USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 9
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Ilere ends the work of Colonel Rice on the manuscript for this history. "Man proposes, but God disposes," is an aphorism which has been fully exem- plified in the plans of the author of the foregoing pages of historical events. His aim and ambition were to leave to Peorians a work that would meet their wishes and approval and, at the same time, redound to his credit and come up to the anticipations of his many friends. He had given the matter his earnest, sincere and careful attention, laying out a plan which would cover the subject truthfully and completely ; but, the hand of death unexpectedly intervened and, while in the full flush of apparently good health, he was laid low and another was delegated to continue the program as mapped out by him and in accordance with his wishes.
CHAPTER XI
REMINISCENCES OF OLD SETTLERS
The spirit of former times, and the hopes, desires, and ambitions of the old pioneers, the motives that caused them to move to a new country, the spirit that governed them in their social life and business, their trials, hardships and their pleasures, the difficulties they had to overcome and the methods they took to accomplish this and makeshifts they were compelled to resort to, their modes of entertainment and the happy spirit they preserved with it all are best shown by permitting them to tell their own story in their own way. Therefore, a number of reminiscences and recollections of the old settlers themselves, ex- pressed in their own words as nearly as practicable are embodied in this history. Nothing else could give us such a vivid picture of those early days or could it make it so attractive. In reading these reminiscences, we know we are getting a description of the situation at first hands, and, if in some cases, their views were different from ours, it indicates the progress of civilization and develop- ment, for better or worse, as the case may be.
These early reminiscences will give the origin of many of the families now living in Peoria and will be doubly interesting to their descendants because given in the language of the actors in that stirring time.
Considerable effort has been made to secure as many of these reminiscences as possible and make them as full as the lapse of time will permit.
The first one presented will be that of Mrs. Julia M. Ballance who came to Peoria in 1835 and became the wife of Charles Ballance who wrote one of the first histories of Peoria.
Mrs. Ballance at the time these recollections were penned was an old lady but her remembrance of persons and events was remarkably full and clear. The reminiscences here given were written at the request of the Herald-Trans- script, and printed in that paper in 1899, but one year before her death.
REMINISCENCES OF JULIA M. BALLANCE
My father's second wife was a Presbyterian, unused to slave labor and with no faculty for controlling them. Naturally she disliked the blacks, a feeling they were all too ready to reciprocate, and when Rev. Isaac Kellar, who was married to my father's sister, moved to Illinois and wrote back glowing accounts of the promise of the new country my step-mother added her entreaty to his that we should break up our home in Maryland and join the Kellar's in Peoria. One line of argument had great weight with my father. He had four sons rapidly approaching manhood, his farm was not large enough to settle them all with the corresponding negro hands, other good farm land in the neighborhood was scarce as well as high in price, and there seemed no better way to provide for all these boys than to seek a new country. Accordingly in 1835, after the crops were all gathered, he closed up his business, sold or rented his slaves and started for the land of promise.
JOURNEY TO A NEW COUNTRY
The journey of course had to be made overland and for that purpose he provided a large covered wagon drawn by four and sometimes five horses for
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the accommodation of my brothers, John, David, Washington and Henry, my sisters, Susan and Amanda and myself; another wagon drawn by two horses in which clothing, camp equipage and food were carried; and a covered carriage for father, his wife and two little children. Our horses were large, strong ani- mals, our wagons provided with every comfort and convenience, experience or ingenuity could suggest, and one beautiful sunny day in October we started on our journey. It must have been hard for the older people to leave all that was dear to them by association or recollection, but the young looked forward rather than back and in the excitement of that first day's travel my brothers and I drew beautiful fancy pictures of the life that was before us.
So far as I can recollect our journey through Maryland and Pennsylvania was uneventftil. The road was perfect, the weather fine, and we easily made a drive of twenty-five miles per day. As a rule there was no difficulty in obtain- ing accommodations at a hotel or farmhouse, but if these failed we young people thought it no hardship to spend the night in the wagons. Bedding was abundant, and we were exceedingly comfortable. Father was particular about the observance of the Sabbath, and we always laid by from Saturday till Mon- day morning, but these stops must have been at unimportant points, for I remem- ber none till we reached Wheeling, Virginia. Here we remained for two or three days to readjust the loads of goods, the heavy and bulky articles being separated from the others and shipped by water down the Ohio and up the Illinois river to l'eoria. This we accomplished through Mr. John R. Forsyth, a commission merchant in Wheeling, who took charge of and shipped them to the care of Andrew Gray, a commission man in Peoria, and our only knowledge of the shipment for many long weeks was through this latter gentleman, who was finally notified when they were transferred to another boat at St. Louis. It may be mentioned in passing that Mr. Forsyth was the father of Henry Forsyth, for a number of years clerk of our county court, and the grandfather of Mirs. C. R. Warner. He removed to Peoria soon after we did, and formed a partnership with Ar. Gray, whom all old citizens will remember and who is still represented in our midst by his daughter, Mrs. John McDougal and her sons. Both of these gentlemen were from the north of Ireland and were fine specimens of that eloquent and courtly race. There was much to interest tis in Wheeling, but unfortunately we had all been made more or less ill by eating pawpaws gathered by the wayside and were unable to avail ourselves of half our opportunities. One thing, however, we felt that all muist see and that was the steamer Algonquin, on which our goods were being stored. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal was in operation and the older members of the family had in- spected the boats on the canal and considered them a triumph of luxury, but not even my father had seen anything so fine as a steamboat and to all of tis it seemed a floating palace. The boys were especially excited and could not sufficiently admire its various parts from the wheel in the pilot house to the conveniences for storing freight in the hold.
Another curiosity and delight was the glass factory still in its infancy but quite sufficiently developed to draw crowds of interested observers. I remained at the hotel, too unwell to undertake such an expedition, but grew quite familiar with its wonders at second-hand in the long days that followed.
On Monday we were all feeling much better and with our load of goods greatly lightened, took up our journey across Ohio, still keeping to the National road. Various schemes for facilitating travel were being urged but Illinois knew of these things only by distant rtimor. On the whole the greatest civilizer of this and neighboring states was the National Road,* of which such frequent
* This National Road at the time it was built was probably as important to the people as the Union Pacific was at the time it was built and it cost the general government in proportion to its means as much as the Transcontinental Railroad. It was built by Con- gress under desires to provide for the mail service and was operated as a mail route, very important in that particular and very important to bind the nation together by union of inter-
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LAKE AT GLEN OAK PARK
LOG CABIN AT GLEN OAK PARK BUILT BY PEORLA COUNTY PIONEERS
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and grateful mention is made by early settlers. Starting from Cumberland it was finished as far as Wheeling in 1820 at a cost of $17,000,000, but was subse- quently extended across' Ohio and Indiana. In the language of Professor Andrews, "It was thirty-five feet wide thoroughly macadamized, and had no grade above five degrees." As it was kept in repair for the sake of the govern- ment mail it can easily be imagined what a boon it must have been to immigrants with their heavy wagons and helpless families. The first stop that I remember was at Zanesville, which was considered a flourishing town, and for some reason had an especial attraction for us, but I cannot remember why. Columbus also met with our approval, but we drove briskly through it till we reached some shade trees, where we rested and ate luncheon. We especially commended the apples which were very fine and abundant.
At this point my father decided to go by way of Dayton, so we left the National road and drove through mud and slush for half a day to reach it. I am not sure whether it was by appointment or accident, but at Dayton we met a family of the name of Wonderlich, the father of whom was an uncle of my
communications. It is probable that railroads by facilitating intercourse as well as commerce between different neighborhoods and states are not only among the greatest civilizers by en- abling each portion of the country to learn the best things from other parts but it enables the people to become acquainted with each other.
"East of Alton was the town of Vandalia, where ended the unfinished National Pike. The construction of that famous highway was begun at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1811; but so slowly did the work progress that six years passed before the first mail-coach rolled over it and entered Wheeling. Two years later Congress decided to continue the road from Wheeling to some point on the Mississippi between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois River, and appropriated ten thousand dollars for preliminary surveys. But five years elapsed before a dollar was provided for building the road, and ground was broken at St. Clairs- ville, a little town in Ohio, a few miles west of Wheeling. Columbus was reached by 1830, and when the last appropriation was made, in 1838, the road was finished as far as Spring- field, and graded, bridged, and partially completed to Vandalia.
"In Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the Cumberland Road wound and twisted through the mountains. But once across the Ohio the route was to be as straight as pos- sible from Wheeling to the Mississippi, regardless of towns along the way. Against this the General Assembly of Illinois protested, and asked that the road should join the capital cities of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. When therefore, the first appropriation for construc- tion was made it was ordered that the great highway should pass through Columbus, In- dianapolis, and Vandalia, then the capital of Illinois. Straightness, however, was not de- parted from, and the road was built with little regard for topography. Hills were cut through, lowlands were crossed on high embankments. and streams, large and small, were spanned by massive stone bridges, the like of which cannot be found on any other road in all our land.
"To keep such a highway, eighty feet wide, in repair was so costly a matter that Congress ordered gates put up and tolls collected at regular intervals. This, in the opinion of Monroe, was going too far; it was assuming jurisdiction over the land on which the road was built ; and the bill came back with his veto and a long dissertation on the intent and meaning of the Constitution. Thereupon Congress repaired the road so far as built and turned it over to the States through which it passed to be by them kept in repair forever. As new portions were constructed they, too, passed to the care of the States, which at once put up toll-gates.
"No highway was more travelled, more crowded, more interesting. Over it each day went thousands of mail-coaches, passenger-coaches, freighters. Along its route had sprung up hundreds of taverns, beneath whose roofs the travellers lodged, and hundreds of wagon houses, where entertainment was provided for the teamsters and their beasts. Before the doors of such taverns as went back to the early days of the road, might still be seen the old-fashioned sign whereon was rudely painted the Green Tree, the Golden Lamb, the White Horse, the Golden Swan, or the Indian Queen, by which the house was known. Those of a later date had verandas and bore on their signs the names of their owners. Only the newest were called American House, United States Hotel, National House, or Buckeye Hotel.
"On the outskirts of the towns and villages and at short distances along the road were the wagon houses, plain frame buildings with great yards, long watering troughs and huge barns, in many of which a hundred horses might rest. None but teamsters found enter- tainment at such places, and at any of them after nightfall a group of wagoners might be seen gathered at the bar or seated around the huge fireplace, and sleeping on the floor in winter or in the great yard in summer.
"From each important town along the route stage lines ran out north and south."- McMaster.
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step-mother. This man was the grandfather of Mrs. Calvin Schnebly, of Richwoods, and her mother was a young girl at the time and assisted in enter- taining us. We remained two or three days with these kind friends, resting and preparing for the worst part of the journey.
I remember little of Indianapolis, except from there on the road was very bad, and we seemed a long, long ways from home. The turnpike existed only in spots from this time, and we would sometime jolt for hours over a corduroy road formed of trees roughly cut and dropped carelessly into the oozy soil. The prairies were uncultivated, and while the grass waved above the heads of the horses the wagon wheel would suddenly sink to the hubs in an unsuspected slough. This meant long delay. With a groan the boys would clamber from their seats, double up teams, perhaps have to pry the wheels out of the mud, and then repeat the process with the vehicles in the rear. Sometimes such experiences would oeeur several times in a day, and were fiery trials to patience and temper as well as weary bodies. Now and then we would overtake movers with oxen, and as it was a law of the road that each should help the other these were often of great assistance to our lighter loads. The first question of all such was: "Where are you going stranger?" and the almost invariable reply : "To Logansport. Injianny." "Don't they have ague there?" we would ask, and the reply was: "Oh yes, sometimes." In fact malaria was the rule throughout the state. In many houses where we stopped there was not a single well person to wait upon the sick, and all the settlers looked bleached and sallow. Still all were cheerful under the affliction and looked for better times in the spring- not one was preparing to give it up and return east.
As we left the well settled portions of the country behind, we became more dependent upon ourselves in the 'matter of food. We had brought with us a liberal supply of potatoes, coffee, tea and dried fruit, nuts of various kinds abounded in the woods and apples might generally be had for the asking; eggs, milk and butter were found at every farm house, and fish in every stream; but the great annoyance was the difficulty of obtaining bread. Public bakers were scarce and I recall one town where but a single loaf could be obtained. With so large a family, this became a serious matter and at length my step-mother, with the energy that distinguished her, took the matter in hand. Wherever we might chance to camp at night, by the roadside or in the bleakest prairies, she would set her bread to rise and then in the din morning hours finish her baking before the early drive began. The only utensil for this purpose was a large, round iron pot or pan, with feet and a right cover, called a "Dutch oven." which was heated by heaping coals beneath it and spreading a layer on the lid. In the light of our present conveniences this appears a slow and troublesome proc- ess, but after all these years it still seems to me that no cakes or bread or biscuit were ever so sweet or so well baked as those turned out of that old "Dutch oven."
The ride through Indiana was dreary in the extreme: we had seen no one we knew anything about for days and when we reached Terre Haute and were invited to dine with a Mr. Stoll whom father had known as a boy the invitation was eagerly accepted. This gentleman was soon after appointed territorial governor of Iowa and of course left the country, but I still think of Terre Haute tenderly for the sake of the dinner he gave us.
Richmond is also pleasantly remembered; the people were kind and hospitable and we laid in a bountiful supply of provisions to last us through the wilderness which stretched before us.
At another town in Indiana we had to lie by on account of the sickness of a favorite mare named Dolly. I had never seen an animal doctored by filling a bottle with medicine and forcibly pouring the dose down its throat and it seemed very eruel, but in this case, at least, it was efficacious and the next day Dolly was able to travel.
When we reached the Wabash the difficulties of the journey were greatly increased. Hitherto we had crossed all streams by means of bridges, but here
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there was only a rope ferry boat and when we drove on board all felt as if we were taking our lives in our hands. For a long distance beyond this ferry we drove through dark and forbidding woods and when at length we were called upon to camp in their shadows we were all much depressed. To make the situation more unpleasant we entirely lost our beloved National road from this time. It had been surveyed and partly graded in Illinois, but not a foot macad- amized beyond the state line. For some reason our route lay midway between Decatur and Springfield, and we passed no town in the state of sufficient im- portance to vary the monotony.
Paris, our first stopping place, was not calculated to rouse our courage. The ague was widespread and there was not an able bodied person in the town. As a consequence provisions were scarce and we went on our way with many forebodings.
The next day to our great surprise we met three cousins of father's who had been through lowa and Illinois buying land and were returning to Maryland. Two of these gentlemen had made the entire journey on horseback, while the third, who was lame, had driven in a buggy. We were much delighted to see them, though our greetings were exchanged in the middle of a big prairie and the visit lasted less than an hour. Their account of what they had seen did much to encourage our party and we went on in far better spirits.
Beyond Waynesville we had in a small way a really serious trouble, though it seems insignificant enough in the retrospect-we lost our mush pot! Every old housekeeper will remember the value attached in the days before porcelain- lined and galvanized ware were invented, to any iron vessel that was perfectly smooth and warranted not to discolor the most delicate food. Such a one was our mush pot and valuable as it was under any circumstances, it was doubly so in the present crisis. It had been tied throughout the journey to the wagon pole and came loosened and rolled away. My step-mother felt ruined so far as good cooking was concerned and would have driven back in search of her treasure if my father had not discouraged the attempt.
Coming through Indiana we became acquainted with a family by the name of Boone, and as they were traveling to the same section of the country we were often thrown together. The party consisted of the old gentleman, his wife, who weighed over two hundred pounds, and six grown daughters, and a married son with his wife and two children. Each family had what was called a "Jersey" wagon and a pair of little horses to take them from their distant home in the eastern part of Pennsylvania to central Illinois. Although pleasant acquaintances they became a great drawback to traveling. Their horses were quite unequal to the load they had to draw and several times a day our teams would be unhitched to drag them out of the mud. Finally one of the young ladies was taken sick, and as the family was unable to travel in consequence, our boys hastened on, much pleased to think we were rid of them. But their joy was short lived, for by means of early rising our friends soon overtook us and we continued to help them out of the mud till we reached Mackinaw. Here they remained for a couple of weeks, but eventually came to Peoria to spend the winter. Miss Susan Boone afterwards married Dr. Maus, of Mack- inaw, and they moved to Pekin. Hopkins Boone, the son. and his family went to Joliet, where they had relatives, and I lost sight of them.
Another family we met in traveling was that of Major Walker. They left us to go to Springfield, but eventually settled in Lewistown.
A disease as much dreaded by immigrants as ague was the "milk sickness," which we heard of in Illinois. It was said to come from a weed the cattle ate, which poisoned the milk, and was thereby communicated to human beings. Our first knowledge of Pekin was through a report that milk sickness was especially prevalent there, though indeed every new place was suspected of the same con- tamination.
From Mackinaw we struck across the country, expecting to come through
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Tremont, but accidentally took the wrong road and passed down Deacon street instead, and soon came to the bluffs overlooking Peoria. It was a beautiful afternoon, and as the sunlight gilded the tops of the trees and played hide-and- seek among the shadows, the panorama that stretched before us was most at- tractive. The hardships of the long weary way over which we had passed were forgotten as we looked at the glistening river and the village so pictur- esquely hidden by the surrounding bluffs. Even the horses seemed to feel that rest was near and cantered briskly down the long slope that led to the ferry, which plied at the foot of Bridge street, and over which we must pass before reaching our destination. By the time we got to Main and Water streets dark- ness had set in, and strangers as we were it was impossible to find accommoda- tions for so large a party. At length an old man by the name of Hardesty, who lived in a little house where the Colburn & Birks' building now stands, offered to shelter my father and mother. He had but one room to offer, and even that had no bedstead, but we sent over our own bedding and made a bed upon the floor. This would not have been considered a privation by persons who had lived as we had through the last six weeks of our journey, but unfortunately a terrific storm of rain and wind came up in the night, the rain drifted under the outer door and ran in streams to the bed, which was thoroughly soaked, and the occupants driven to chairs and tables for protection. Those of us who had slept in the wagons were dry and warm but much frightened, and altogether our first night in Peoria was not a happy one. Nor can it be wondered at; but it is rather a surprise that any of us lived through the hardships of the first season, to tell the truth. The girls especially had been delicately reared, and had never done a stroke of work unless for their own pleasure. Servants had always been plentiful to attend to their slightest wish, and the transition from a life of ease to the labor and deprivations of pioneer life was enough to appal the stontest heart.
The Rev. Isaac Kellar, who was married to my father's sister and had lived near us in Maryland, moved to Peoria in the spring of 1835 and it was at his solicitation that we determined to make our new home in the same place. After a few months' residence in town Uncle Kellar had purchased a farm about five miles in the country which included what is now Kellar Station on the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad. Here he hastily put up a house and moved his family into it. but so difficult was it to get workmen that when we arrived, November IO, it was a shelter and no more. The walls and roof were up but the winter wind whistled between the unchinked logs and the only partitions upstairs were formed of strips of carpets or blankets. As there was not a house to be had and it was too late in the season to think of building we thankfully accepted the offer of a share in this unfinished house and seven Kellars and eleven Schneblys clustered together as best they could under one roof. All hands immediately set to work to make the place more comfortable. Such apology for carpenters as could be obtained were put to laying floors and making and hanging inside doors, and in the meanwhile big fires were kept burning day and night. As the newer family, we were able to add many comforts to the general store. There were too many of us to be lonely or low-spirited, and in spite of hardships, we were not unhappy. Mr. John Kellar had bought the farm adjoining his brother's, and gradually we came to know other neighbors, all of whom were most kind.
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