USA > Illinois > Pike County > Past and present of Pike County, Illinois > Part 18
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"Feb. 14, 1823, Wm. Ross was elected Judge of the Court of Probate. In 1823, Geo. Cadwell, then of Greene County, but afteward included in Morgan, was elected to the Senate for Greene and Pike, and Archibald Job, who was still living, for the House. Cadwell's term expired in two years, and in 1824, Thomas Carlin, afterward elected governor in 1836, was elected to the Sen- ate. Cadwell was an educated physician, a man of talent and stern integrity ; he died in 1824 or 1825.
"At the meeting of the Legislature in 1824 Nicholas Hanson and John Shaw both produced certificates of election to the House. The ques- tion which was entitled to the seat was referred to the Speaker, who decided in favor of Hanson, During the session the question was again brought before the House, and decided by a unanimous vote in favor of Hanson. Near the close of the session the question was reconsidered and Shaw admitted, in consideration of which Shaw voted for the resolution for a call of a con- vention.
"For several years after I came to the State, deer, wild turkey and wild beasts were plenty, especially on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. But for this fact many of our early settlers would have suffered for provisions, or have been compelled to retreat for supplies.
"In passing from Rushville to Quincy, the Judge, Mr. Caverly and myself slept on the prairie during the night, and the next morning, which was Sunday, we found a house a few miles distant in the barrens ; and we could not make the family believe it was not Saturday. The nearest neighbor lived five miles distant. They lived on wild game, grated corn meal and roasted ears, and lived well. We thought at breakfast we could not wish for better fare.
"In passing from Atlas to Gilead in Calhoun county we always made the house of an old gentleman named Munn our stopping place. He and his wife were always glad to see us and made sumptuous preparations for our comfort.
"If I were at the stand and questioned I could probably answer many questions in regard to matters of interest to the present inhabitants ; but as I do not know the points on which they would question me, and as I have already extend- ed this letter, considering the hot weather, to what may be considered a reasonable length, I close, hoping that you may have a good day and a good time.
"Respectfully your friend, "William Thomas."
This meeting was addressed by many old set- tlers, who related many interesting experiences. The exercises were interspersed with music and a grand picnic dinner, etc. Letters were read from Edwin Draper and Levi Pettibone, of Louisiana, Missouri, besides one from Judge Thomas, above given. Wm. A. Grimshaw was elected President, James McWilliams, of Griggsville, Vice Presi- dent, and George W. Jones Assistant Secretary. The following resolution was adopted : "Resolved, That the old settlers of Pike and Calhoun coun- ties be requested to notify the President and Sec- retary of the Old Settlers' organization, the names of all members of this Association who shall depart this life during the present year, and that
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the Secretary be instructed to enter the same upon record."
Among those who addressed the assembly were Hon. Wm. A. Grimshaw, John T. Hodgen, of St. Louis, Calvin Twichell, of Calhoun county, J. T. Long, now of Barry, for many years a resident of Adams county, Wm. Turnbull, of Flint, A. P. Sharpe, of Griggsville, Alvin Wheel- er, the oldest living settler of Pike county (came here in 1818), now 75 years of age. Col. D. B. Bush closed the line of history by giving a sketch of Pittsfield. Dr. Worthington claimed Fred- erick Franklin, of Montezuma, as the oldest liv- ing settler of Pike county now living. He was the son of Ebenezer Franklin, the first settler in the county.
In this connection we give the very interesting letter of Mr. Draper :
"Louisiana, Mo., Sept. 1, 1873.
"Hon. Wm. A. Grimshaw and Others: Gentle- men,-Through the politeness of some friend of your county-seat I am indebted for an invitation to attend the meeting of old settlers of your coun- ty at Pittsfield, on the 3d inst. ; for this invitation I presume I am indebted for the fact of being. nearly connected by marriage with Levi Petti- bone, Esq., an old settler and perhaps the oldest man in Pike county, Missouri, and perhaps with exceptions the oldest man in Missouri, he being few exceptions the oldest man in Missouri, he be- ing now nearing the completion of his 93d year. But from whatever cause, I esteem it a compliment altogether undeserved to myself, but which never- cheless I should take the greatest pleasure. if cir- cumstancs permitted, of meeting with the old settlers of your county, among whom I am proud to recognize, not only the many distinguished public men, but many old and long esteemed per- sonal friends, some of whom have long been set- tlers of Pike county, Illinois, and not a few of them old settlers of Pike and Lincoln counties, Mis- souri, who, not being content with aiding to break up the wilds of Missouri and bring them into paths and fields of civilization, have largely colonized Pike county, Illinois, where they have been long enough to earn the appellation of 'old settlers,' where they are realizing the rich fruits of their industry in land flowing with milk and honey,
and as I lament to know, many of them are rest- ing beneath the sods that are no respecters of persons in the final winding up of human affairs. The memory of many of these persons, both liv- . ing the dead, carries me far back into the history of the past, in the early history of Missouri, of whose soil I have been an occupant since the year 1815, before either your State or Missouri had a State Government. Though then quite young (but eight years old) I was old enough to remember everything I saw, and everybody I knew,-much more so than persons and facts of later years; but to attempt to recount or name any considerable number of them would be to in- flict a bore upon you that I dare not presume upon, but as I presume that a part of the exer- cises of the occasion would be to recur to the early history of the West, including your State and ours, I can not resist the temptation to jot down a few facts and names, even at the risk of being laid upon the table as a bore.
"The date 1815 shows that the early settlers, among whom was my father, were crowding into Missouri even before the forts were all va- cated, whither the old settlers had fled for the pur- pose of protection from hostile savages, who had but recently had almost undisputed possession of a large part of our state. To get into Missouri, then largely considered as the promised land, we had to cross the Mississippi river, the Father of Waters. I don't know how much of a father he was at that time, but I have been acquainted with him since that time, and I don't know much difference in his size between then and now, ex- cept occasionally, as in 1851, he got into a terrible rage and had uncontrolled possession from Louis- iana to Atlas, and rolled on, whether vexed or unvexed, in solemn majesty to the Gulf of Mexico.
"But to continue. He had to be 'crossed' to get into Missouri. In 1815, as history shows, no steamboats were known on our rivers, and the only modes, or rather mode, of crossing the river at St. Louis was by means of a small keel-boat or barge without any deck or covering, propelled by poles; and our wagons were crossed by placing two planks or slabs across the keel, running the wagons by hand upon these slabs across the boats
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and 'scotching' the wheels with billets of wood, filling in the inner parts of the boat with horses, children, etc. Yet we conquered the old gentle- man and rode across in triumph, but not, however, until after waiting two days on the eastern bank for the wind to lie, which had so ruffled the sur- face and temper of the 'father' that he could not, safely at least, be mounted by an insignificant keel- boat until the cause of his irritation had ceased.
"Safely on the Missouri shore, the first night was passed in the city of St. Louis, then contain- ing about 1,200 inhabitants and very few brick houses; I did not count them, however. No rail- roads then were even thought of in the West, so far as I remember, but now-well, you can tell the tale yourselves. St. Louis has now 450,000 inhabitants and would likely have a million but for Chicago and the railroads, which have revolution- ized the course of nature and the natural rights of St. Louis, which depended on the navigation of the great rivers to work for her; and while her great landowner slept a quarter of a century, Chicago and the railroads were surging ahead of her.
"Excuse this digression, which I could not help while reflecting on the immense change all over the West since I first crossed the great river.
"I have alluded to the fact of your county being largely colonized from Pike and Lincoln counties, Missouri. It would be impossible for me to enu- merate all of them, even if I knew them all; but among the names I remember well those of the Gibsons, the Sittons, Buchanan, Yokems, Gallo- way, Uncle Jake Williamson, the Cannons, Col- lard, Wellses, Kerrs, Noyes, Metz, Johnsons, Mc- Connells, Andersons; etc., etc., all of whom went from Pike or Lincoln. All of them were good citizens, while some of them held high and honor- able positions in public office. Your former val- ued sheriff, Ephraim Cannon, was for a while a schoolmate of mine, larger and older than I, but still a schoolmate. The only special recollection I have of our schoolboy's life was that the teacher once asked him, when nearly time to close school, 'How high is the sun?' He replied he had no means of measuring the height, but 'from appearance it was about a rod high.'
"John J. Collard, Esq., a former clerk of one of
your courts, was the son of an old settler of Lin- coln county, dating before the war of 1812, if my memory is not at fault. I have attended your courts when held at the old county seat, Atlas, and since its location at your beautiful town, Pitts- field. The old settlers at Atlas, as well as of Pitts- field were the Rosses, most of whom I knew per- sonally, and had a slight acquaintance with the 'Bashaw' of Hamburg, Mr. Shaw. Old Father Burnett and his boys John and Frank belonged to both Pikes, in Illinois and Missouri. The sons wore out their lives in trying to sustain a ferry between the two Pikes.
"But I must forbear, fearing that I have already bored you, a thing I feared at the start. I could write a half quire of recollections of Pike in Mis- souri, and some of Pike in Illinois, if there were any market for them. But I must close with my best wishes for your people, both old and young.
"EDWIN DRAPER."
THIRD MEETING.
At the Old Settlers' meeting, September 2, 1874, Hon. William A. Grimshaw delivered an address of welcome, and interesting speeches were made by Col. Benjamin Barney, Rev. J. P. Dim- mitt, Dr. Hodgen, Mr. Turnbull, Judge Grigsby and others. Dr. P. E. Parker was elected secre- tary in place of G. W. Jones, resigned. A motion was adopted changing the time of membership from 1840 to 1850; also a motion to establish a portfolio and gallery of likenesses of old settlers; and members and others were invited to send pic- tures. A social reception of old settlers was given in the evening at Bush's Hall.
FOURTH MEETING.
At the fourth annual meeting of the old settlers at Barry, August 19, 1875, old-time customs were commemorated by the erection of a cabin com- plete in all its details. It looked as if a family had been living in it for years. Cooking utensils hanging around the wall; suspended on a string were slices of pumpkin and dried apples, corn hung from the posts suspended by the husks, the rifle hung on the wooden hook over the door, the
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spinning wheel, the reel and the hand-cards occu- pied prominent positions; the mammoth gourd for a water bucket and the lesser one as a dipper, attracted considerable attention. On the outside walls the skins of different fur-bearing animals were stretched ; climbing vines were turned up to the roof, and the sunflower in all its magnificence nodded here and there close to the house, and last, but not least, the latch-string hung on the out- side. The cabin was presided over during the early part of the day by Mr. William Grotts, who entertained his visitors with his "fiddle," playing "Arkansas Traveler," "Money Musk," "Old Rosin the Bow," etc. Mr. Grotts was born in this state in 1802, in Madison county. His father was killed by Indians in Bond county in 1814.
FIFTH MEETING.
During the Old Settlers' meeting at Griggs- ville, August 30, 1876, they formed a pro- cession in front of the Methodist Episcopal church, headed by an old truck wagon drawn by oxen, containing a band, the peo- ple being dressed in the Sunday attire of pioneer times, girls and boys riding double on horseback without saddles, showing how they went to church in olden times. This was one of the most attractive features of the procession, the young ladies especially conducting themselves with becoming grace, and appeared as if they were inspired with the spirit of their grandmoth- ers. An old dilapidated wagon drawn.by oxen was loaded with the old-fashioned loom, spinning wheel, flax wheel and reel, and an old plow was followed by most of our modern machinery in the shape of reapers, mowers, harrows, etc. After these a man dressed in Indian costume on his pony, ladies and gentlemen in modern style in buggies and carriages, the fire engine drawn by members of the base-ball clubs in uniform, and a modern child-wagon with children was drawn by a very small donkey.
Col. William Ross was the first president and Marcellus Ross the first secretary. The record is rather indefinite until 1877, when William A. Grimshaw was chosen president and William H. Johnson secretary. Each held the office for nine
consecutive years. In 1877 J. M. Bush, Sr., was chosen president and held the office for five years at intervals. Jason A. Rider was secretary for six years. A. L. Galloway was president two years ; M. D. Massie was president for five years at intervals; W. B. Grimes, secretary for three years. Jon Shastid, president three years at in- tervals; Asa C. Matthews, president four years, and is the present incumbent. Will S. Binns has been secretary for ten years, and is the present · incumbent. At one of the meetings at Barry, the citizens presented Hon. William A. Grimshaw · with a fine silver set, and at New Canton, old and young settlers presented William H. Johnson with a. gold-headed ebony cane. The presents were given as a fitting token to the gentlemen for long and faithful services. The old settlers meetings have been held at Blue Creek, Pitts- field, Barry, Griggsville, New Salem, Kinder- hook, New Canton, Pleasant Hill and Eldara. The different towns each gave interesting pro- grams, intespersed with addresses by noted citi- zens at home and abroad, music, old relics, pic- tures of departed pioneers and other interesting matters, that made the day one of recreation and pleasure that will always keep the towns and the entertainers bright for the dear old memories awakened.
"Say, Bill, don't you remember when you an' me was small,
How all the houses looked so big, an' all the trees so tall,
An' we could look an' see jest where the sky come to the ground ?
'Twas jest about a mile from us, fer all the way around.
An' that, to us, was all the world; we knowed of nothin' more.
Our knowledge of earth's magnitude was jest about "two by four."
An' we never knowed no better till one day when Uncle Ike
Come drivin' like the mischief, down that old river pike,
An' stoppin' sudden at our gate, he said that Uncle Jim
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Was at his house, most awful sick, an' we all went home with him.
An' you an' me both sot behind in that old wagon box,
An' jolted us 'most inside out, o'er stumps and roots and rocks,
Till Uncle struck that prairie road, an' started toward the sun;
That's where the "spreadin-out, process" in you an' me begun.
We noticed that the place where earth had always met the sky
Was jest as far ahead of us, an' we both won- dered why,
An' ever since that day, dear Bill, the earth an' sky's been growin'.
But, Oh! the years have gone so fast ; so short the time for sowin'.
But lookin' back along the paths that you and me have trod,
I think I see at every turn the guidin' had of God.
From that small world whose bound'ry was where heaven touched the ground,
To this great, boundless universe; along the road I've found
That when the path seemed darkest, and my soul was filled with dread,
If I reached my hand out heavenward, I was al- ways safely led.
But, thinkin' of that startin' point, and how things have spread out,
I wonder, when this life is done, if we're not jest about
Ready to start in on one that's always goin' to grow,
An' spread, an' widen, an' expand, an' like a river flow,
Until our knowledge has no bound-our joy is unconfined,
An' we become like unto God-in love, an'. soul, an' mind."
EARLY EVENTS.
The first three couples married in Pike county under license law were: First, Peter J. Sax- bury and Matilda Stanley, on June 27, 1827, by Nathaniel Hinckly, J. P .; second, William Foster
and Elizabeth Sconce, on August II, 1827, by William Ross, J. P .; third, William White and Barbara Sapp, on August 20, 1827, by James W. Whiting, J. P., best known as my "Lord Coke." There were great weddings in the old days. The ceremony was very impressive and taught that it was "till death do us part." The happy bridegroom certainly felt as Shakespeare expresses it in his Two Gentlemen of Verona:
"Why, man, she is mine own ;
And I as rich in having such a jewel, As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearls, The water nectar and the rocks pure gold. Too sacred to be spoken."
The old-time political meetings were often a source of pleasure as well as a gathering of knowledge as to how "we" are saving the country and how the other fellows are about to dump the whole outfit into ruin. An old party man related a good one illustrative of the often long and tedious speeches that were so common.
"Old man Cinnattus was to speak at one of the river towns and he began at the creation and apologized and explained for an hour and the fellow who went with him had often heard the old straw threshed over and he said to a man near by, 'I will take a nap and when the old man gets down to where Washington crossed the Del- aware wake me up.'" It is not so now, as a read- ing public will not submit to long and tiresome harangues as of old.
The county's amusements have been good and sufficient, and the old and young generations have perhaps properly mixed labor and recreation, the older ones are yet wishing for the old-fashioned one-ring circus, and it is a pleasant remembrance to recall the old-time funmakers and entertainers, the old clowns, Dan Rice, Bill Lake and Den Stone, and the proprietors were Van Amburg, Sands, Caldwell, Bailey, Mabie, Robbins, Bar- num and a host of others that willingly exchanged fun and the glittering tinsel of the sawdust arena for the public's quarters and halves, and after a day at the circus and a good social mixing with their neighbors, all returned to their homes and buckled down to hard work till the next and only
OLD COURTHOUSE
LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
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greatest came along. It was ever thus, and the old fellows are still attending "jist" to take the chil- dren.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Forty-five years ago a merchant here had a big lot of eggs which he had taken in trade at three cents a dozen. The demand was so poor he concluded to pack them and ship them to St. Louis. Here is the result :
180 dozen eggs $5.40
One barrel .30
Two bushels oats. .80
Freight and hauling -75
Total $7.25
In about four days he heard from them. St. Louis was overstocked and his shipment sold for three cents a dozen. After paying a small sum for commission he had $5.00 left. Now the same number of eggs would net at his door about $30.
About those times a dressed hog would sell for $1.50 per hundred, and nearly all farm prod- ucts were dull sale and at low prices. Now the public have good prices for all farm stuff, and all supplies are very cheap as compared with the past. Progress, demand, competition and most excellent facilities of transportation make this the golden age.
This township had a venerable old citizen, John Hardesty, an old-time pedagogue, who was an auctioneer at a sale in Scott county when Stephen A. Douglas, afterward the "little giant of Illinois," was the clerk of the sale. He al- ways referred with pride to the fact that he had given the young Green Mountain boy his first job in Illinois. Mr. Hardesty and the great Douglas entered the dreamless sleep that knows no waking, in the same year.
Peter J. Saxbury, the first man married in Pike county under the license law, in 1827, was a native of New York, and attended the same school with Martin Van Buren; who was eighth president of the United States. He was a resi-
dent here from 1826 to his death, about 1869. Had the high honor of having all of his sons in the Federal army: Benjamin in the Sixteenth Illinois, Edison in the Ninety-ninth Illinois, and James in the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois.
The old-time wheat harvest was a great one as compared to the present. When the first Mc- Cormick reaper was used here it was a wonder- ful attraction and the driver and raker were looked upon as great people to manage such an intricate machine. Then there were six or eight binders, several shockers and a whiskey and wa- ter boy; so the harvest was an expensive one. Then. came the dropper, and many said the heights had been reached and there could be nothing better. Next the self-binder, and now instead of nearly twenty men three or four men can harvest a hundred-acre field with less than one-fourth the expense of the old way.
The writer has ridden a horse to tramp out wheat, before threshing machines were in use, and saw the wheat winnowed in a sheet. Next saw the old-fashioned flail in use, the sickle and then the cradle for cutting wheat. Now all is changed, and the present generation hardly real- izes how primitive things were in our grand- father's days.
A little over fifty years ago the writer was explaining a water telegraph system that was in use in this county at the Wike woolen mill and on the farm now owned by John Kendrick. The old man who was a listener said, "Now, my son, don't tell me that." As I was trying to assure the old man it was true he said, "You young rascal, don't lie to me. It can't be did." A week later the old man saw it in operation, and the next thing he did was to hunt up the boy and say. "My boy, I ax your pardon. It is the truth you tell me. I seed it with my own eyes."
In 1847 James Hyde, now a resident of Lin- coln, Illinois, and in the ninety-second year, taught school here. Solomon Shewe, Sr., who was a resident here for nearly forty years, was in the
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early days an Ohio river boatman, and saw the celebrated Mike Fink shoot the cup of whiskey off of Carpenter's head. And later, when their friendship waned, he saw Fink after he had pur- posely killed Carpenter by aiming below the cup and putting the ball in his forehead.
It is not generally known but it is true that in 1846 to 1850 what is now Cincinnati Landing was the largest and most business-like town in the county. It had several stores, a large lumber and grist mill, a beef and pork packing establish- ment, and was the point of entry for nearly all of Pike county. The largest New Orleans boats came there, and took their entire cargoes of wheat, corn, beef, pork and other produce that had accumulated during the winter. In those days there were two lines of steamers every day from St. Louis to Keokuk.
Not so many decades ago Pike county had twenty-four mills, fifteen pork packing plants, three woolen mills, six tobacco factories and. a few foundries. But now changed conditions have closed all but three or four flour mills, and yet the old county is one of the best in an agri- cultural way, but very poor in manufactures.
Pike county was organized January 31, 1821, and in 1830 had 2,396 inhabitants. In 1880 it had the largest population, 33,761 ; in 1900, only 31,595.
In war times Pike county had some citizens that were as useful at home as those at the front. A few that I knew in various parts of the country were highly esteemed by home folk as well as the boys in the field. The writer at one time sent nearly $10,000 to the following for distribution to their families and home friends from the Nine- ty-ninth boys : L. L. Talcott, Pittsfield ; Benjamin D. Brown, Barry; Amos Morey, New Canton ;' S. B. Gaines, Kinderhook, and others that I do not now recall. The money, representing several months of service of the soldier boys, was promptly turned over to those that were named in the instructions, and not a cent of charges would any of those splendid old citizens take. Their hands and hearts were ever open to the families of the soldier boys. John McTucker, of Barry, and Amos Morey, of New Canton, were
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