Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 54

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois > Part 54

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others of the early settlers, including several in the eastern part of the county, had planted apple orchards. These trees were all seed- lings, except about a dozen in Mr. Wood's orchard, and many of them were obtained from him.

George Johnson. of Columbus, planted in 1832 the first orchard of grafted apple trees.

In 1836 Deacon A. Scarborough, of Payson, set out a large orchard of bearing trees, some of which are yet living. In 1839 he planted an orchard of 200 peach trees, some of which were still standing in 1868. In 1855 he intro- dneed the Concord grape.

In 1837 Clark Chatten, of Fall Creek. pur- chased some grafted apple trees of Charles Stratton, of Pike county, and planted them on his farm. During 1838 and 1839 he continued to add to his orchard until he had 40 acres covered with apple trees, and became the langhing stock of some of his neighbors, who thought a market could never be found for so much fruit as that orchard would produce ; but he continued to buy more land and plant more trees.

In 1867 he had in all 240 acres devoted to apple trees. and 187 acres devoted to peach trees, the largest orchard in the state. from which he amassed a considerable fortune.

In 1839 Wm. Stewart, of Payson, planted some peach seeds which he had secured from a small quantity of fruit purchased in Pike county for the purpose, and in the spring of 1840 he transplanted the young trees to a new farm he had purchased adjoining the village. At the same time he purchased one hundred grafted apple trees from a nursery in Pike county, probably at Atlas, and planted them in alternate rows with the peach trees. Dur- ing the summer he went East. and in the au- tumn brought from New York a choice col- lection of various kinds of fruit and orna- mental trees, shrubs, flower seeds, etc .. such as his then limited means enabled him to pur- chase. The next spring he planted these, and grafted some young apple trees grown from seeds planted the previous spring. and this commenced "Stewart's Nursery," which for twenty-five years was the leading one in the county. In 1852 Mr. Stewart started a branch nursery in Quiney under the direction of Wm. Stewart, Jr., whom he had admitted to part- nership.

Henry Kent, of Ellington, sent in 1839 to Prince's nursery, Long Island, for a supply of apples, peaches and nectarines, and with these as a beginning started a mirsery in 1841. lle was the introducer of the nectarine, which was for many years after profitably grown in this section.

lle was to the north half of the county what Stewart was to the southern half, and a man of splendid character and judgment. A later very valuable nursery was that of Deacon A. Scarborough. of Payson.

But the nuseries, valuable as they were as adjunets to our early horticulture. would have been incomplete as stimuli had it not been for the remarkable work at the county's first Horticultural Society, of which Robert Rankin for many years was the president and moving spirit. Under the active guidance of this so- ciety much valuable experimental work was undertaken, and successful exhibits were made at the State Fair and meetings of the Ameri- ean Pomological Society. The first exhibition of Adams county fruit at the State Fair was at Springfield in 1853. when Wm. Stewart and son took a number of premiums, among them that for the largest and best collection of apples named and true to the name .. The first publie exhibition east of the Alleghanies was in 1860, by G. 11. Stewart, who took a choice collection to the meeting of the American Pomological Society in Philadelphia. This fruit attracted much attention and received high commendation. AAbout the year 1863 or 1864 Clark Chatten took the first premium of the Ilinois Agricultural Society for the "best cultivated orchard."

In 1867 Ira Coe, of Melrose, took premium at State Fair held in Quiney and received as such 100 Jonathan trees, which he planted in his orchard. now the property of the writer of this article. These are believed to be the first trees of this splendid variety brought from the East, and most of the 100 are still living, and are bearing in splendid health and very pro- (netive.

The Adams County Horticultural Society was organized in December. 1867, by the elec- tion of Robert Rankin as president and Wm. Stewart as secretary. This soon included all the leading horticulturists of the county. This society did effective work for many years; it made out lists of the various kinds of fruits, based on long practical experience of the members, and recommended these lists to planters: it held ontdoor meetings in the sum- mer months, on the grounds of the different members, for the purpose of observing the practical workings of the different systems of «ulture. It also made exhibits, as a society, at various fairs, with the most flattering re- sults. However, it langnished; but with a later revival of general interest in hortienl- ture there was established the Mississippi Apple Growers' Association in Quiney, in 1900. Its founder and first president was Henry Clay Oupp, of Fall Creek, the largest orchard-

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ist in the county. JJames Handly, of Quincy, was its secretary, a position he still holdts. Mr. Cupp was later succeeded by the Hon. S. N. Black. of Clayton, as president. Mr. Black was a charter member of the Illinois Horticultural Society, and one of the most eminent and widely known horticulturists in the State. On his retiring from the presi- dency in the present year, 1905, he was suc- reeded by (. H. Williamson, of Quincy. The society. while local in its origin, was compre- hensive in its aims, and while, unlike the early Horticultural Society, it confined its interest to the apple, it was because in the series of years the apple had come to be the only fruit of importance in Adams county raised for the distant market. In faet, in the intervening years even the apple had diminished in im- portance in the volume of product and in its essential value in the market, and strawberries and peaches, which had in the later sixties and early seventies been shipped in remarkable volume from the various shipping points of the county. had dwindled to insignificance during the eighties and early nineties as far as their production on a commercial scale was concerned. The causes of this remarkable change are not far to seek. In the first place, the culture of strawberries, which had its be- ginning in 1852 by J. Il. Stewart and D. C. Benton, of Quiney, and in 1865 had attained to considerable volume, was greatly affected during the eighties by the throwing open by the railroads of new and cheap lands in the Southwest to berry culture, causing a great de- «line in the market valnes of strawberries in the markets where our berries were sent, as well at the same time new and better methods of shipping, particularly the use of refrig- erator cars. made it possible to ship from more distant points in other directions, so that there was a greatly lessened demand for our berries. This same canse operated against our other small fruits, as well as against peaches. But an even more potent canse came into op- eration by the industrial expansion of Quiney itself. which withdrew hundreds of those on whom the berry growers depended for picking their fruits, to more herative occupations.

In the case of the peach there were at work climatie causes rendering the production less certain, and in the case of the pear, the blight.

At one time. indeed, in the eighties, it seemed as if hortienlture, even that of the apple, was doomed to extinction. except on a very small scale and for the home market only, and this was due to causes, some obvious, some obscure. In the first place, the soil was no longer virgin, and long continued culture had exhausted certain properties ont of the

soil very necessary to the life of bearing trees and plants. And no attempt had been made to replace them. The soil robber had been at work. The then available horticultural sei- enee was not able to point the remedy. In the second place, inseet and fungous enemies had vastly multiplied. The codlin moth had ap- peared very early, probably as early as 1850. So had the scab, the most destructive of fun- gons enemies that attacked the apple. but the strong trees of our splendid and virile young orchards had been resistant. As the orchards aged and their vitality decreased, and con- tinned production without proper fertilizing had greatly decreased their natural powers of resistance, they succumbed to the growing at- tacks of their insect and fungons enemies, and no longer prodneed fruit of a nature to be snecessfully marketed.

The art of spraying was little understood and less practiced. Then, too, the vigorous pioneers had many of them died or moved away where more virgin soils offered more al- luring possibilities. Horticulture was in hands less experienced, which did not have the splen- did courage of the old order nor the better sei- ence of the new order of things. There were ten years more of travail and distress, but gradually men turned in the light of better knowledge to address themselves to the old problems with a freshened understanding and a revived courage, and now Adams county is on the threshold of a better horticulture and a mightier industry. Young men such as Leeper of Lima, Robbins and Scarborough of Payson, Seymour of Fall Creek, Lambert of Coatsburg. Montgomery of Melrose, Chatten of Ellington, and some of the elders, as Cupp. Perkins, leekle. Wharton and Rankin, are ap- plying the knowledge that experimental sei- ence affords to a thorough understanding of local soil and climatic conditions that promise great results. Some are already garnering them, and they better understand their limi- tations. They know in the first place that they cannot gather where they have not sown. They cannot continually take without giving. If the trees are to bear. they must also be fed. They have learned that they must therefore fertilize.

They know in the second place that moisture must be conserved. that the soil must be stirred to unlock for the trees their potential supplies of food, and that life-giving air max reach the roots. They therefore cultivate. They know that the insect and fungons enemies can and must be combated. They therefore spray. They know that the soil must be enlivened as well as protected from the cold of a severe climate: that the water-bearing capacity of

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the soil is in proportion to the homus content. They therefore sow cover erops. And above all, they know that all soils are not adapted to fruit trees; that a tree to live long must root deep in rich soil, and that in the loess soil covering our limestone bluffs nature has given Adams county one of those pre-eminent areas of natural adaptation which place her unrivaled in readiness to produce fruit fit to enter into that competition of excellence for which the exacting markets of the work are offering most suitable reward.

CHAPTER L.

ADAMS COUNTY'S BENCH AND BAR-PRIMITIVE PRACTICE IN THE MILITARY TRACT-CIR- CUIT JUDGES-EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR.

The early bench and bar of Adams county had a fame. justly acquired. in Illinois. lt was the bar of the "Military Tract"-that part of the State between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and south of the latitude of Rock Island-which had been reserved by the federal goverment for the soldiers of the War of 1812, whose patriotism was recognized by "Bounty lands." On the beneh in that circuit presided jurists of recognized ability aud aenmen, and at this bar practiced lawyers of learning, eloquence and skill, whose renown was widespread, all contributing to give to the bench and bar a Instre which time has not dimmed and which will ever be a source of pride to Adams county.

The first cirenit judge was John Yorck Sawyer, a native of Vermont, whose name ap- pears enrolled as a lawyer December 7. 1820. On the bench Judge Sawyer sustained an ex- cellent reputation for ability and integrity. HIe was appointed at the session of 1824-5, and two years later was legislated out of office by the law of 1826-7, which repealed the circuit court system and threw upon the supreme judges circuit court duty. JJudge Sawyer's first court was held July. 1825, in the cabin of Williard Keyes, on Front street, near the foot of Vermont, this being the only one of the three cabins then comprising Quincy "in which there were no children." The session was but formal, and the first business session of the court was held October 31st. following. After leaving the bench. Judge Sawyer re- sumed his profession at Vandalia, then the state capital. Ile died March 13, 1836, at which time he was editor of the Vandalia Advocate.

Judge Sawyer was succeeded by Samnel D. Lockwood, of the supreme court, whose name is recorded as the first licensed lawyer in Illi- nois, the date being May 14, 1819. Lockwood was born in Central New York, and came to Illinois in 1818. stopped first at Kaskaskia. and finally settled at Jacksonville, which was his residence until he retired from the bench in 1848. Then he removed to Batavia. where he died about 1885. Judge Lockwood was a man of excellent education, learning and re- finement, who reflected exceptional honor on the position held by him.

In 1831. a fifth judicial circuit having been added, Judge Richard M. Young was ap- pointed. Judge Young was a Kentuckian hy birth, a man of exemplary habits, refined mind, industrions disposition and good judg- ment. who held the publie confidence and who served out his full term of six years with dig- nity and credit. After serving his term he was successively United States Senator. Hhi- nois State Agent in Europe, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Com- missioner of the General Land Office, and finally he engaged in a legal ageney business. llis last days were passed in an insane asylum.

James II. Ralston, who succeeded Judge Yonng. in 1837, had been a practicing lawyer in Quiney, and was also a member of the state legislature in 1836-7. Ralston also was a Ken- tuckian. llis services on the bench, while creditable, were brief, as he resigned in 1838, and was elected state senator in 1840, and was an unsuccessful candidate for congress a year later. after which he went to California, where he was found dead in the woods, having either died suddenly or been killed by some animal.

Judge Ralston's successor was Peter Lott. who came to Ilinois in 1835 from New Jersey, locating at Carthage, Hancock county, whence he soon came to Quiney. where he resided for some sixteen years. JJudge Lott had more than ordinary ability and made a good reeord on the bench. He was a Whig till about 1836. when he joined the democratic party, in which he became prominent. Retiring from the bench in 1841. under the re-organization of the ju- diciary law, he resumed the practice of law, was elected to the lower house of the legisla- ture in 1844, enlisted as a private in Col. Bis- sell's regiment of Illinois infantry on the out- break of the Mexican war, rose to the position of captain and acquired credit at Buena Vista. Returning home, he was elected circuit clerk and reeorder for four years, after which he went to California and was placed in charge of the United States mint. Ile died a few years later, in Central America, while dis-

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charging a high trust under the government.

Under the re-organization act, the appoint- ment of the supreme judge from this district was Stephen A. Douglas, who assumed the of- fice in 1841. The history of Douglas is too well known to call for space in this connection. While on the bench Judge Douglas had sey- eral local questions of a peenliarly vexations character to handle, including some connected with the Mormons and the division of Adams county. In these as in other matters. Judge Douglas always retained the confidence of the public, while his exceptional ability is well known to all. On the election of Douglas to congress in 1843 over O. H. Browning, he was succeeded on the bench by Jesse B. Thomas, a son of the Jesse B. Thomas who was ter- ritorial judge of Illinois from 1809 till 1819, was one of the first two United States Sena- tors and was the author of the famous Mis- souri Compromise bill Judge Thomas, who succeeded Douglas, was probably born in the Indian Territory. lle was a democrat. Ilis two years' record on the bench was creditable. He was transferred to a northern circuit and died a few years later.

His successor on the bench, in 1843, was Norman HI. Purple, who proved to be a judge of superior ability, being peculiarly well adapted for the position of jurist. JJudge Purple retired from this circuit in 1848, by reason of the change in the constitution re- organizing the districts and making judges elective. Purple returned to Peoria and re- suuned the practice of law. He died about 1864.

William A. Minshall. of Schuyler county, succeeded Judge Purple, in 1848. Minshall, who was elected as a Whig over William R. Aicher, of Pike county, and was one of the oldest lawyers in Illinois, had stood at the head of the bar in his own county and on the bench maintained his excellent reputation. Adams and Hancock counties being created a separate circuit in 1851, Judge Minshall was succeeded by Onias C. Skinner, who had for several years been a prominent lawyer in Ilancock county and then in Quincy, his later residence. While Judge Skinner had lacked educational advantages, such was his force of intellect that he rose to a front rank at the bar, while his standing on the bench was high. Judge Skinner was elected to the supreme court in 1855. Ile was a member of the con- stitutional convention of 1870, oeenpying the position of chairman of the judiciary com- mittee. Ile died in Quincy in 1877.

Judge Joseph Sibley, who succeeded Judge Skinner, in 1855, was born in Westfield, Ilamp- den county, Mass., and died in Quincy June

18, 1897, in the 79th year of his age. His early life was spent on a farm; he attended the dis- triet school and local academy, was admitted to the bar in 1846 and soon after settled at Nauvoo, Hancock county, Illinois, where he began the practice of law, and with success and distinction. Ile was elected to the state legislature in 1850, re-elected in 1852, moved to Warsaw in 1853, was elected to the circuit bench in 1855 for the 13th circuit and was re- elected for three successive terms. When the appellate court was re-organized in 1877, Sib- ley was appointed by the supreme court to that bench. where he served till the expiration of his term in 1879. He moved to Quincy in 1865 and made his home here till his death. A man possessing strong individual traits of character, Judge Sibley had good judg- ment, was well versed in the fundamental principles of the law, and these qualities, coupled with his integrity and general ability. made him a good jurist, and, in time, one of the most eminent circuit judges in the state. While to strangers he sometimes appeared cold, with a disposition to bluntness of ex- pression, he was really a kind-hearted man. At the time he retired from the bench he had been presiding judge for nearly half the ex- istence of Adams county.

Judge Sibley was succeeded by Judge John Il. Williams, who served with excellent credit until 1885 and is still practicing his profes- sion in Quincy.

William Marsh, who succeeded Judge Wil- liams, served from 1885 till 1891. Judge Marsh was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., March 11, 1822, attended a private school near Ithaca, took an academic course, then entered Union college at Schenectady, from which he was graduated with honor in 1842. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1845, practiced first in Ithaca and came to Quincy in 1854. He died April 14, 1894. It was said of him in the bar resolutions on his death that he was "an exem- plar of professional virtue and forensic attain- ments most fittingly calculated to excite the just emulation of all whose exalted privilege it is to minister at the altar of justice. An honest, able lawyer, a just. pure and profound judge, a kind. fond and faithful husband, a polished, scholarly and accomplished gentle- man."

Judge Marsh was succeeded by Oscar P. Bonney, who served one term, from 1891 until 1897. Judge Bonney was born September 8. 1852, near Chambersburg. Clark county, Mo., and died in Chicago, February 14, 1905. When a habe, his parents moved to Putnam county, Ill., thence to La Grange, Mo., thence to Quiney. and thence to Columbus, where

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Oscar grew to manhood. After a years as' student at La Grange college, he came to Quincy, studied law with Ewing, Wheat & Hamilton, was admitted to the bar in 1873, was successively city and state's attor- ney and was holling the latter office when he was elected circuit judge. In a recent sketch of Judge Bonney this true summary was writ- ten : "His moral, upright life: the integrity that characterized his intercourse with all per- sons and his sterling ability as a lawyer: his professional etiquette and his just and logical rulings and sound judgments while on the bench. so endeared him to his fellows that his memory will be fondly cherished for many years to come." During his term as cirenit judge. Judge Bonney was nominated for su- preme judge, but was defeated by Joseph N. Carter.

Judge John C. Broady succeeded Judge Bonney and served till 1903. making an ex- cellent record. Judge Broady continues to re- side in Quiney and is practicing his profession.

His successor on the bench was Judge Al- bert Akers, who is making a commendable record. Judge Akers resides in Quiney.

The HIon. Chauncey L. Iligbee was one of the judges of this eirenit and of the appel- late court for the third district of this state, and the Adams County Bar records show this fitting memorial tribute: "That for his many virtues as a private citizen, and his learning and abilities as a lawyer, legislator and judge, as well as for his able and faithful discharge of every duty devolving upon him, whether in private or official capacity, the deceased will be long remembered. not only by his friends and admirers and the bar, but by the publie at large."

Chauncey L. Higbee was born in Clermont, Ohio, in 1820. In 1845, he published a news- paper at Nauvoo, Ill., whence he moved to Pittsfield, III .. where he began the practice of the profession to which he proved to be such an eminent adornment. He was a representa- tive in the 19th General Assembly and state senator in 1859-61. He was elected circuit judge four times, the first time in 1861, and was elected appellate judge in 1878. Judge Highee died December 7, 1884, leaving a mem- ory that will ever be held in honor and es- teem. and leaving both a name and a career which are being nobly perpetuated by his able son, the Hon. Harry Higbee, of Pike county, Illinois.

TIIE ADAMS COUNTY BAR.

In the course of some biographical sketches in his "Reminiscences of Quiney," published in 1882, the late Henry Asbury gives this para-

graph concerning lawyers: "Our earliest law- vers here before 1831 were John E. Jeffers, Louis Masquerier, George Logan, James H. Ralston, Archibald Williams, O. H. Browning, and soon after Robert R. Williams, James W. Whitney. Thomas Ford, afterwards governor, Adolphus Hubbard, who became lieutenant governor, his remains lying in the present courthouse square. Of what might be called our second batch of lawyers here from 1835 to 1847, there were the following: M. D. Browning, Henry Asbury, Peter Lott, William Darling, Jacoby Halleck, Ebenezer Moore, Cal- vin A. Warren, N. Bushnell; in 1837, Andrew Johnston: 1836, John R. Randolph, Charles Gilman, Almeron Wheat; 1839, Charles A. Savage, Horace S. Cooley; 1840, Philo A. Goodwin : 1841. J. Quin Thornton, William H. Ralston, James M. Burt. Louis M. Booth, E. J. Phillips, William H. Benneson ; 1843, Isaac N. Morris. Egbert A. Thompson, Charles B. Law- rence, Charles II. Milner, Isaac M. Grover, Abraham Jonas. Perkins Cleveland: 1847. Adolphus Engleman, David L. Hongh, George C. Dixon, Peachy R. Gilmer, Charles W. Bil- lington. Joseph M. Higbee. George Williams, Seth C. Sherman, Onias C. Skinner; 1845. Jonathan M. Bassett, Bushrod W. Lott, Homer Parr and John Tillson." Mr. Asbury added that only about twelve out of the list of forty- six were known to be living at the time he wrote.

Archibald Williams was born June 10, 1801, in Montgomery county, Kentucky. Having received the first rudiments of an education he was thrown upon his own resources early in life. Hle first engaged in manual labor, but being of a studious disposition, turned his at- tention to teaching. His fondness for study caused him to select the law for his profes- sion, and he was admitted to the bar in Ten- nessee in 1828. A year later he came to Quin- ey. During his first six years' practice he achieved the highest rank as a lawyer and jurist and as a man of stainless character. IIe was elected three times to the state legislature. In 1847 Judge Williams was selected against a democrat in a democratie district to serve in the constitutional convention. He was twice nominated by the whigs for United States senator, but was defeated. and was also the whig candidate for congress in the campaign immediately preceding the birth of the repub- lican party, but was defeated. Ile was offered a seat on the United States supreme bench. but he declined the high honor on account of his advanced years. In 1849 he was appointed by President Taylor as district attorney for Illinois, and in 1861 he was appointed by Pres- ident Lincoln as district judge for Kansas.

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Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 54

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Collins, William H. (William Hertzog), 1831-1910; Perry, Cicero F., 1855- [from old catalog] joint author; Tillson, John, 1825-1892. History of the city of Quincy, Illinois. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1228