USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 15
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By the year 1837 the population had been greatly increased, so much so that the necessity for a larger number of precincts was self evident. Therefore, at the June terin of the commissioners' court the county was laid off into thirteen precincts, namely :
No. I to consist of fractional township II north, range 9 east (now Chilli- cothe) known as Senachwine precinct, the election to be held at the house of William Dunlap in Chillicothe.
No. 2. Northampton, to consist of township If north, range S east (now Hallock), the elections to be held at the house of Reuben B. Hamlin.
No. 3. Prince's Grove, to consist of townships II north, range 6 east, and II north, range 7 cast ( now Princeville and Akron), the elections to be held at the schoolhouse at Prince's Grove.
No. 4. Rochester, to consist of township II north, range 5 east (now Millbrook), the elections to be held at the schoolhouse in Rochester.
No. 5. Charleston, to consist of township 10 north, range 5 east and east one-half (properly west one-half) of township 10 north, range 6 east (that is to say all of Brimfield and the west half of Jubilee), the election to be held at the house of Daniel Belcher in Charleston (now Brimfield ).
No. 6. La Grange, to consist of sections No. I to 24 in each of the town- ships No. 9 north, range 6 east, and 9 north, range 7 east, the east half of town-
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
ship 10 north, range 6 east, and all of township 10 north, range 7 east (that is to say the north two-thirds of townships Rosefield and Kickapoo, the east half of Jubilee, and all of Radnor), the elections to be held at the house of Lewis Coolidge.
No. 7. La Salle, to consist of townships 10 north, range 8 east, and 10 north, range 9 east (all of Mledina and Rome), the elections to be held at the house of Jefferson Taliafero.
No. 8. Peoria, to consist of sections 1 to 4, 9 to 12, 13 to 16, 21 to 24, 25 to 28, 33 to 36 in township 8 north, range 7 east ; sections 25 to 28 and 32 to 36 in township 9 north, range 7 east, and all of fractional township 8 north, range 8 east (that is to say, the east two-thirds of Limestone and eight sections ad- joining the same in the southeast corner of Kickapoo, and all of Peoria and Richwoods), the elections to be held at the court house.
No. 9. Middle, to consist of township 8 north, range 6 east ; sections 25 to 36 in township 9 north, range 6 east ; sections 5 to 8, 17 to 20, 29 to 32 in town- ship 8 north, range 7 east; and sections 29 to 32 in township 9, range 7 east ( that is to say all of Logan, the south one-third of Rosefield, the west one-third of Limestone and four sections in the southwest corner of Kickapoo), the elec- tions to be held at the house of Thomas P. Smith, at Smithville.
No. 10. Harkness, to consist of township 9 north, range 5 east (Elmwood). the elections to be held at the house of John Ewalt.
No. II. Copperas, to consist of township 8 north, range 5 east (Trivoli). the elections to be held at the house of Joseph Berry.
No. 12. LaMarsh, to consist of township 7 north, range 6 east, and 6 north, range 6 east (Timber ), the elections to be held at the house of William Duffield.
No. 13. Lafayette, to consist of township 7 north, range 7 east ( Hollis), the elections to be held at the house of Francis Johnson.
At the March term, 1840, township 10 north, range 7 east (Radnor) was constituted an election precinct to be called Benton, the elections to be held at the house of Alva Dunlap.
At the same term township o north, range 8 east (Richwoods) was consti- tuted an election precinct by the name of Jackson, the elections to be held at the house of John Clifton.
At the September term, 1841, the name of LaMarsh precinct was changed to Lancaster precinct.
At the March term, 1842, sections 31 and 32 in township 11 north, range 9 east all of fractional 10 north, range 9 east ; sections 1, 2, 11 and 12, 13, 14, 23. 24, 25, 26 and 35 in township 10 north, range 8 east ( that is to say, the south tier of Chillicothe, all of. Rome and one-third of Medina) were formed into a precinct called Rome, but at the June term, 1842, sections 31 and 32, township II north, range 9 east, were taken from Rome and re-attached to Senachwine. At the June term, 1843, sections 25 to 36 in township 9 north, range 7 east and sections 1 to 17, 20 to 30 and 34 to 36, in township 8 north, range 7 east (that is to say, the south one-third of Kickapoo and all of Limestone, with the excep- tion of five sections in the southwest corner) were constituted a precinct to be known as the Limestone precinct, the elections to be held at the house of James Jones.
This was the condition of the county when S. De Witt Drown published his map of the same in 1844. Subsequently at the June term, 1847, section 32, 8 north, 7 east, was taken from the middle and added to Limestone precinct.
At the June term, 1848, the Rome and La Salle precincts were vacated and a new precinct called La Salle was constituted out of the following territory: Sections 1, 2, 3, east half of 4, east half of 9, all of 10 to 15, the east half of 16, east half of 21, all of 22 to 27, east half of 28, east half of 33. all of 34 and 35, in township 10 north, range 8 east, and all of fractional township 10 north, range 9 east (that is to say, all of Medina east of a line running through the center of sections 4, 9, 16, 21, 28 and 33, and all of Rome), the elections to
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be held at the house of Thomas Mooney, subsequently in obedience to a vote of the people at the August election, changed to the house of Thomas B. Reed. In 1849 this section was visited by the scourge of cholera and many were the deaths that followed in its trail. The stricken became so numerous and the disease was so deadly that few of those left untouched by its ravaging hand had the temerity to nurse the sick and dying. Hence it was that the Peoria board of health was forced to find some place to house and segregate cholera patients and, on July 11 of the year above mentioned, the county com- missioners' court was prevailed upon to grant the use of the three upper rooms in the court house for hospital purposes. In addition, the county furnished beds and necessary medicines and delicacies for both town and county patients. At a special term of the court held in September, Alva Moffatt was given the contract to furnish coal for the court house and jail at five cents a bushel, and William Compher was authorized to procure three hundred dollars to be ex- pended in Pittsburg for iron used for the roof of the county jail. At this time William Mitchell was clerk, but before the next session of the court, held in November following, he fell a victim of cholera. Ralph Hamlin was appointed his successor and, on the 23d day of November, 1849, the last term of the com- missioners' court was held, it ceasing to exist, a county court having been provided for by law.
COUNTY COURT
At the election held in the fall of 1849, Thomas Bryant was elected county judge, who superseded the county commissioners' court in the transaction of the county's business. The first term of the county court was held on the 3d day of December, 1849, but in the spring of 1850, a board of supervisors had been elected, which took full management of the county's affairs on the 9th of July following. The question of adopting the "township system" of govern- ment had been submitted to a vote of the electors in the fall of 1849, which resulted in a majority vote of 2,128 being cast in its favor. There were only nineteen votes in the negative. David Sanborn, George Holmes and Mark Aiken were appointed commissioners to divide the county into townships and the first election of supervisors was held in April, 1850. The newly elected body held its first meeting on the 8th day of April, 1850, at which time the twelve town- ships then organized were represented by the following named persons:
Townships
Supervisors
Hollis.
Stephen Wheeler
Rosefield.
.
. John Combs
Orange. Samuel Dimon
Richwoods . Josiah Fulton
Chillicothe Charles S. Struther
Benton
. Jonathan Brassfield
Benjamin Slane
Akron.
Isaac Brown Limestone.
Princeville L. B. Cornwell
Jubilee. William W. Church
Millbrook. Clark W. Stanton
Trivoli
David R. Gregory
Samuel Dimon was elected by his fellow members chairman of the board, and Charles Killette was clerk.
In the June ( 1850) meeting of the board Orange township was given the name of Kickapoo. Benton was changed to Fremont and later the name was discarded for that of Radnor, in honor of one of the pioneers of that region. The last session of the county commissioners' court was a special one, which
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
lasted three days and adjourned on Friday, November 23, 1849. The first term of the county court was held December 3, 1849, and the last term on the 4th day of June, 1850.
THE PROBATE COURT
In the legislative aet creating the county of Peoria, provision was made for the election of a probate judge for the county, whose tenure of office should be during good behavior. The probate courts were first established by law Feb- ruary 10, 1821, and their jurisdiction was similar to that of the probate courts of the present day, although many changes had been made as the years went by. They were courts of record and the judge also acted as his own clerk. Norman Hyde was the first incumbent of this office and was elected within a day or two after the passage of the bill organizing the county. Governor Edward Coles issued to him his commission on the 18th day of January, 1825, but he did not qualify until the 4th day of June following, John Dixon, clerk of the circuit court administering the oath of office. In the meantime, Mr. Hyde had been appointed clerk of the commissioners' court and performed the duties of that office until his induction into the office of probate judge. On the 6th of June, 1825, Judge Hyde opened his court, but there being no matters for settlement, an adjournment was taken until the next term, and so on for the next four terms the court was without anything to do and at once adjourned for that reason. It was not until the 30th day of September, 1825, that the first estate of a deceased person was entered in the court. On that day John Barker took out letters of administration upon the estate of John O'Brien, giv- ing bond in the sum of $800, with John L. Bogardus and Daniel Like as securi- ties. The court then adjourned, that having been all the business before it. Nothing came up before the court until December 5th, when the will of Isaac Remsden, Jr., made in Muskingum county, Ohio, dated May 13, 1825, was probated. The witnesses to the will were Thomas Bell and Gilbert Crandall. Letters of administration were issued to Jacob Crooks.
No business was brought before the court until April 11, 1826, several ad- journments having been taken in the meantime. On this day Isaac Perkins was appointed administrator of the estate of Elza Bethard, deceased. However, at the October term, Handy Bethard proved himself to be the next of kin and the letters of administration granted Perkins were revoked and Bethard was appointed in his stead.
WHEREIN CHICAGO FIGURES
Alexander Wolcott appeared at the April ( 1826) term of court and made proof of the death of John Crafts of Chicago, a prominent member of the American Fur Company. Upon filing a bond of $3,000, Wolcott was issued letters testamentary, having for his sureties John Kinzie, of Chicago, and John Latham. On the 20th day of November, 1826, Wolcott submitted his appraise- ment and sale bills of the estate, which were recorded. The appraisers were John Kinzie and "Billy" Caldwell, both of Chicago. On this day also came Jacob Crooks, administrator of the estate of Isaac Remsden and filed his ap- praisement of the estate, made by Alexander MeNaughton, John Griffith and Hugh Montgomery, and sworn to before 'Squire John Dillon.
On the Ioth day of December, John Barker, as executor of the estate of Joseph O'Brien, filed his appraisement of property of the deceased, which had been sworn to before Stephen French, justice of the peace. On the next day Margaret Latham and Richard Latham, her son, were appointed administrators of the estate of James Latham (the same who claimed title to part of the town site of Peoria ) deceased, Benjamin Briggs, Grant Blackwell and John Hamlin becoming their sureties on a bond of $2,000.
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
The first final settlement of an estate in Peoria county was that of Joseph O'Brien, John Barker, on the 16th day of April, 1826, having filed his final account, which showed a balance for distribution among the heirs of $416.311/4.
The appraisement of the property of James Latham was made by Peter G. Cowerdin, Charles Finley and Grant Blackwell, and an additional appraise- ment was made by John Hamlin, John Barker and Henry Neely, and sworn to before John L. Bogardus, of Peoria. The papers showed that after the deduction of expenses a balance of $968.21 remained. This appraisement was filed by Richard Latham, April 19, 1827. On the 8th day of January, 1828, Richard Latham filed the sale bill of James Latham's property at Elkhart Grove, Sangamon county, amounting to $722.46, of which the widow's award was $301.75.
Alexander Wolcott, administrator, closed up the affairs of the estate of John Crafts, in which, among other items, he charged himself with $2,500, received from the American Fur Company in New York, Craft's share of profits on the Chicago assets for 1825-6, according to the award of Thomas Addis Emmet, a noted lawyer of New York city, arbiter in the matter. After crediting himself with an item of $784, being the amount of an account of the American Fur Company against the estate, one of John Kinzie's for $87.88 and one of Gurdon S. Hubbard for $22, a balance was shown in favor of the heirs in the sum of $1,454.25. On the same day Wolcott made proof of the death of John Kinzie, of Chicago, and was granted letters testamentary on his estate, the bond being placed at $3,000, with John Beaubien and James Kinzie as sureties. On the 19th day of May, Wolcott filed a schedule of the property of John Kinzie, made at Chicago, on April 22d, by Alexander Doyle and J. B. Beaubien and acknowledged by R. A. Kinzie, clerk. The property amounted to $805.40, plus a sale bill amounting to $254.871/2.
Josiah Fulton applied for letters of administration upon the estate of his brother, Samuel Fulton, late sheriff of Peoria county, December 4, 1829. He was appointed administrator and the bond was fixed at $1,000. An appraise- ment was made of the estate by H. B. Stillman and Norman Hyde and filed with the court.
On the 17th day of December, 1830, John B. Beaubien obtained letters of administration upon the estate of Francis La Frambois, of Chicago. John Hamlin and David Hunter were his sureties on a bond of $3,000. On the same day, David Hunter proved the death of Alexander Wolcott and was appointed administrator, debonis non of the estate of John Kinzie, late of Chicago. His bond was $3,000 and with him signed John B. Beaubien and John Hamlin. By this time the reader must have gathered the idea that the two men just mentioned were professional bondsmen.
Francis Sharp, on the 27th day of January, 1831, proved the death of his father, George Sharp, a member of the county commissioners' court. Letters of administration were granted him and Elizabeth Sharp, the widow of the deceased, with bond of $4,000. The sureties were John Hamlin and Alexander Caldwell. The inventory and sale bill of the estate was filed in May, which showed a personal estate amounting to $524.0614. On the same day David Hunter, administrator of the estate of John Kinzie, filed a report, showing he had received from various sources the sum of $740.25 due the estate. The report also showed that the sum of $2,190.12 was due the estate from the American Fur Company, with interest at five per cent from May 12, 1828.
The David Hunter here mentioned was a man of no ordinary distinction. He was an officer in the regular army and was for some time in command of Fort Dearborn. During the Civil war he became one of the leaders among the many brave commanders in the army and rose to the rank of major-general.
The last entry made by Judge Norman Hyde was the notation on his record of the adjournment of court February 6, 1832, as his death occurred soon thereafter. His successor, in the person of Andrew M. Hunt, was commis-
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
sioned as judge of the probate court, by Governor John Reynolds, November 10, 1832, and on the 15th day of November took his seat on the bench. On the 2Ist day of November John Hamlin and Simon Reed filed the will of Norman Hyde, in which John Hamlin, Simon Reed and Andrew M. Hunt were named as executors. Only the first two could qualify, as the latter had become the judge of the court before whom the estate must be settled.
The office of probate judge was abolished by act of the legislature March 4, 1837. But an additional justice of the peace, styled probate justice of the peace, was elected in August of that year, whose jurisdiction was the same as other justices, in addition to which he was clothed with authority and minis- terial powers in probate matters and jurisdiction when executors or adminis- trators were parties to a suit to the amount of $1,000; also the same judicial powers of a probate judge. However, all his acts were subject to the approval of the circuit court. It will be seen, therefore, that Judge Andrew M. Hunt's official career was a short one. At the election held in August, 1837, George B. Parker was elected the first probate justice of the peace. In 1839 he was succeeded by Dr. Edward Dickinson, who served until 1843, when William H. Fessenden was elected. Thomas Bryant followed Fessenden in 1847 and re- tained the office until November 29, 1849, when the office was abolished.
CHAPTER XV
SELECTION OF A SITE FOR AND ERECTION OF A COURT HOUSE-CIRCUIT COURT-
JAILS-THE FIRST COURT IIOUSE, SO-CALLED, A LOG CABIN-THE FIRST BUILD- ING ERECTED BY THE COUNTY A BRICK STRUCTURE-THE SECOND COURT HOUSE -COUNTY INFIRMARY-HOME FOR THE INSANE-COUNTY OFFICERS.
One of the first orders entered in the minute book of the county commis- sioners' court, at its first terin, was for the selection of a site and the erection thereon of a court house, the same to be twenty fcet square and nine feet from the floor to the joists, with a good plank or puncheon floor; also a clerk's office fourteen feet square, with a good puncheon floor, both to be of good materials and finished in a workmanlike manner-the clerk's office to be ready for occu- pancy by the 20th day of April, and the court house on the 25th day of May. Four days later the order for these buildings was rescinded.
The first court house, or rather, the first meeting place of the county com- missioners, was at the house of Joseph Ogee, below the ferry and some dis- tance from the tract of land designated by the legislature for the county seat, and for the use of the house Ogee was allowed one dollar. This place had also been chosen in which to hold the circuit court, and the records show that the November term of the circuit court was held at the Ogee home and the May term of the commissioners' court in 1826, for the use of which Ogee was allowed three dollars. The next term of the circuit court was held at the house of Louis Beeson, who at the December term, was allowed for the use of his house the sum of $16. Joseph Ogee was a half-breed, with a strain of French blood. His wife was a Pottawatomie. He was in the employ of the American Fur Company, as was also Beeson. The Ogee house was reputed to have been the best in Peoria at the time of which we write, being con- structed of hewn logs, and this probably accounts for his place being chosen by the courts for their meetings. It is surmised that the Beeson house was the same as that mentioned as Ogee, for the latter had moved from the settle- ment soon after the May ( 1826) term of the commissioners' court. In Drown's Historical View of Peoria, published in 1844, a writer, presumably John Ham- lin, says the house in which the court was held in November, 1826, was "a log building on the bank of the river, in which jurors slept on their blankets on the floor."
THE CIRCUIT COURT
In the session of the legislature which convened in December, 1824, the judiciary of the state was reorganized and divided into five judicial circuits and in the same act five circuit judgeships were created. Prior to this, members of the supreme court of the state held the circuit courts. The first circuit was composed of the counties of Sangamon, Pike, Fulton, Morgan, Greene and Montgomery, and the judge for this district, as for the others, was elected by the general assembly, their commissions being dated on the 19th day of Janu- ary, 1825. John Sawyer was elected to the first circuit, to which Peoria county upon its organization, was attached. The first term of the circuit court in the
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
first district convened on the 14th day of November, 1825, with John York Sawyer, judge; John Dixon, clerk; Samuel Fulton, sheriff ; James Turney, attorney general. Judge Sawyer was a large man, physically, and of an impos- ing appearance. He was a terror to evil-doers and severe upon criminals. An incident related of him in this connection is that of a man who had been con- victed of petty larceny, the penalty for which was a whipping on the bare back, the stripes not to exceed forty. The attorney for the defendant had made a motion for a new trial, but before the question was argued the attorney's atten- tion was called temporarily to some other matter and in his absence the judge ordered the offender to be punished according to law by being tied to a tree near the court house. It is said that Judge Sawyer witnessed the whipping from his seat on the bench, counting the stripes as they were laid on. When the job was finished, and not until then, the defendant's attorney appeared and he was informed by the judge that he could have a new trial if he wished ; but the defendant was averse to anything of the kind, having protested that he had had trials enough.
It will have been seen that the county commissioners' court at its April term in 1825 had ordered the sheriff to summon grand and petit jurors selected at the first term of the court to appear on the second Monday in June, but there is no record of any court having been hekl on that date and it is therefore presumed that the first term was convened in the month of November. Only sixteen of the twenty-four grand jurors selected, appeared, namely: John Ham- lin, Stephen French, Thomas Dillon, Henry Thomas, George Harlan, Isaac Waters, Augustus Langworthy, George Sharp, Seth Wilson, John Klein, George Klein, Isaac Perkins, John Phillips and Major Donaho. The grand jury re- turned five indictments, one of which was for murder, two for assault and two for minor offenses.
The murder case referred to brought to Peoria nearly all of the settlers of this locality. The prisoner at the bar was an Indian named Nomaque, who was charged with the killing of a Frenchman by the name of Pierre Landre. Jacques Mette and Joseph Ogee were appointed interpreters. William S. Han- ilton was counsel for the defendant but great difficulty was encountered in obtaining a jury. The following named persons, however, were empaneled : Austin Crocker, Allen S. Daugherty. Alexander McNaughton, Nathan Dillon, Henry Neely, William Woodrow, Peter Dumont, Aaron Reed, Abram Galentine, Josiah Fulton, Cornelius Doty and David Matthews. This jury convicted Nomaque, and Hamilton carried the case to the supreme court, where he ob- tained a reversal of the judgment, but the Indian was held as a prisoner until the next grand jury should pass upon the case. The other indictments found at this term were against Joseph Ogee and Jacob Frank for an affray; Levi Ellis and Lyman Leonard charged with a like offense; Abner Cooper for as- sault and battery ; and John Griffin, charged also with assault and battery. During this term William S. Hamilton was twice fined by the court for con- tempt. At this term Judge York issued peremptory writs to compel the ap- pearance of Louis Beeson, Pierre Chevilire, Francis Borbonnie, Sr., Francis Borbonnie, Jr., and Antoine Borbon, who had failed to recognize the original summons for their appearances as witnesses in the Nomaque case.
The duration of the first term of court was four days and no other term was held until in October, 1826, when Judge York again sat upon the bench. The most important case to be tried was that of Nomaque, the Indian, against whom a second indictment had been found. Of this second trial and its results an interesting description is given by one of the grand jurors in Drown's direc- tory for 1844:
"In the year 1826, I lived three miles from Mackinaw river, on the Peoria and Springfield road, in what is now Tazewell county, but then attached to Peoria, and being that year twenty-one years old, I was summoned upon the grand jury. There were not then enough adults in Peoria county proper to
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