374 barrels pork, 75 casks ham, 344 sacks hair and 250 sacks of potatoes. From May 10 to October 11, 1856, the grain taken from this port by the steamboats amounted to 270,727 bushels. During two weeks ending October 11, 1856, William Gayle & Company shipped 16,162 sacks grain; A. Rife, 10,284 sacks grain; B. P. Frick & Company, 3,536 sacks; W. H. Ungles, 7,018 sacks; and Sheriff & Willett, 2,054 sacks. The total receipts at Keithsburg from the opening of navigation in 1881 to the opening of navigation in 1882 was 550,000 bushels of grain. There was a vast difference between this sum and that which had been taken in by Thomas B. Cabeen back in 1842. He is said to have made the first shipment of grain from this port.
In 1855 Mr. Gayle erected a building which became the Larue House, but about the same time Mr. Gruwell opened a hotel which was conducted by H. G. Calhoun. The following year the Central House, built first for a residence, was opened and a little later was changed to the Beardsley House.
The third addition to Keithsburg, the Mechanic's, was laid out in June, 1854, by J. B. Stockton. A. B. Sheriff laid out another in November, 1855. Others were laid out in 1857, 1862 and 1863. Upper Keithsburg was surveyed on section 13 by C. S. Richey for Mr. Tyler and T. B. Cabeen. Larue was the first blacksmith and James Eaton the second. Thomas Hendricks, O. C. Allen and a Mr. Pierce were also early blacksmiths. William Brewer had a cooper shop early. Isaiah Willits came to the township in 1835, but returned to Henderson County in 1838. He came back in 1857 and became a merchant. Four years later he went on a farm, but in 1873 returned and engaged in business in Keithsburg. Benjamin D. Ellett came to the county in 1838. He was a lumber merchant at Keiths- burg. Paul Sheriff arrived in 1836. In 1837 Benjamin F. Gruwell came to the township and located on the Jack Harris place. Later, as above stated, he kept the Calhoun House in Keithsburg. Oliver P. Emerson arrived in 1839 and David Pardee came here during the war, but had previously settled in Viola Township. Martin Wirt arrived about 1840, as did Joseph Wade. Benjamin L. Hardin and W. S. Calhoun arrived in the early '40s. The latter was a carpenter and cooper by trade. He clerked for Noble & Gayle for a while and later for Abraham Rife. He owned eighty acres near the town and was justice of the peace and deputy county recorder. Jacob Wolfe
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arrived in 1844. At this time there was an abundance of wild game along the river and it was the exception not to see a man with some kind of fur cap with the tail of the animal hanging down his back. Many farmers carried their guns with them everywhere they went. Joseph Venable was early in Keithsburg. He made wagons, car- riages and sold farm machinery. In the early '7os Kate Noble was postmistress at Keithsburg. The first stock of dry goods brought to the town by Noble & Gayle came from Louisville and was first landed at Oquawka, but the following spring was divided and a portion sent to Keithsburg, where Mr. Noble for a time held forth alone. Early in the '50s R. H. Alvis took Noble's place in this concern and about the same time B. F. Wilson secured a small interest in the concern. He continued until the crash of 1857, when Gayle failed with assets greater than his liabilities; but on account of the financial crisis a large portion of his assets could never be collected, and his public store building and warehouse would not sell for half of the amount that it cost to construct them, so that there were very heavy losses. Mr. Gayle made an assignment in 1858 to William L. Ewing & Company at St. Louis, making them his preferred creditors, as he could under the law at that time, and he was largely in debt to the farmers in Mercer County for produce that he had bought during the winter of 1857-8, and those debts were never paid, he going into bankruptcy. This made it remarkably hard for the people in Mercer County, as the farmers relied upon the sale of produce for money to pay their expenses and other indebtedness. Afterwards Mr. Gayle went into business with John Holland and after a few years that firm failed and Mr. Gayle went into bankruptcy again, and subsequently he made quite an amount of money in business and died in very good circumstances.
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