USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Past and present of Mercer County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 7
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Under the new superintendent the expenses of the poor farm ran much higher than ever before, while the income from the place de- preciated. There was much complaint. It was shown that during
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
the year 1870 about twenty-seven hundred dollars was paid out. It was also claimed by a faction that the office of county school super- intendent was a useless burden upon the taxpayers and should be abolished. At the March session, 1871, the board ordered that each township should be liable for the payment of all temporary relief to paupers or poor persons within its borders, but added that per- manently disabled persons might be removed to the county farm. The next day this order was rescinded on the ground that the county board had no authority to enforce it. They appropriated $30 to pay the expenses of William Evans, a disabled soldier, to Chicago, to attend the Eye and Ear Infirmary located there. It must be stated to the credit of the county board and to the county as a whole that the old soldiers were not permitted to suffer if their wants were made known to the public. In several instances at first they were treated like paupers, but this order of affairs was soon changed and the old soldiers were given the just treatment to which they were entitled.
At this time the board resolved that, whereas the physicians of this community had formed a society or combination to establish certain rates and charges in practice, and had determined that the county board should pay them at certain rates for doctoring poor persons, all claims and charges thereafter presented for payment for provisions, clothing or any other thing, including medicine, medical attendance supplied to paupers or poor persons should not be allowed in whole nor in part unless authorized by the proper supervisor and unless accompanied by proper evidence and unless itemized and sworn to.
At the April term, 1865, of the Circuit Court, the grand jury found twenty-five new indictments, and for the first time in the his- tory of the county, several persons were indicted and punished for stealing timber. Four indictments were found for this offense and three convictions were had. Two indictments for larceny were found. John Volentine was indicted for the murder of Mrs. Collison. There were fifteen indictments for liquor selling. There was one case of assault with a deadly weapon.
At the September term, 1865, the county board appointed com- missioners to survey, locate and establish the line between Mercer and Henderson counties, the same not being definitely known nor marked. At the same time they made provision for the better care of soldiers' families, requiring each supervisor to report any cases of want from that source within his district.
In 1865 the amount of tax collected for the military fund was $5,100; the real and personal tax for general county purposes was
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
$11,901. The total receipts were $16,619.38; the total expenses were $15,343.24. Among the expense items were $3,621.80 paid out of the military fund; $1,102.10 paid for the support of the poor farm and house; $2,700 paid to John Dellett for an addition to the poor farm.
In the summer of 1866 the county board appropriated $1,500 each for two bridges over Edwards River in New Boston Township. Counsel at this time were employed to look after the claims of the county to the old courthouse at Keithsburg. At the December ses- sion (1866) of the county board the provisions of the act approved February 16, 1865, to provide for a board of health for each town- ship in all counties which had adopted township organizations, were accepted and steps to effect such organizations were taken. The board appropriated $200 to defray the expense of certain suits in the Supreme Court of the United States. A bounty of $10 for wolf scalps was ordered paid. The county board in March, 1867, directed their attorney, John C. Pepper, to settle with the persons who had subscribed money for the erection of county buildings by taking notes payable to the county board on or before January 1, 1868. If they should refuse to thus settle they were to be sued for the amounts. The judgment which had been secured against Willits and Thomp- son on such subscription was excepted from the provisions of the resolution. The chairman of the board was authorized to employ an attorney at once to institute proceedings to recover possession of the old courthouse at Keithsburg. In June, 1867, a special com- mittee on county buildings reported it advisable to proceed to the erection of a county jail as soon as practicable without oppression to the citizens of the county and recommended that plans be procured. W. M. Hays, Joseph McCoy and John T. McGinnis were appointed a committee to carry into effect these recommendations.
The jail committee reported in January in favor of a stone build- ing and their report met the approval of the board. Accordingly the committee called for proposals to build the structure and offered a reward for the best plans. The committee were given full authority to carry on the work. The contract was finally awarded to B. F. Morey and Van Harriott at the stated price of $22,000. By September 1, 1868, the foundation of the building was completed. It was planned it would be finished before winter set in, but storms came on earlier than expected and work was suspended until the fol- lowing spring. Work was resumed in April, 1869, and the jail com- mittee in June were authorized by the county board to borrow on behalf of the county funds sufficient to comply with the contract
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
entered into by the committee with the contractors. The terms were $5,000 to be paid in advance ; $5,000 on July 1 ; $5,000 on October 1; and $7,000 when the jail was completed to the satisfaction of the building committee. The building was fully completed by January 1, 1870.
Early in 1869 the old courthouse at Keithsburg was offered for sale by the county board at public auction. This led to some com- plications, whereupon the board consented to accept the proposition of the attorney of the Keithsburg holders to sell the property and divide equally the proceeds between the claimants there and Mercer County after paying all costs. C. M. Kay was attorney for the county board in this transaction and J. C. Pepper was attorney for the Town of Keithsburg. Block 7, Keithsburg, upon which the courthouse stood, was finally sold, the president and trustees of the Town of Keithsburg being the purchasers and the price being $1,000, of which $500 was turned over to them, $167 being cash. They obligated themselves to pay the county $333 at 10 per cent interest in one year. Thus the matter which had been in dispute for so many years was finally settled.
Beginning about 1868 and continuing for many years, numerous ditches were dug in all parts of the county for the better drainage of the lower tracts of land. W. H. White was one of the men who made this his special business for many years. Usually the ditches were dug about four and a half feet deep and thousands of acres of choice land were thus reclaimed. Better roads were constructed in the 'zos than had been used before in the county. New ones were laid out, old bridges were torn down and iron or steel structures erected and improvements were made generally to the roads and high- ways.
The final report on the county jail was made in September, 1870. It was a combined jail and jailer's house, and the total cost of all buildings and appurtenances was $23,573.46. The first payment of $5,000 had been borrowed from William Drury and at a later date was paid.
The vote on the new state constitution in Mercer County, July, 1870, was as follows: For the constitution, 938; against it, 230; for the railroad section, 1,119; against it, 46; for the article entitled "Counties," 1,135; against it, 30; for the article entitled "Ware- house," 990; against it, 91; for a three-fifths vote to remove county seats, 1,019; against it, 147; for the section relating to "Illinois Central Railroad," 1,155; against it, 13; for minority representation, 358;
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
against it, 810; for the section relating to municipal subscriptions to railroad and private corporations, 1,061; against it, 104; for the section relating to the canal, 1, 149; against it, 24.
In 1870 the question of continuing the township organization was again submitted to the people, with the following result :
FOR TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION
AGAINST TOWNSHIP
TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION
North Henderson
154
0
Rivoli
143
O
Richland Grove.
188
O
Suez
117
5
Greene
157
6
Preemption
117
2
Ohio Grove
91
6
Mercer
278
18
Perryton (did not vote)
O
O
Abington
100
5
Millersburg
88
15
Duncan (no returns )
O
0
Keithsburg
280
14
New Boston
20
219
Eliza
I26
5
Total
1,809
295
At the December term (1870) of the county board it was ordered that the supervisors in the several townships should give all disabled soldiers under their charge whatever necessaries of life their wants might require without sending them to the county house. Five supervisors voted against this measure. The salary of the sheriff was fixed at $1,000 and $300 for clerk hire ; and the salary of coroner was fixed at $100 per annum. At this session Judge Arthur A. Smith and B. C. Taliaferro, Amos F. Waterman, B. F. Brock, McCoy & Clokey, Pepper and Wilson and James Henderson, attorneys, petitioned the county board to supply the Circuit Court with the following comforts and accommodations : A new chair for the judge; new tables for members of the bar; procure the missing volumes of the Illinois Reports and provide a place in the court room for the safe keeping of the books during terms of court. These improve- ments were desired before the opening of the next term of court.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
The petition was referred to the committee on county property. Preliminary steps to safeguard the county records from fire were taken at this meeting.
In 1871 a special committee of the county board recommended the construction at an early date of a good fireproof building for the safe keeping of the county records. There was paid out for the support of paupers in 1869, $3,055.60; in 1870, $2,252.42; in 1871, $1,235.41. This decrease was caused by the fight made against the large amount that had been previously paid for the support of paupers. The county board cut down the expenses enormously from 1868 to 1871.
In June, 1872, the board offered $50 reward for horse thieves if the property stolen was in Mercer County and if a conviction was secured. Each supervisor was authorized to employ a doctor com- petent to take care of paupers in his district. In July, 1872, the board determined to erect fireproof buildings for the preservation of the county records. George P. Graham, J. A. Streeter and R. H. Day were appointed a committee to erect such buildings. They authorized the chairman of the county board and the county clerk to issue $15,000 in county bonds with which to raise funds sufficient for the purpose. The committee were authorized to select the grounds also. This building was duly erected and proved satis- factory. In 1874 the total county assessment was $8,491,938.
The '70s were noted for the large amount done by the county board on public highways, also for the reform made in the methods of assessment and taxation. The board of equalization did a great work in making uniform the assessments and rates of taxation. In 1878 the board contracted with the Aledo Banner, Aledo Record, Keithsburg News and Nationalist to publish their proceedings and allow each the sum of $6. At this time the county board leased to private persons the right to fish in Swan and Eliza lakes in the western part of the county. A committee of the county board in December, 1879, reported that the lakes in New Boston were owned by the Government.
In 1877-8 John W. Dihel was superintendent of the poor farm. At that time there were twenty-five inmates. Mr. Dihel, while in charge of the poor house, punished one of the inmates by whipping. The county board asked him to resign, the vote standing nine to four in favor of his dismissal. The result was the resignation of Mr. Dihel. His successor was J. M. Willis, who was paid a salary of $500 and took charge in 1880.
COURTHOUSE. ALEDO
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
In July, 1880, the county board passed a resolution requesting B. F. Marsh, congressman, to introduce a bill in Congress praying the General Government to grant to the corporate authorities of Mercer County for public use certain waters known as Eliza Lake and adjacent bayous, unsurveyed, situated in Mercer County. The county board in September, 1880, resolved that, inasmuch as the old county farm was not suitable for the purposes for which it was used, a committee should be appointed to learn what the old farm could be sold for and to consider and report on the subject of buying a new farm. Township bonded debts, 1880: Abington, $10,000; Greene, $1,900; Keithsburg, $35,000; Mercer, $7,700; City of New Boston, $30,000; Perryton, $2,600. The following amounts had been paid by 1880: Eliza, $5,000; Greene, $7,500; Millersburg, $92,000; Mercer, $4,300; New Boston, $10,000; Perryton, $3,200.
During the 'Sos the usual routine of the county board continued. Roads were looked after, paupers were taken care of, the assessment was reviewed and bonds of county officers were placed at higher figures. Early in the '8os a new courthouse was demanded, but the people were not ready and the movement died out. The county board even went so far in 1882 as to send a committee to other counties to inspect courthouses, with a view of erecting one at a cost of about sixty thousand dollars. There was much trouble at first in the dif- ferent townships over the question of how much each township should pay on the large steel bridges that were being built over the water courses. The county board took the position that the township should pay all the expense. Suits were accordingly instituted by New Boston and Keithsburg townships for a mandamus to compel the county board to pay half the cost of erecting such bridges. The attorneys for the county board took the position that inasmuch as the townships had commenced the bridges and incurred the obligation before asking the county board for assistance that they alone should be required to pay all expenses. The cases were taken to the upper courts and resulted in the success of the townships, whereupon the board paid its share of the expense.
The Bay Island Drainage District project was set on foot late in the '8os. In 1890 Judge J. H. Connell was empowered to select a jury of twelve to ascertain the cost of the work. Each owner of land adjoining was required to pay in proportion to the benefits he received. The project for a new courthouse was again taken up in 1890. The grand jury had investigated the subject and had reported that the conditions were so bad that the construction of a new build-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
ing was imperative. The assessed value of the county property at that time was $5,639,056. It was shown that the county indebtedness was so small that the board could well afford to construct a new courthouse. However, the board, before doing so, asked a subscrip- tion of $10,000 from the citizens of Aledo to be applied toward the purchase of grounds or the construction of the buildings. The amount actually subscribed by the people of Aledo was $12,292. Keithsburg offered to raise $25,000 and furnish a site for the buildings if the courthouse and county seat were removed to that town. The offer was not considered by the county board. Plans were prepared by M. E. Bell, of Chicago, and the contract for building the court- house was awarded to L. Leach & Son. Considerable controversy arose as to the site of the new courthouse. The following tracts were proposed : By E. L. Wolff, called the Aledo House Block; a block on the north side, proposed by I. N. Bassett. In the end the Aledo House Block was chosen and the structure was erected thereon. The contract price was $49,996, but in the end the building and grounds cost a little over sixty thousand. In addition L. Leach & Son secured the contract for the construction of the boiler house for the courthouse at $2,189; also the contract for plumbing and electric fixtures, $5,400, and the contract for wiring at $387. Detwiler Brothers secured the contract for the heating apparatus, the amount being $4,393.
C. F. Sturdevant was the first superintendent of construction, but upon his resignation H. R. Ellett, of Keithsburg, was appointed in his place. The cornerstone of the new courthouse was laid April 19, 1894, but without ceremony. There were present about seventy- five to one hundred people, including several ladies. At the May term, 1894, the county board formally appropriated $60,000 for the new courthouse and for the block upon which it was to stand. They made arrangements to pay this amount in four annual installments of $15,000 each.
Late in the 'gos many iron bridges were built throughout the county, several in Eliza, New Boston, Ohio Grove and other town- ships. Grading became a fad at this time and everywhere could be seen the split log drag in operation. Almost every neighborhood secured graders in order to better improve their highways. In 1896 the personal property of the county was valued at $7,784,780; the realty at $17,574,010; city lots at $2,662,695. In 1895 Mr. Zentmire was county farm superintendent, at a salary of $700 a year.
MERCER COUNTY FARM AND HOME
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
In recent years the good roads project has taken possession of the people with the result that now nearly all roads are more or less graded and some of them are in excellent condition. The bridges will compare favorably with those of any other county in the state. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on highways and on splendid bridges which span the large streams. A Good Roads Con- vention was held in Aledo in 1899 and steps to still further improve the conditions of the highways were taken. The county taxation in 1900 amounted to $160,572.30. In 1901 the county board paid out in about four months $195 for wolf scalps-six old animals and forty- five whelps. In 1901 the new poor house was projected and in the end built. The estimated cost at first was $25,000. The plans of J. Grant Beadle, architect, of Galesburg, were accepted. Harney Brothers were the contractors at $24,906. The total cost in the end was about thirty thousand dollars. The building is a credit to the county and a cut of the same appears in this work. It is made to accommodate sixty patients, heated with hot water, has two wings and a central structure, is fireproof, has dumb waiters and is built of pressed brick, with stone trimmings. In recent years electricity has been added as a lighting medium.
In 1906 the Bay Island Drainage and Levee District was set off and constructed at a large cost, much of the expense being borne by those whose lands were benefited. The total cost was estimated at two hundred and forty-five thousand dollars and the entire ditch was connected with one from Rock Island County, the two forming a long line, reclaiming 20,000 acres, valued at $2,000,000. At that time Congress passed an act declaring Sturgeon Bay not navigable. This bill was introduced by Hon. James McKinney. The Bay Island drainage excavation was divided into seven sections and was an immense undertaking. R. H. Roberts, D. S. Prentiss and M. F. Prouty were the commissioners to superintend the work.
In 1908-9, during nine months, over one thousand dollars was paid as bounty for groundhog and crow scalps. Several hundred dollars were paid at that time for wolf scalps. The latter animal seemed to be increasing rapidly in the county. A little later the bounty was increased. In the spring of 1908 the county voted to build a new jail, the vote standing nine to five in favor of the project. Three sites were considered: First, the Taliaferro property west of the courthouse; second, B. F. Tudor's place east of the courthouse ; third, A. A. Rice's residence property. The county board decided upon the Taliaferro property, which was purchased at a cost of $2,500. Harney Brothers secured the contract at $28,874. Det-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
wiler Brothers supplied the heating plant and Bolton Brothers the electric wiring. The total cost in the end was about thirty thousand dollars.
The Keithsburg Drainage District, an important improvement, was projected a few years ago. Also the project to reclaim 12,000 acres on Edwards River, extending from Preemption Township down as far as Keithsburg.
From February, 1911, to February, 1912, seventy-one wolves were killed in this county, of which fifty-one were whelps. The bounty was increased to $12 for old ones and to $5 for young ones.
CHAPTER VII RAILROADS, ELECTRIC ROADS, ETC.
The old line of travel prior to the railroad transportation through the state of Illinois was by stage and wagons, and a great deal of travelling was done by persons riding horseback. The stage roads across the state of Illinois missed Mercer County ; there being a stage route to Rock Island on the north and one to Oquawka on the south, and when the railroads were constructed the first lines followed the main stage routes; so that Rock Island had the first railroad from Chicago to the Mississippi River, north of Alton. The Peoria and Oquawka Railroad was constructed from Peoria through Galesburg to Burlington on the south of Mercer County. The first railroad projected to pass through Mercer County was the Western Air Line Railroad which was to extend from Forth Wayne through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa to Council Bluffs, and connect at Fort Wayne with the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad Company, and that would give a connection over the Pennsylvania Railroad to Phila- delphia. The Western Air Line Railroad which was organized and work done on it as hereinafter shown, was sold out by the trustee on one bond of $1,000 to John S. Thompson and others. Then the name was changed to the American Central Railroad, and the subscriptions by townships and individuals for 1859 were to the American Central Railroad. In the re-organization of the railroad to the American Central, the capital stock of the road from Galva to New Boston was $2,000,000, about two hundred thousand dollars of that was taken in Henry and Mercer counties by individual and township subscriptions, and the subscribers received stock to the amount of their subscriptions, both as to the municipal and individual subscriptions, paying dollar for dollar for the stock that they received. The purchasers, John S. Thompson and others, issued stock to themselves then for about one million eight hundred thousand dollars which would cost them about one thousand dollars in bonds and the cost of sale, etc., added. Thus all of the work that had been done on the Western Air Line Railway went over to the American Central Railroad. After the road was built from Galva to New Boston it was leased to the Chicago Bur-
81
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MERCER COUNTY
lington & Quincy Railroad Company, which had indorsed the bonds of the railroad about eight hundred thousand dollars, that were issued for the construction of the road. And subsequently after operating the road for a number of years under its lease, the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy bought up the majority of the outside stock, and finally merged the road into the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy System.
The next road projected through Mercer County was the Warsaw & Rockford Railroad Company, which however was never con- structed through Mercer County. It was to pass through Keithsburg and cross the American Central about one mile or more east of Joy, and through Millersburg to Rock Island, and from there to the rapids at Port Byron, and on to Rockford. The only part of that railroad that was constructed was the portion between Moline Junction and Port Byron, which now is a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul System.
The next railroad projected through Mercer County was the Rock Island, Alton & St. Louis Railroad Company, and it was finally con- structed from Alton to Rock Island, and from Rock Island to Sterling, and passed through the southeast corner of Suez Township and entirely through North Henderson Township from west to east, into Rio Township in Knox County, and from north to Barstow Junction, twelve miles east of Rock Island, and then through Moline on to Rock Island. Another branch of said St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Railroad Company was constructed from Gladstone on the main line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, up through Oquawka to Keithsburg, a distance of eighteen miles, and operated for several years. This line was intended to connect to the south with the main line of the road and to be extended north to the point opposite Mus- catine, Iowa. The railroad however passed into the receivers hands and was sold to the bond holders, and subsequently the main and branch lines were all purchased by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and now are a part of that system. There was then a short link between Keithsburg and Arpee Junction, a point some three miles east of New Boston, chartered and organized by the Dixon & Quincy Railroad Company which was immediately leased by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and subsequently purchased by that road, and is now a part of the Burlington System. There was then a railroad projected east through Mercer County from Keiths- burg, known as the Keithsburg & Eastern Railroad Company, and considerable work was done upon the line from private and municipal
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