USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > Past and present of Montgomery County, Illinois > Part 57
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
to be surveyed so as to facilitate settlements and guarantee to the purchaser such lands as he selected and paid for. It was at this time that the system of public surveys began. One Thomas Hutchins mapped out the territory along the Ohio and formulated a basis of de- scription that obtains in every farm and village lot in the entire northwest. In 128; Arthur St. Claire, a venerable Revolutionary sollier, re- ceived the appointment of governor of all the country north of the Ohio river, which was designated as the northwest territory. In 1490 the governor. with Winthrop Sargent. secre- tary of the territory, organized the settled por- tions of the illinois country into the county of St. Claire. In 1:95 settlements had so in- creased as to make the organization of a new county necessary and Randolph county was laid out, occupying the territory south of an cast and west line drawn through the settlement of New Design from the Mississippi to the Wabash river, all territory north of this line was St. Claire county, all south of this line was Ran- dolph county. In 1809 Illinois territory was separated from the Indiana territory and Ni- nian Edwards appointed governor. his commis- Fion bearing date April 24, 1809. The seat of government was fixed at Kaskaskia, where it remained until 1820, when it was removed to Vandalia. By act of congress May, 1812, the first grade government, which consisted only of governor and judges, gave way to what was known as the second grade government. Under the first grade government all rounty and town officers had been appointed by the governor, but under the second grade government these officers were to be elected by the people, but the right of suffrage was granted only to tax payers. The counties of Madison. Gallatin and John- son were organized at this time and an election was ordered in each of the five counties, to plect members of the legislative council, seven representatives and one delegate to congress. The first delegate io congress elected by the people was Shadrack Bond. Illinois was in- deed fortunate during the per'od of its early settlement by being comparatively free from the ravages of Indian wars. In this her his- tory is unlike that of Ohio and Indiana, whose story is one of bloody atrocities on the part of
the red men. The immunity which Illinois en- joyed we must accredit to the kindly office of the French priest, whose dominance over the savage tribes inhabiting the territory was al- most absolute. Another reason existed for the protection of the Illinois settler, be- ing further away from Canada than Ohio and Indiana, British gold had not been used so extensively to poison the minds of the Indians against the settler. It had been with feelings of great reluctance that the English had given up the region of the northwest territory that borders on the Great Lakes, and they had hopefully looked forward to a time when they might again come into possession of that very desirable territory. Nor had the British been careful to preserve the treaty stipulations between America and Eng- land, and a state of border warfare had ex- isted from 1789 until 1812, when America for this and other causes felt compelled to issue a second declaration of war against Great Britain. The history of this war does not effect to any great extent the condition of the Illinois set- tler. The part played by the Illinois settlers in the war of 1812 is hardly commendable when reviewed in the light of present historical fact. Unfortunately Governor Edwards leant his in- fluence to the destruction of the French settle- ments along the Illinois river and accordingly with a small force of Kentucky and Illinois rangers under command of General Hopkins and Governor Edwards, the several French set- tlements along the Illinois, including that of Peoria, were destroyed. The French inhabi- tants were made prisoners and transported down the Illinois river to its junction with the Mississippi, where these luckless people were abandoned by their heartless captors on the banks of the Mississippi. The sufferings of these outcasts have been told in the French story books that contain narratives of the ex- periences of the French in the wilds of America. Many of these French people found their way back to their old home, and here amid the ashes they laid the foundations anew of what to-day is the second city in point of population and wealth within the borders of our great. State.
Early in 1818 the territorial legislature pe- titioned congress for admission into the Union,
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as an independent state. Our delegate at that time. Nathanial Pope, by his activity, secured an early recognition of the petition and in De- vember of that year, an act was passed by which the territory of Illinois became a sovereign state. In July, 1818, a convention had been called at Kaskaskia to draft a constitution. Jesse B. Thomas was president and William C. Greenup secretary, and the following are the names of the counties then in existence which were represented in that convention: Ran- dolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnson, Pope. Jack- son. Crawford, Bond, I'nion, Washington and Franklin, being in all, at the time of the ad- mission of the state of Illinois, but eleven or- ganized counties. This constitution was not. submitted to a vote of the people, for by its provisions judges, prosecuting attorneys, county and circuit judges, recorders and justices of the peace were all appointed by the governor or the legislature instead of being elected by the people. In September, 1818, as a result of the first election, under the first constitu- tion, Shadrack Bond was elected as the first governor of the state of Illinois. Pierre Me- nard was elected lieutenant governor and to- gether they were inaugurated October 6. 1818. The seat of government was removed to Van- dalia in 1820, and one among the first acts of the legislature was to create the Illinois State Bank, with a capital of half a million dollars. based on the credit of the state. In 18 ?? Edward Coles sneceeded Bond on the governor- ship and it was in this election that a contest over the question of slavery was finally settled in harmony of the ordinance of 128%. The reader will remember that this ordinance, pre- pared by Jefferson, prohibited slavery in the entire territory of the northwest, of which Illinois was a part. However, slavery had ex- isted in Illinois through various subterfuges until after the election of Governor Coles. This able and uncompromising advocate of freedom doubtless preserved to Illinois the spirit of the ordinance of 1287. Those who advocated slav- ery made a determined effort to have the con- stitution amended so as to provide for the institution of slavery, but in the election which had been called at the behest of the slavery party, the cause of freedom triumphed in a vote
of six thousand six hundred and forty against that of four thousand nine hundred and sey- enty-two in favor of slavery. To Governor Coles more than to any other man is due this signal victory which placed Illinois for all time in the column of free states. When General La Fayette was visiting America in 1825, by in- vitation, he became the guest of Governor Cokes at Vandalia. This signal recognition of the Illinois people cemented a friendship between the French and the American settler. Ninian Edwards was elected governor to succeed Gov- ernor Coles, and during his administration of four years we find but little that would interest the student of history, save that the finances of the state were much improved during his term. John Reynolds, in 1830, was elected gov- ernor, and it was during his administration that the war commonly known as Black Hawk's war occurred. The Hawks and Fox Indians had occupied the territory between the Rock and Mississippi rivers, but by treaty, in 1804, had coded these lands to the United States. One of the provisions of the treaty allowed the Indians to retain their land until they should be wanted for settlement, but during the war of 1812 a part of the tribe, under Black Hawk, had allied themselves to the British, while Ke- okuk, the principal chief of the tribe, had re- mained true to the United States. Black Hawk's village was on the tongue of land at the month of the Rock river, between it and the Mississippi. and after peace had been de- clared, at the close of the war of 1812, amica- ble relations existed with the Indians until 1830, when Keokuk made a finat cession of all the lands held by his tribe east of the Missis- sippi river. Black Hawk opposed this cession and used all his powers of oratory to persuade the different tribes from Canada to the Mis- -issippi to aid him in resisting the removal of the Sauks and Foxes to the west of the Missis- sippi. During the winter of 1830, when Black Ilawk, with his tribe, were on a hunting expe- dition. the pale faces took possession of his vil- lige and even the fur trader at Rock Island, who had formerly purchased his furs, and whom Black Hawk had regarded as an especial friend. had made an arrangement by which he was to cultivate the corn field outlying the vil-
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lage. A compromise was made by which the fields were to be divided equally between the new claimants and the former Indian owners. This truce did not prevent disputes and the trespassing on each others' rights led to a me- morial signed by the white settlers, setting Forth their grievances and asking for the re- moval of their Indian neighbors. Governor Reynolds, in the spring of 1831. issued a call for seven hundred volunteers to protect the white settlers along the Rock river. To the governor's call one thousand six hundred volun- teers promptly responded, and under General Gaines, were dispatched to the scene of the trouble. Black Hawk vielded to the situation and crossed to the west side of the Mississippi river. At a time of year when the Indian should have planted his maize that in the com- ing winter he should have bread, Black Hawk. with his starving followers, was camping upon the western shores of the Mississippi river. Here a treaty was held with him on the 30th of May and, under its terms, he gave up his inten- tions of returning to his Illinois home. Ra- tions were dealt out to the submissive Indians and the volunteers wore dismissed. Early in the spring of the following year, 1832, Black Hawk, in an evil hour, recrossed the Mississippi, under pretense of paying a visit to his Winno- bago friends in Wisconsin, and to plant corn in their country. General Atkinson, then in command at Fort Armstrong, sont messengers after him to warn him back, but Black Hawk paid no attention to these, but continued on his way until he reached Dixon's ferry. where he established his camp. During his stay at this place. Mrs. Dixon invited Black Hawk to dine with her family and Black Hawk afterward related the circumstance, showing that he felt complimented by the attentions paid him by this noble woman. On learning of Black Hawk's return to Illinois, Governor Reynolds immediately issued a call for volunteers. md General Whiteside, with one thousand eight hundred men, was immediately sent after the enemy. Black Hawk had in the meantime changed his encampment to the banks of Svea- more creek, a irihutary of Rock river, some thirty miles above Dixon. Two days after the arrival of the volunteers at Dixon, under Gen-
eral Whitesides, he dispatched Major Stillman to make a reconno sance on Black Hawk's camp. Black Hawk was enterta ning his Winnebago friends at a dog feast when the volunteers ap- proached his camp and he sent a party of six out to meet Major Stillman under the protec- tion of a white flag. The undisciplined volun- teers fired upon the little party of Indians, killing two of them during the retreat. Black Hawk, justly indignant at the treatment of his commissioners, raised the war-whoop and re- pelled the attack with his accustomed spirit. This was the first blood drawn in the Black Hawk war. After this engagement Black Hawk immediately broke camp and had fled north- ward, whither was not known. The two thou- sand four hundred men who had volunteered in the service had now seen enough Indian fight- ing to satisfy their curiosity, and their term of service having nearly expired, they were dis- charged. The part that was taken by volun- teers from Montgomery county will be set forth in an article under the caption of the Illinois Soldier Boy. It is sufficient to know that Black Hawk was defeated and the Indian power broken through the efforts of General Scott of the Federal forces, and not as some of us have been led to believe, by the early Illinois set- tler. In fact, it might not be out of place to remark that the settlers in the Illinois country had not developed a penchant for fighting In- dians. Black Hawk was made prisoner and sent to Fortress Monroe, where on the 26th of April, 1833, he was discharged from further imprisonment and returned to his people. Nothing worse than honorable warfare could be charged against him. The large cities through which he passed en route to his new home poured forth much of its population to see this aged Indian. In broken English amusing, earnest, and sometimes ludicrous, this old vet- oran of the forests and prairies would philoso- phize on the absurd and foolish customs of civilization. He prophesied that the white man would see the day that their courts of justice and their prisons would be insufficient to pro- teet the community against the criminals that civilization would develop. Black Hawk died October 3. 1835, at his home on the Des Moines river, near the present village of Iowaville. Hle
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was buried in a sitting posture and a large mound of earth raised above him. This marks the resting place of him who may with pro- priety be called the last native defender of the soil of Illinois. Joseph Duncan was elected governor in 1834 and. under his administration, a new state bank was chartered with a capital of one million five hundred thousand dollars. The capital stock of this bank was afterward increased to two million dollars, and also an assumption of the stock of the Shawneetown branch of this bank, to the amount of one mil- lion dollars more. These financial schemes were to enable the state to make certain in- ternal improvements. The building of rail- roads, digging of canals were cherished objects during this period of our state history. To di- vert the trade from St. Louis to Alton was a part of the state policy, but, as usually happens. the over capitalization of the banks resulted in a suspension of specie payments and panic se- vere and awful swept over Ilinois. Nor was the financial depression confined alone to the western country, for it is a matter of history that the whole country felt the depression of 1831 as much, and in some instances even to a greater degree, than did Illinois. In the autumn of 1838 Thomas Carlin was elected governor and the state was casting about in every direction for relief from the financial em- barrassments into which she had lately been plunged. Instead, however, of retrenching tax- ation by abandoning a portion of the public works previously undertaken, in order to secure the completion of at least a portion of them. the legislature very unwisely made additional appropriations. Among these faneifn] schemes we note that the governor was authorized to negotiate a loan of four million dollars to prosecute the work on the Illinois and Michi- gan canal. This, with other foolish expendi- tures, tended to destroy public confidence in the credit of the stale. After July. 1841. the state actually made no further efforts to pay the in- terest on its public debt and the state banks necessarily went into bankruptcy. The public debt of Illinois at this time was in the neigh- borhood of fourteen million dollars, a large sum indeed for the young state, in its poverty of both means and credit, to attempt to float.
it was at this time that state bonds were offered at fourteen cents on the dollar without so much as finding a buyer. Thomas Ford was elected governor in August, 1842, and not only the financial embarrassment, against which he had to contend, but a disturbing factor in the Mor- mons, who had settled at Nauvoo in 1840, made his administration one of much responsibility and care. The Illinois and Michigan canal, during his administration, was by act of con- gress mortgaged to a body of eastern bond- holders for a sufficiency of money to complete it. This gave relief to the state treasury and work on the canal was immediately resumed, but it was not completed until April. 1848. It was during this administration that the Mex- ican war was declared and the first regiment of Illinois volunteers ever enrolled for field serv- ice was sent to this war, and in passing, we will remark that Montgomery county's quota to the Mexican war will receive especial notice in the article previously referred to. In June, 1841, a convention was called in Springfield for the purpose of framing a new constitution. This convention was ratified by the people in March, 1848. This convention conelnded its labors in Angust of that year and the new con- stitution was ratified by the people in March, 1848. Previous to the constitution of 1848 there had been no subdivisions of counties into civil townships, and conse- quently no township organization. This ma- chinery for the establishment of local gov- ernment was authorized by the new consti- tution and was perfected in 1851, according to the system now in practice. In 1852 Joel Mat- teson was elected governor, and it was in this election that a new element in polities made its appearance. The Abolition party presented the name of Dexter A. Knowlton as a candidate for governor. This was the first attempt to recognize that party politically in the state. This same year, however, at the November «Jection, E. B. Washburn was elected to con- gress. by an alliance formed between the old Whig party and the new Anti-slavery party. A notable event during Governor Matteson's ad- ministration was a state law for the support of public schools, passed on the 15th of Febru- ary, 1855, and of which we will have occasion
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to speak later, At the November election in 1856 William H. Bissell was elected governor on the Republican ticket. His administration was a strong one and both branches of the legis- Jature could boast of men of exceptional power and prestige. In the winter of 1858-9 a United States senator was to be chosen to fill the place of Judge Douglas' expiring term. This re- markable man and exponent of state sovereignty felt that his re-election as a vindication of his position on the Kansas-Nebraska bill was of ab- solute necessity at this time. The Republican party meanwhile, elated at the rapid rise and growth of their party, felt themselves compe- tent to contest before the people the question at issue between themselves and their able op- ponent. The choice of the Republicans fell upon Abraham Lincoln as a candidate to op- pose Judge Douglas for the senatorship. That the people might the better form an opinion as to the question at issue. it was arranged that these able contestants should present their views in joint debate before the people of the state. Both Lincoln and Douglas wore cham- pions each in his cause, and their powers upon the stump could scarcely have been equalled by any other two representatives of their parties to be found in the United States. Judge Doug- las won the election by a small majority in the legislature, while Mr. Lincoln had a small ma- jority of the voters, but this very defeat made him the idol of the anti-slavery men and finally gave him the presidency of the republic. In 1860 the national Republican convention met at Chicago, and on the third ballot at this con- vention Abraham Lincoln received the nomina- tion for the presidency, and Hannibal Hamlin was nominated as candidate for the vice-presi- deney. The results of the election in the an- tumn of 1860 were favorable to the Republic- ans, and Abraham Lincoln, having received a majority of the votes in the electoral college, was inaugurated president of the United States on the 4th day of March, 1861. Richard Yates was elected governor of Illinois at the November election, and on the 14th of January, 1861, was duly inaugurated. The alarm of Civil war had sounded throughout the south, but not until Fort Sumter was fired upon did these alarms take tangible form. That a crisis was at hand
the most conservative of our statesmen were compelled to acknowledge, and the time had come when men measured their patriotism by a love of state or their desire to perpetuate the Union. It was a time when men of force like Douglas, Logan and other Democrats had to choose between secession and the preservation of the Federal Union. Then it was that our Illinois senator, Stephen A. Douglas, won his greatest glory and honored his state by a hearty endorsement of the policies of Mr. Lincoln. Al- though he soon afterward died. he had sot a noble example of patriotism and magnanimity to his party, which undoubtedly effected the is- snes of the war. While we shall in another chapter give the roster of the Montgomery county soldier boys of 1861, it is well here to state in round numbers the number of troops furnished by the state of Illinois during the war of 1861-5, one hundred and eighty-five thousand nine hundred and forty-one infantry, thirty-two thousand eighty-two cavalry and sey- en thousand two hundred and seventy-two ar- tillery, making an aggregate of two Indred and twenty-five thousand three hundred men of all arms furnished by the state during that. war. As leaders of armies in the field or as promoters of public opinion from the platform, there is doubtless no state that leads our own in the worthy characters whose names are writ- ten on the pages of American history in letters of enduring fame than are the sons of Illinois. Lincoln, Grant, Douglas, Logan. Washburn and a host of others who appeared at this im- mediate period of our history have added to an already large list of pioncer soldiers and states- men additional luster and honor. Richard J. Oglesby succeeded Richard Yates in the govern- orship in Jannary, 1865, and it was in the jo1- lowing April, on the morning of the 15th. that news came of the assassination of Abraham Lin- coln by John Wilkes Booth, at Ford's Theater, on the evening before. No state in the Union felt the force of this blow so keenly as did Illinois. Lincoln was her especial pride, her most honored son, and his untimely death oc- casioned such an outburst of grief as han not been witnessed before on the death of any pub- lie man. For a while all manner of business was laid aside, the stores were closed without
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public order to do so, and in soienm proces- sion, men in every walk of Life were to be seen wending their way to their several places of re- ligious worship, to hold memorial service. in honor of their beloved dead. John M. Paimer succeeded to the governorship of Illinois Jan- uary, 1869, and a most notable event of his administration was the constitutional conven- tion, which met in Springfield in December of that year. No changes had been made in the organic law of the state since 1848, and changed conditions required some changes in the con- stitution, and accordingly. a new constitution was framed and submitted to the people for adoption in 1820. Special legislation. reckless- ness on the part of the state, county or mu- nicipality to inenr debt was forbidden in the new law. Restrictions upon the power of the legislature were very marked and provision for the representation of the minority in every county was made under the new law. We might state that no constitution of any other state embraces so many inhibitions and none so many direct mandates. Richard J. Oglesby became governor again in 1813, but shortly afterward resigned. having been elected to the United States senate. John L. Beverage. the lieutenant governor, succeeding to the office of governor on the resignation of Mr. Oglesby. The administration of Mr. Beverage was marked by no especial feature of interest and he was succeeded January 8, 1811. by Shelby M. Cul- lom. During the administration of Mr. Cul- lom the period of depression in finance. which had been most marked since 1823, culminated in the financial panic of 18:2. To the student of finance it is not a long way to discover the underlying causes which led to the panie of 1812. It is not the purpose of this treatise to inquire into these causes. It is sufficient. how- over, to note that extravagance and waste is always followed by a period of poverty and want. Further, history bears us out in estab- lishing an analogy in the affairs of man to the physical law of action and reaction. In other words, an unparalleled expenditure of human energy and force has always been followed by a period of lasitude or rest. and it is the opinion of the writer that these recurring periods of prosperity and depression are in obedience to
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