Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 8

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 8

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"No street was then graded to the top of the hill from the river, and we ascend by a wind- ing road. starting from about the present eor- ner of Front and Vermont. We cross Hamp- shire. between Second and Third, and land at last on level ground near the store of Asher Anderson, the first merchant. at the corner of Third and Maine. 'Well.' we say. 'Where is the town?' Leaving, very gladly. what we saw of it under the hill, we see first, on the south side of Hampshire, between what is now Second and Third, a schoolhouse, then further east along Hampshire, crossing a huge ravine about

where the City Hall now stands, we find noth- ing until at the corner of Forth. At this time here stood a two-story frame house owned by Ilenry B. Berry, perhaps the most imposing edifice in town. Continuing from Fourth street east. first comes the log boarding house of 'Widow Wheat.' where afterward the First Na- tional Bank stood: now (1901) occupied by the Quiney National Bank. There the 'elite' of the town boarded. Then comes the red grocery of Tom King; next Wm. P. Reeder's frame one- story grocery. his frame honse alongside, and still smaller than either, if possible, is his brick kitchen in the rear, and the first brick kitchen erected on the square, and the second in the place : next, we see the small frame storehonse owned by Dr. S. W. Rogers; then John W. Me- Fadon's one-story frame storehouse, where is now Montgomery's drug store; farther east comes the long two-story frame 'Land Office Ilotel,' with an unrivaled state reputation for the liveliness of its beds and the luxuriant soil deposits on its floors. There the big bags stopped and stayed. In the east end of the same was the law office of O. Il. Browning, then the rising, as, for fifty years, he was the lead- ing representative man of the Quincy bar. A little farther on, at the corner of Fifth, was Robert Tillson's one and a half story log dwell- ing house, some five feet below grade.

"North of Hampshire, on Third, Fourth and Fifth streets. there were scattered dwellings. and all north of Broadway, was the 'Keyes farm,' extending from Twelfth to Front street, and from Broadway to Chestnut. The original cost to Mr. Keyes of that splendid property was abont eleven dollars, with an addition in the way of a bonus for the privilege of seeur- ing the tax title to this half section. He after- ward obtained, at a nmch increased figure. the patentee's title, thus protecting his claim to the whole. Two winding ravines tending north- westerly, wound through this section between Hampshire and Broadway, and ocenpied most of the area, leaving but here and there a place for a few cabins. The 'Burial Ground' (the south half of what is now Jefferson Park. where the courthouse stands) was a higher and more even piece of ground, unenclosed, with a few trees on it, and a rail pen or pile of brush here and there, indicating the existence of a grave.

"The north half of this square was a deep ravine. Between Fifth and Sixth, on the north side of Hampshire, were two cabins (a portion of this ground being badly ent up by ravines. The two-story brick house of Judge Young, on the ground where the Tremont Ilouse stands, eame later. On the south side of Hampshire,

PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.

being built by Loring HI. Reynolds, the two-story frame, which many may remember in later years as being the tavern kept by Joel Emery. whose musical 'Never Drink a Drop Again.' was a daily town melody. Farther on, looking east along the south side of Hampshire, were several small structures, some log, some frame, some on the street, others baek; among the latter the cooper shop of Wells & Morgan, in the rear of the present Rogers' building, which was, we believe, the first important cooperage establishment in the place.

"East of Sixth street was the government land office, a one-story frame. then Guth's cabin; next three or four more residences of like appearance. Across Seventh, on the ground where the old Browning mansion is now, and the Catholic schoolhouse stands, ex- tending beyond Eighth, were several log resi- dences, one a double cabin, occupied by Jesse Summers, another, by Henry Kemp. Thence on to Twelfth, there was a succession of hazel rough, then forest, and the whole area cut by half a dozen ravines running south. Hamp- shire, or 'Pucker' street. as it was in town slang, called, was the only outlet from the pub- lie square to the north and east. It ran along a ridge as far as Eighth, where the road turned northeast, entting across vacant ground until it reached the Alstyne prairie.

"On the north side of Hampshire where the Episcopal Church stands, was a corn field, in which stood David Karnes' blacksmith shop: the only house on that side of the street was Dronlard's second house, a double cabin. where the Bushnell residence now stands. Droulard was the owner of this entire quarter section. but it was all whittled out of his hands, and he died, as he lived, a poor 'French schentel- man.' A cabin at the corner of Twelfth and Maine was for a short time, we believe, oceu- pied by Mike Dodd, a rare humorist and ec- centric man, whose descendants now reside in Concord township. He died in 1857, was one of the earliest settlers, and tradition is laden with his quaint savings and acts. About where the Webster schoolhonse stands the ground was quite heavily wooded. With the exception of the cabin above-named. there was nothing in the way of what was called 'improvement' in this section. Ont on Maine street, east of the square, there were one or two cabins on the south side, between Fifth and Sixth, but be- vond that, nothing. The great ravine that crossed the street at Sixth, ended in that di- rection.

"Looking south from Hampshire street. along the east side of the public square, after passing the Emery tavern at the corner, were

a couple of cabins, one of which had been used as a schoolroom. Also the two briek buildings of Dunsmore and Carlin, in process of erection. These were built on the ground originally re- served for 'school purposes.' Next, about half way along the block, and back from the street, was the log jail of that day, the terror of great criminals and small boys. Its design was both ingenious and economical. It had no doors to the first story where rogues were confined, and the prisoners were taken upstairs to the second story and let down through a hole in the floor to the cell below. The tendency of all which was, undoubtedly, to the cultivation of better thought and more Christian disposition, since the prisoners could only hope and look for sus- tenance and deliverance from above.

"Yet farther south, near the corner of Maine. was the first courthouse : the primeval log tem- ple where, as the town wag used to say, 'jus- tice was dispensed with.' It was built in 1826 and burned in the winter of the year which we are describing (1835). It was, like its suc- cessor. a fortunate structure. Rejoicing at its birth were repeated at its death. The follow- ing obituary from the Illinois Bounty Land Register, the first and then the only paper pub- lished in Quincy, in its issue of December 11, 1835, prototypes what was thought. felt and said when a like event occurred on the 9th of January, 1875, forty years later :

' "FIRE-Our courthouse went the way of sublunary things amidst this devouring ele- ment on Wednesday evening last. There were many present to witness the splendid spectacle exhibited by the columns of smoke and flame which shot up to a considerable distanee as the conflagration increased, but if any regrets were expressed for the accident, they did not reach our ears.'

"Baek of the courthouse there was a grove of hazel and small trees. The square itself was a rongh hazel patch. Near its southeast corner, in the street in front of the courthouse, was a big stump. from which political speeches, legal sales, out-of-door sermons, etc., were made. At the southwest corner of Fifth and Maine, was the two-story frame dwelling and store of Levi Wells: then came towards the west two or three small one-story elapboard structures, attached and belonging to the Wells building.

"West of the Wells building. after an inter- val of vacant ground that long thus remained, there stood, about the middle of the block, the little frame shop of Montanden, the first jew- eler. afterwards occupied by W. II. Gage, whose two-story residence was in the rear. Then came two or three small one-story frame

PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.

law offices, used for such purposes for many years by Ralston, Warren. Logan, Wheat. Gil- man and successively by many of the early lawyers. Here also was the office of Drs. Nich- ols & Eels. One of the earliest of these, was a log cabin, elapboarded, which had been the of- fice of 'Squire Logan.' He came to Quincy a lit- the later than Archibald Williams, and was a leading lawyer, during his brief life, in a variety of attainments, brilliant resource and promise. Ile was, as Mr. Williams said. the brightest young lawyer of his day in Illinois, next to Ben Mills, that I ever met.' Logan died of the all prevading fever, which with the cholera in 1832 and 1833, almost decimated the place. Next, still looking west, was Rufus Brown's home cabin, and last, at the corner where now stands the Newcomb Hotel, was the half log, half frame tavern of Brown, the brag hotel of the place. On the corner of Fourth and Maine was the unfinished two-story frame house of Peter Felt, purchased and occupied by Capt. Burns, and subsequently used by the Illinois State Bank. Across the way, going north, at the cor- ner of Fourth and Maine, was the two-story frame long known as 'the old postoffice build- ing.' the first frame structure of the town. built in 1829, containing also in its chimney the first brieks burned, the first of which that was laid, being yet preserved in the wall of the large four-story honse that now occupies the spot. Here a ravine running northeast and southwest crossed the street. Beyond that, further north, was the little frame tailor shop of Michael Mast, the pioneer knight of the shears. Next. D. G. Whitney's two-story frame store about the center of the block, and between that and Hampshire a frame and a log building, one used by Gruel as a grocery, the other by the Pear- sons as a store.

"Thus appeared the public square, rifted by cross paths and roads and with still an occa- sional patch of hazel rough. There were, west- ward down Hampshire street, a few small buiklings, and around the square, besides those named above, perhaps half a dozen tum- ble-down structures, sprinkled here and there, too unsubstantial to be noticed or remembered. "South and southwest of the publie square. lay the most thiekly settled residence section of the place. Along Fifth street south for three or four blocks, on either side of the ridge, were several small houses. On Jersey, near where the German Methodist church now stands, on the south side, between Fifth and Sixth, was the residence of Mrs. Marshall. the widow of an early settler, who died some years earlier, and the mother of ex-Gov. Wm. Marshall, of Min- nesota ; and further along Jersey, westward.

there were other cabins, with an occasional small frame.

"On Maine, west of Fourth, on both sides. were houses as far as Mount Pisgah on Second street, among them Anderson's store, on the corner of Third, Peabody's wool-carding fac- tory, midway between Third and Fourth. South of the square, on Fourth street, on the west side, was the church -- 'God's barn,' as a long, low frame building (which was the earliest. and at the time, the only structure devoted to religious purposes ) was called.

"Associated with the remembrance of that ugly, clapboarded shed (for it was but little better than a shed ) are many eventful associ- ations that should be put on record. Familiar to the memory of the few surviving of the period, they should be preserved for their de- scendents. In that unpretentious ' manger' was first born and organized the religious senti- ment of the village. There was sown the seed whence have grown and flowered the various branches of protestant belief by which our city is now advantaged and adorned. Almost every church in Quiney, every shape of sectarian or- ganization is an outshoot of 'God's barn.'

"It was fostered in its earlier days by the faithful fervor of the lamented Turner, and made influential by the learning of Nelson and the originality of Foote. It had another and a higher mission. It was freedom's fortress when here 'freedom's battle first began,' when the . Nelson riots' arose, when humanity's duty to shield an innocent and eminent fugitive from pro-slavery barbarism was disputed, when that highest of American privileges, the right of free thought and free expression of thought was denied and assailed with threatened vio- lenee by men from abroad and men at home, among them, officials who should have been the guardians as they were the nominal representa- tives of good goverment and law. Then and there rallied from out the excited and divided community, true and fearless men (fearless be- cause of their being right ) and there organized in defense of free speech and quelled the threat- ened lawlessness. This was a turning period in Quiney's history. The old church was the place of rendezvous. It was prepared for de- fense, and beneath the platform of the rough pulpit, were hidden the arms of every sort, in- eluding hickory clubs, ready for instant use if needed. Religion and freedom will alike keep green the grateful memory of 'God's barn.'

"At the northwest corner of Jersey and Fourth, where the Baptist church now stands. was Judge Snow's double weather-boarded cabin, where all the county offices were located, and several cabins lay farther south and west.

4 1

PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.

About the corner of Second and Kentucky. on the side of the hill, was a frame house occu- pied by Archibald Williams, and on Fourth street, near York, was the two-story frame building of the Rev. Asa Turner, the first settled clergyman of the place."

Such was the place as recalled after the lapse of many years, though ernde, rude and rough is the picture that appears from beneath the gathered dust of nearly half a century, strange in its humble contrast with the stir and spring- ing life and luxury of to-day: yet there is a fadeless charm in the memorial thoughts, and there is hardly one of these now vanished land- marks that we have named, to which even vet some recollection does not reach back with mingled sentiments of pleasure, in the progress which had been made, and regret that the charm of simple frontier life has passed forever away.

The preceding picture, while it correctly por- trays and general aspect of Quincy early in 1835. is necessarily defective in detail, for the reason that it is a transcript from the tablet of a long-after recollection, and while precise as to what it does delineate, naturally has many omissions. It is observable also that this was a year of rapid and numerous transitions, and that the exhibit of the spring became a thor- oughly altered appearance at the close of the year. These changes, or some of them, will be noted as we pass on.

The political representation of the town and connty was but little varied. John M. Robin- son and Wm. L. D. Ewing were the U. S. sena- tors (the latter a very gifted man elected to fill the place of Elias Kent Kane, deceased). Col. Wm. L. May. of Springfield, was the repro- sentative in congress, his district embracing all of the state north of this line of latitude: Jo- seph Duncan was governor; Young was still on the bench; Win. A. Richardson was state's attorney. elected by the legislature. The legis- lative representation was unchanged. The county officials were those of the year before, except that at the August election, H. II. Snow. who had held the office of county recorder since 1825, was defeated at the polls by (. W. Bil- lington, a jolly good fellow, whose good nature and lameness ( he was a cripple ) gave him a pop- ular success over the "old judge." This did not matter greatly. since Snow still held the three other leading county offices.

The town authorities were changed at the June election. A. Williams, S. W. Rogers, J. T. Ilolmes, O. H. Browning and II. B. Berry were chosen trustees : J. T. Holmes was elected presi- dent and O. H. Browning clerk of the board. R. R. Williams, treasurer, and Thos. C. King, collector. The town ordinances were revised

and published. The omission of the year be- fore, to define the boundaries in the first sec- tion, was corrected, and we give the same as they were made. they being the first town boun- daries, and so continued until enlarged after Quincy became a city. The section reads : "Commencing at the termination of Delaware street, in John Wood's addition to Quincy. two rods west of low-water mark in the Mississippi river, thence running east one mile, thence north one mile, thence west one mile, thence south one mile to the place of beginning. This embraces the area now bounded by the river. Payson avenue, Twelfth and Oak streets.

Until this time all of the corporation action had been against rowdyism, lawlessness, nuis- ances, ete., but on the 17th of August the com- meneement of internal improvement legisla- tion oceurs. This was the appointment of Rog- ers. Berry and Snow (who had been appointed clerk in the place of Browning, resigned) to fix the grade of Hampshire street, and an ap- propriation of $125 was made for the improve- ment of Hampshire and an equal amount for improving Maine, also $2 was allowed E. Mor- rill for removing a snag in the Mississippi river opposite Quincy.

The winter of 1834-5 had been one of unusual severity-more injurious than any before known. There was much loss of cattle and kill- ing of fruit trees throughout this section. Nav- igation, however, opened as early as the 23d of January and an early business and immigration commeneed, surpassing that of all preceding periods, and which. although ever sinee con- timed. has never been so especially stirring and noticeable as it was then. Many influences contributed to these conditions. Quincy, from various causes, became a center to which and through which, flowed a large portion of that enrrent of immigration both native and for- eign. which streamed "westward ho." in search of location and home. It was, so to speak, the entrepot for farming lands, the "El Dorado" of promised settlement : the only place where could be secured by private purchase or by government entry, an ownership in the rich soil of the Military Tract, or, as it was more commonly called. the "bounty lands. "

Congress, shortly after the second war with England, reserved that portion of Illinois terri- tory lying between the Mississippi and Hlinois rivers and south of the southern line of what is now Rock Island county, as bounty to the sol- diers in the war of 1812, one hundred and sixty acres, or a quarter section was to be patented to every soklier of the war. This was then, as now, one of the choicest sections of the state. It measures one hundred and sixty-nine miles

PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.

in length from north to south, ninety miles across in its broadest part, with an average width of somewhat less than sixty miles. It comprises two hundred and seven complete townships of six miles square, and sixty-one fractional townships, or such as are irregular in their boundaries from bordering on one or the other of the two rivers. The entire tract contained, as per survey, about 5.360,000 acres. of which 3,500,000 acres were reserved or set apart for the bestowment of the soldiers' boun- ties above mentioned, and no lands could be entered or bought from the government until the soldiers' bounties were paid-indeed. as it happened, not until long after that time. The survey of the tract was made in 1815 and 1816, and immediately after patents were issued to the soldiers. The lands thus patented were in- variably chosen from the evenly measured quarter sections of one hundred and sixty aeres each, neither more nor less, and all fractional surveys. such as contained more or less than the above-fixed standard, as well as all the lands left after the bounty payment had been completed, were retained by the government and subsequently sold, many years later, at the price first of two dollars and after that, of one dollar and a quarter an aere.

About half of the tract was thus given in bounties, and the lands so given were almost wholly purchased from the soldiers by eastern capitalists, and at the first sale of lands for state taxes in 1823, nearly all of them were bought in by speculators. Thus the title to all these unoccupied lands, some 1,400,000 acres, was in the ownership of non-residents, and had been since 1823 in the charge of the agency of John Tillson, afterward and at this time. Till- son. Moore & Co., which was located at Quiney. Most of these lands were for sale and at very low rates, the prices ranging from fifty cents or less an aere. up to two, three or five dollars, according to title, location, etc .. but sales at the last named figures were very rare.

The unpatented land, which was commonly called government or congress land, was very gradually placed on market. Indeed, it was not until five or six years after the establish- ment of Quincy as the county seat that all the publie lands in Adams county were thrown open to purchasers. They were subject to entry, however, at this time (1835), and the government land offices were here located. Hence all who desired to purchase land. either by private sale or government entry, must come to Quiney to complete their dealings, so it may be readily conceived what an influx of travel and business was thus drawn to the place. Population flowed in from every quarter, from

the slave-worn south, from sterile New Eng- land, from the overerowded old world, at- tracted by the low price of the lands and the not greatly exaggerated tales of their won- drous fertility. Here they stopped, bought their lands and left their money : some settling near, some going to more distant locations.

Aiding these influences was also the great abundance of bank money, a condition that two years later was sadly reversed. The steps taken towards establishing a branch of the state bank, to which $120,000 (on paper) was subscribed here, the prospective Northern ('ross railroad (now the Wabash) also con- tributed to give life, vigor and apparent pros- perity. Travel greatly increased. Up to April 17th, twenty-six steamers had arrived : later in the season and late in the fall, the arrivals were almost daily, two packets elaiming to run semi- weekly from St. Louis to Keokuk. The first steam ferry was started by Merrill & Co., about July 10th; who advertised that they would cross every hour and oftener if desired, and «laimed they would eross in five minutes' time. The health of the town was greatly improved. as compared with previous years. The cholera which had so severely seourged it two years earlier, made a slight visitation, two persons only (strangers) dying of that disease.

A notable event was the establishment of the first newspaper, which was issued as a weekly. on April 17th, by C. M. Woods. The editorial and chief ownership was in Judge R. M. Young. It was styled the Bounty Land Regis- ter. The following year it changed hands and added to itself the name of Argus, by which title it was known for some time and about five years alter became the Herald. It is probably, next to the Journal and Register of Springfiell. the oldest journal in Illinois. Its appearance for the first two years contrasts strongly with the present day journals. It was printed on a sheet 16x20 inches, of coarse, dingy paper, and with the heaviest and blackest of ink. Its po- litical character was ".Jackson" or "Repub- lican, " the names Whig and Democrat of later years having not then been fully assumed. This paper, which gives the earliest continued rec- ord of public affairs in Quiney, was well man- aged, but it was largely made up of selections and news from abroad, containing compara- tively little of local information. People then wished to learn about the outside world, and personal gossips answered in the place of local editors. Among the items was one that would look strange now. It was the advertising by Judge Young for his runaway slave, George, and an offer of $50 for his apprehension. There were at that time quite a number of slaves in

PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.

the state, the owners of whom had been guaran- teed their property by the treaty, ceding to the United States, the Louisiana territory.

Initial movements were made during this year for the formation of the Baptist, Metho- dist, Episcopal and Unitarian churches. Mem- bers of these new societies had been either members of or were attendant on the First Con- gregational Church. The Methodist Church or- ganized in June and the Baptist Church in Au- gust, the other two a year or so later.

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Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, Part 8

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