USA > Illinois > Menard County > Petersburg > Record of the restoration of New Salem, New Salem State Park near Petersburg, Illinois, 1932-1933 > Part 8
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(g) Assuming that Jacob Bale settled at New Salem and lived somewhere east of the Tavern. he saw the town deteriorating and was probably told that the Tavern was to be sold or could be purchased
95 But the fact that the frontage was determined as 66 feet and not a half lot, leads us to believe they thought this distance would include the house.
96 Onstot, on page 148 of his book "Lincoln and New Salem" says "The plot of Salem is correct, as the old settlers will testify, as Mrs. Hill had it in her serap book, and as it was published in 1892. (We have been unable to trace this publi- cation.) It was of her that J. MeCan Davis got it and published it in his writings, in MeClures Magazine for December, 1895, without giving me the proper credit.
97 There is another statement in Onstot's book which seems to indicate the "Bale House" on his map was in the eastern portion of town. On page 150 of his book, he says the gander pulling ground was east of Bales House and south of the road. Since this ground was in the eastern portion of town near the bluff, this would indicate the Bale House was near by.
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cheaply. In 1837 he bought the cast half of lot 6 upon which only a small portion of the house existed. It is logical to assume he purchased the west half with the house and never had it recorded. (It is to be remembered that Nelson Alloy's purchase of the east half of lot 6 also was never recorded.) Jacob bought the east half for many plausible reasons. Possibly they discovered their mistake in assuming the house was entirely on the west 66 feet, and Jacob saw that if he wanted a clear title he must buy the remainder of the lot.98 If Miss Bale's state- ment abont the narrow path between the cold cellar door and the house is erroneous (See footnote 98) and the east wall of the house is located about where the replica was. then the house might have been entirely on the west 66 feet of lot 6. If so, Jacob may have bought the east half lot so that he could build a new cold cellar, the old one possibly being somewhere on the west 66 feet .?? On the other hand, the existing cellar may have been built by Nelson Alley after he bought the east 49 feet of lot 6 from Camron (never recorded), and Jacob wishing to use the cellar bought this half lot and cellar from Alley.100 It seems that the best solution to this problem of why Bale bought the east half of lot 6 is as follows: Rutledge built the existing cellar on the eastern portion of the lot, Alley purchased the house only and enough land to contain it, perhaps thinking he could build a cellar himself on the newly pur- chased west 66 feet cheaper than he could buy the remaining cast 49 feet and cellar. Later. for some reason, he decided to purchase the remaining eastern portion of lot 6, afterwards selling the whole lot to Bale, half of which is recorded. The cellar probably wasn't considered to be worth very much by Alley and Bale. because of needed repairs. and Bale bought the east half lot and cellar for seven dollars. In this fashion. this "house by the well" may have passed from Rutledge through the various owners and tenants, and finally to the Bales.
Argument No. 2 that the "house by the well" was erected by Jacob Bale
In brief, this argument is based on the following facts and assump- tions :
(a) The road crossed the hilltop before the town was surveyed. (See "a", Argument No. 1.)
(b)) The road crossed lot 5 (See "a", Argument No. 1).
(c) Rutledge and Camron feared the Legislature would possibly refuse permission to erect the dam and delayed building their homes.
96 We have excavated the original cold cellar and find it to be in the north- east corner of lot 6. We have assumed the probable location of the house from statements by Miss Ida Bale (a granddaughter of Abraham Bale, brother of Jacob) who says there was "just room for a path between cellar door and the house". This places the house approximately. Of course the lot lines as now laid out are not absolutely correct and can vary 4 or 5 feet in an east and west direction. However, on the basis of the narrow path between house and cellar, no matter how one assumes various combinations of lot lines and house locations and sizes, the house will not entirely lie on the west 66 feet of lot 6, but 79% to 88% of it will. See diagrams 1 and 2.
90 If the old Rutledge cellar was originally located on the west 66 ft. of lot 6 no traces of it have ever been discovered. 100 The fault with the assumption that Alley or Bale built the cellar is-what did the Rutledges do for a cellar? No traces of a former one exist. These lots were excavated twice, once in 1918 and again in 1932. They may have had a cellar built into the side of the ravine just to the south. This would not have been impossible, but it would have been rather inconvenient.
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(d) Rutledge located his house after the town lot lines were established and chose the "corner lot" (lot 5).
· (e) Nelson Alley bought the Tavern and the west 66 ft. of the "corner lot" and the west 66 ft. of lot 6 to the south.
(f) Bale bought the east half of lot 6 and since he afterwards lived in the house which lies on the west portion of lot 6, he must have purchased this west portion also but never had it recorded.
(g) The maps of Mrs. Hill and Onstot indicate both a Tavern and Bale House, which can be interpreted as showing the Tavern on lot 5 and the "Bale House" on lot 6. Also the statements by Mrs. Rachel Clarke and T. G. Onstot indicate the Tavern never became the "Bale House".
The above facts and assumptions will now be discussed in detail.
(a) See "a". Argument No. 1.
(b) See "b". Argument No. 1.
(c) Rutledge and Camron entered their new land in July, 1828, but. not having permission to build the dam and fearing permission might not be granted, waited until the following spring to move over to "Salem Hill".101 During the summer months of 1829, they built their houses, the mill and dam, and had the land surveyed.
(d) Rutledge, proposing to use his residence for a Tavern chose lot 5. the corner lot at the bend, as a good location for it. He chose a suitable spot near the northwest corner of this lot, and after the house was finished the road ran farther north and joined in at right angles with the road from Clary's Grove. In due time the old curve was abandoned. (See diagram 1.) 102
(e) We continue to assume that the Tavern was located at the junction of the roads on lot 5. In November, 1832. Nelson Alley pur- chased the west 66 feet of lots 5 and 6. At that time there was no build- ing on lot 6. and just why he would want to purchase that portion of lot 6 also, is hard to imagine. It was a back lot and probably purchased for speculative reasons. He bought other property in New Salem. But why did he buy only the west 66 feet of this lot?
(f) Later, in 1837. Jacob Bale bought the cast half of lot 6 for $7.00. As stated previously, he must have purchased the west one-half and never had it recorded. He then built his house, well and cold cellar. the space for which required the entire lot. One wonders why he built a new house with some empty ones at hand. However, the empty ones were few in 1837 and they may have been in disrepair and not fit for occupancy. For any number of reasons, he may have decided to build his own house.
(g) The relative positions of the Tavern and "Bale House" are shown on maps drawn by Mrs. Samuel Hill and T. G. Onstot. Mrs. Hill's map shows it was drawn with great care and is perhaps the most complete of all the maps of New Salem. She shows the Tavern at the
101 Permission was granted January 22, 1829. (See "known facts" No. 2.)
102 It is hard to understand why Rutledge chose a spot which necessitated changing the road when he could have chosen other sites that would have allowed the road to remain. It is doubtful that the curve icas abandoned, because Mrs. Clary remembered it curving around the corner. (See "b", Argument No. 1.) If the house was located in this triangle between the roads, the space would have been crowded with the house and the other out buildings, sheds, etc. With plenty
of land at his disposal why did he choose so small a space?
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corner. Southeast of the Tavern is the Bale House. On the other hand. Onstot's is the crudest. It can be taken for a diagram only. Onstot in his text, speaking of the Tavern, says "It was built in 1830 by James Rutledge, and kept by him till 1833, when Henry Onstot, my father. became landlord for two years. It was the stopping place for travel from the east through Havana and the western part of the State . After father moved out, Nelson Altig (Alley) kept it for some time, and the last landlord before it was torn down was Michael Kelt- ner". (Note the words "torn down.") This would indicate the Tavern at the corner was torn down and it follows, then, that the Rutledges never lived in the house to become the last to remain at New Salem.
Miss Ida Bale, granddaughter of Abraham Bale, brother of Jacob, writes us that "Mrs. Rachel Clarke (wife of Judge Clarke who had boarded at the Tavern when Lincoln boarded there) located it for me when I asked her if the 'Bale House' had been the Tavern, and she replied, 'No'; she did not hesitate but took her 'bearings' at the old well and also went 'cat-a-cornered', and put the New Salem Hotel or Tavern in the angle formed by the two roads, leaving no ground between the roads and the house. I have implicit confidence in Mrs. Clarke's statement. She was in New Salem when a grown girl-living at that time near Oakford, Illinois". This is certainly a convincing statement.
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SUMMARY
It is thought that the Tavern and Bale House were one and the same building, for the following reasons :
(a) Building dams was a common occurrence those days, and since the builders had to guarantee. under bond. not to impede naviga- tion we feel they were certain that permission would surely be granted, allowing them to go ahead with the project.
(b) Rutledge and Camron would then build their homes during the late summer and fall of 1828. which was a year previous to the time Harrison surveyed the town. In this way we feel certain the Tavern was located in relation to the road and not the lot lines.
(c) With these facts in mind. it seems that of the two building sites-"by the well", and the supposed location on lot 5-the former seems to have been the most logical. If he had built it on lot 5 it would have been necessary to build it on the road or partially so, (see diagram No. 1) and it would have changed the course of the road at this point.103 This procedure would have involved needless work, and in view of the fact that we believe the lots were not surveyed at the time it was built, it would have been entirely without logic.
(d) Mrs. Clary told the Committee on Sites in 1918 that one of the forks in the ravine was caused by the curved road. This tends to strengthen the assumption that the road actually did round the corner in this fashion. If so, there would have been inadequate space for the house. See diagram No. 1.
(e) In 1832. Nelson Alley bought the west 66 feet of lots 5 and 6 for $200.00. This indicates that a building was involved which might have occurred on either of the two lots. Since the road curved across lot 5 and for reasons as explained in "e" and "d", the house must have been on lot 6.
(f) If the house was on lot 5, there are no existing remains of foundations, well or cold cellar. Certainly some indications would have been discovered in 1918 before the new road was built. Thinking that perhaps this point was overlooked, we have recently searched the entire lot, road and all, but found nothing definite to show foundations or a former basement.
(g) We do not believe the maps of Mrs. Hill and T. G. Onstot can be used to prove that the Tavern was located on lot 5. The fault with using these maps to prove the exact location of the Tavern is that they were drawn by persons not experienced in drawing to seale and recording impressions on paper. Onstot's map is really a diagram and contains too many errors to be taken seriously as an exact and accurate map. It was intended as a diagram only. The river is shown straight
103 See footnote (102) under "d", Argument No. 2.
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-the mill is not located correctly in relation to Main Street-the Offut Store is too close to Main Street-Clary's Grocery is not shown at all- these are just a few of the mistakes. Suppose, for instance, we were to locate the mill or Offut's Store by this map. With the facts at hand now. we know they would be placed incorrectly.
T. G. Onstot, however, says in his text that the Tavern and Bale House were two separate buildings. (See "g", Argument No. 2.) How- over, his book is so full of inaccuracies that it is hard to know when he wrote a bit of authoritative evidence. His book first appeared as articles in newspapers and were written late in life. The book was published in 1902. 62 years after he left the town as a boy of 8 years of age. He may have been confused with the Hill Tavern (the Hill residence after 1840) or he may have shown and described the relation between a first Bale House and the Tavern.104 Whatever the correct ex- planation is, his story does not agree with the results of investigations by Herndon and Weik. Ida Tarbell, J. MeCan Davis and Thomas P. Reep. These investigations, especially by the first four, were made early enough to interview persons who had actually lived in New Salem as grown people and their results were not in accord with Onstot on this point. The map drawn by Mrs. Hill shows a Tavern and Bale House. Perhaps she. too, meant to show the location of a first Bale House.105 These two maps are the only two that show a Bale House.
There are six maps we know of. and were drawn by or for the following persons :
1-W. H. Herndon.
2-Mrs. Samuel Hill.
3-T. G. Onstot.
4-R. J. Onstot.
5-J. McCan Davis. 6-Maj. Henry C. Whitney, p. 166.
Possibly the map rated as the best authority is W. H. Herndon's map. He is one of the first investigators and in addition to inter- viewing many people, he knew much of the town himself. His biography of Lincoln was largely a result of intensive research by both Mr. Weik and himself, and authorities agree that when facts are concerned. he is usually very accurate. His map shows the Tavern labeled as follows: "Rutledge Tavern" and directly under is "Bale House" and under the latter in smaller letters-"still standing". 'These three lines designate one little square representing the cabin. Each of the other labels on the balance of the map appear opposite a cabin, so it is hardly likely that the "Bale House still standing" describes a cabin not marked. He
104 Onstot says the Bale House was just west of the gander pulling ground, which was in the eastern portion of town at the east bluff. This would indicate that the Bale House on his map was meant to be the house first occupied by Jacob Bale. Another point worth noting in Onstot's book "Lincoln and New Salem" is his description of the Tavern on page 22. This description is almost a word for word copy from the description by Harvey L. Ross. We are sure Ross is mistaken in saying the upper floor contained four rooms, and Onstot repeated this same mistake. This causes us to doubt Onstot's first-hand knowledge of the Tavern. 105 We know the exact location of Dr. Allen's house. Depending on the exact locations of the lot lines, which can vary 5 or 6 feet in an cast and west direction, we know that the Doctor's house was 2 to 7 feet west of the east line of his lot. Mrs. Hill's map shows a fence and yard east of the doctor's house. Knowing this error, makes us wonder just how accurate this corner is recorded and whether the location of the Tavern "at the corner" is authentic or not.
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does not show the Springfield road to the south so its exact location with reference to the roads cannot be established. This map has in- accuracies (all of them do) but it is clear on this point-that the same building was both the Tavern and Bale House. Herndon should have had first-hand information.106 Harvey Ross, however, takes him to task for many statements, such as Sam Hill having a stove and others of a like nature. He even objects to the size and number of rooms in Herndon's description of the Tavern, but he fails to say Herndon was wrong in saying the Tavern was the "Bale House still standing". It might be said in passing, that based on the facts now in our possession, Herndon's description of the Tavern is far more accurate than Ross'. J. McCan Davis, in McClure Magazine of December, 1895. page 14. in connection with the "Life of Lincoln" by Ida M. Tarbell, says, "By 1840 New Salem was almost deserted. The Rutledge Tavern, the first house erected, was the last to suceumb. It stood many years, but at last crumbled away. Salem Hill is now only a green cow pasture".
The following statement by McClure's Magazine of 1895, page 23. is included to establish Mr. Davis as an authority: "New Salem plays so prominent a part in the life of Lincoln that the magazine engaged Mr. J. McCan Davis, of Springfield, Illinois, who had already made a special study of this period of Mr. Lincoln's life, to go in detail over the ground to secure a perfectly accurate sequence of events, to collect new and unpublished pictures and documents, and to interview all the old acquaintances of Mr. Lincoln who remained in the neighborhood. Mr. Davis has seenred some new faets about Mr. Lincoln's life in this period ; he has unearthed in the official files of the county several new documents. and he has secured several unpublished portraits of interest. His matter will be incorporated into our next two articles".
(h) Mrs. Clary failed to mention the Tavern at the corner on lot 5. She said her family stayed at the Tavern in 1840 for two days and pointed to its site as being the location of the "house by the well" or Bale House. (She didn't call it the "Rutledge Tavern".) She probably stayed with the Bales. She remembered the road curving around the corner. She was very keen and remembered many buildings and sites which since have been proven correct in spite of the fact she lived there only two years as a girl and was eight years of age when she moved away. If the Tavern did oceur on lot 5. she never mentioned it. The facts she remembered were not of a character to be retained as legends learned from others later on, but exact information, such as lo- cations of buildings, sites, road locations and so forth. She may have failed to tell the Committee about the Tavern on lot 5 because she wasn't asked about it, but she offered so much and remembered so much. and the Tavern being so important, it doesn't seem probable she would forget it.
(i) We deeply appreciate the information which Miss Ida Bale furnished, and it is because of the question it raised that several months were spent in research, and this treatise written. Mrs. Judge Clarke's
106 Herndon in his "Abraham Lincoln", page 120, in speaking of James Rut- ledge, says "I knew him as early as 1833, and have often shared the hospitality of his home. My father was a politician and an extensive stock dealer in that early day and he and Mr. Rutledge were great friends."
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statement as quoted previously has caused us considerable worry. We feel certain that if she were living, as well as others Miss Bale quotes, and could be interviewed and questioned today, we would be able to see that perhaps they were misinformed or mistaken in some way.107 We do not doubt the veracity of Mrs. Clarke's statements, but at this time we feel it would be a grave error to set aside all other opposing evidence which, as we have seen, is very strong and almost invulnerable. It is queer that this information regarding the location of the Tavern was never conveyed to Ida Tarbell, J. MeCan Davis, W. H. Herndon, and other investigators, or if it was, why they disregarded it.
107 It is interesting to compare Mrs. Rachel Clarke's description of the Tavern with Miss Ida Bale's description of the "Bale House"-the last house to remain. If we are correct in assuming the two houses were the same structure, the two descriptions should have much in common. Such is the case. The Tavern is de- seribed as having two rooms facing north with two additional rooms added on the south. The Bale House is described as having two rooms facing north with two doors and no windows on the south because the house formerly had two rooms built on the south side. There are no conflictions in the two descriptions. It seems that if Mrs. Clarke's description of the Tavern is correct, Miss Bale is unknowingly describing the same building.
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HOMESTEAD COSTS
The following data has been included because it itemizes the vari- ous steps in the construction of a cabin, giving the cost for each, and outlines the various other buildings which, together with the main house, comprised a typical homestead. These prices concern the erection of a house about 18' x 20', in Randolph County, near Kaskaskia, were taken from "Eight Months in Illinois", by William Oliver, and apply to the period 1836 to 1841. It is interesting to note that the logs were obtained free, and generally were taken from adjoining unclaimed gov- ernment land.
Six days cutting down and logging of trees, at $1.00 per day. $ 6.00
Six days hauling logs 1 mile, 1 man and 2 yoke of oxen @ $1.50 per day
9.00
Fourteen days hewing logs @ $1.50 per day 21.00
Cutting and hauling rafters ..
2.50
1,000 boards for roofing @ $1.00 per M.
10.00
Nails for roofing.
1.50
Putting on roof ..
5.00
200 boards for weather-boarding gable ends.
2.00
Studding for nailing weather-boards to ...
1.00
Sawing out 2 doors, 1 window and a fireplace ..
1.00
720 feet of plank for flooring and lofting @ $2.00 per 100 ..
14.40
Laying down floors, say (8) days taken, the workmen found in bed and board
12.00
Making and fitting in doors
10.00
Making and fitting in window.
2.75
2,000 bricks for chimney @ $5.00 per 1,000
10.00
5 bu. of lime @ 121%c per bu ...
.62 14
Three days hauling of brick with two yoke of steers, at $2.00 per day ..
6.00
Building chimney $5.00 and man to attend on bricklayers $2.00 .. 7.00
Sixteen bu. of lime @ 1216c, for daubing the spaces between the logs. .
2.00
Two days hauling lime and sand @ $2.00 per day
4.00
Chunking, i. e., partially filling up the spaces between the logs with bits of wood
1.00
Daubing, one hand four days @ $1.00 per day
4.00
Building (including all work) stable for two horses.
15.00
Building (including all work) a corn crib that will contain 500 bu. of un- shocked corn
20.00
Building smoke house
15.00
Cow pen
7.00
Hauling stones, 15 loads, at an average of distances, 1 load per day, with 2 yoke of oxen @ $2.00 per day.
30.00
Building sides of well @ 25c the perpendicular foot.
7.50
Furnishing well with roller, rope and bucket, say
100.00
Cow
15.00
Hogs and poultry
5.00
Furniture
20.00
Household expenses, say for a family of four.
50.00
Saddle and bridle.
10.00
80 acres of land @ $1.25 per acre.
100.00
Worm fence complete.
192.00
Grand total
$731.77 16
Digging well 30 feet deep, at 25c the perpendicular foot.
7.50
5.00
Horse
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CABIN ARRANGEMENT
The following description has been taken from a manuscript now in the Illinois State Historical Library, and is a portion of a letter from Lucy Maynard to Abel Piper, Canton, Illinois, December 3, 1834. This gives an excellent description of the arrangement of a typical cabin and furniture of that period :
"Altho almost every one has what they call a cellar, that is, when they build their cabins they dig out mud to build their chimney and mud their cabin and that makes a cellar; and then saw one of their floor board in two and that makes a door; their cellar answers a very good purpose as far as it goes but it will not hold one-tenth part of · what ought to go into the cellar. . . .
"Our cabin is rather small for our family: it has two apartments, one is quite comfortable and the other answers to set things in when it is dry weather. Our room that we live in is fourteen or fifteen feet square and we have two beds that stand in it at the back side of the room and at the head of my bed is the clock and drawers beside the clock, then there is a door into the back room that takes two sides of the room and against the other bed, at the head, is the front door and the other side of the door is some shelves for our dishes and other cooking utensils ; under these shelves is our table at the end of that is a form that we set our milk on this winter and over this form is our window with four squares of glass in it and next to that is our chimney which takes all of one-third of the east end of the house and in the other corner we lay our wood and within this square we have five chairs and a cradle and we make another bed on the floor every night-our trunks and boxes we keep under the beds we have no chamber room of any consequence- we have a Piazzo on the front side and a Portico on the west. Thus I have introduced our habitation to you ; we have the use of a number of stables for our cattle, horse and sheep.
AUG 29 1904
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Pressboard Pamphlet Binder Gaylord Bros. Makers Syracuse, N. Y. PAT. JAN. 21, 1908
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
917.7355IL6R1934 C001 RECORD OF THE RESTORATION OF NEW SALEM 2
3 0112 025341279
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