USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Records of the olden time; or, Fifty years on the prairies. Embracing sketches of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the country, the organization of the counties of Putnam and Marshall, biographies of citizens, portraits and illustrations > Part 16
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Records of the olden time; or, Fifty years on the prairies. Embracing sketches of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the country, the organization of the counties of Putnam and Marshall, biographies of citizens, portraits and illustrations > Part 16
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"A short time after the Hennepin ferry was established, Dave Jones was on the Hennepin side of the river with a wild yoke of cattle, and wished to cross over, but was unwilling to pay the ferriage. He swore before he would pay the ferryman's extravagant price he would swim the river, saying that he had frequently done it, and could do it again. Jones wore a long-tailed Jackson overcoat, which reached to his heels, and a coon- skin cap, with the tail hanging down over his shoulders, the weather at the time being quite cool. He drove his oxen into the river, taking the tail of one of them in his mouth, when they started for the opposite shore. Away went the steers, and so went Dave Jones, his long hair and long-
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
tailed overcoat floating on the water, his teeth tightly fastened to the steer's tail, while with his hands and feet he paddled with all his might. Everything went on swimmingly until they came near the middle of the river, where the waters from each side of the island come together; here the current was too strong for the steers,-they turned down stream, and put back for the Hennepin side. Jones could not open his mouth to say gee or haw, without losing his hold on the steer's tail, and was therefore obliged to go where the steers led him, but all were safely landed some distance below the starting place. Jones was in a terrible rage at his fail- ure to cross the river-beat his cattle, and cursed the bystanders for laughing at his misfortune. After taking a big dram of whisky, he tried it again but with no better success. Three different times Jones tried this experiment, each time whipping his cattle and taking a fresh dram of whisky. At last he was obliged to give it up as a bad job, and submit to paying the ferryman the exorbitant price of twenty-five cents to be ferried over."*
The influx of settlers and the establishment of law and order made it too sultry for Jones, who returned to Indiana, where he was hung by a party of regulators for his numerous crimes. He died as he vowed he would, "with his boots on."
Another family of semi-outlaws were the Harts, living in the bottoms below Henry, between whom and the Bakers, living on Ox Bow Prairie, desperate war waged with varied success. They were of the class known in the South as poor white trash, and were idle, vicious and pugnacious, quick to take offense and prompt to resent an insult. The question of supremacy was never fairly settled, victory inclining first to one faction and then to another. At one time a Baker challenged a Hart, and the fight was arranged to come off on a certain day. Hart perhaps feared the result and was inclined to back down, but when his wife heard of it she declared with an oath, if he did not fight Baker and whip him too he should not live with her another day. Like most borderers, he wore his hair very long, and in preparation for the contest she sheared it close to his head, divested him of everything but his pants, smeared his body all over with soft soap, and sent him forth to battle. Baker came on the ground stripped likewise to the buff, with a handkerchief "girt about his loins," and in the expressive language of the ring, " just spoiling for a fight," and
* Reminiscences of Bureau County.
1
PATRICK DORE
HENNEPIN,
PUTNAM Co.
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A NEGRO SOLD UNDER THE VAGRANT ACT. 1
vowing he could whip any two Harts on the ground. The latter was ar- rayed in a long camlet cloak that completely hid his warlike preparations, and when asked if he was ready, said "He guessed not; he had no quar- rel with Mr. Baker, and did n't think he could whip him." This still more excited the latter, who pranced round like a mad bull, saying Hart was a coward and dare not fight him. At last the preliminaries were arranged and a ring formed, into which the men stepped; and Hart, throwing off his cloak, displayed his gladiatorial form and careful preparations. Baker's tactics were to grasp his antagonist, hold him fast and bite or gouge, as circumstances warranted; but the latter was slippery as an eel, and pounded his antagonist severely, easily winning the fight.
NEGRO SOLD IN HENNEPIN.
About 1835, a negro was sold in Hennepin under the operation of the infamous black laws of the State. He was a refugee from below, and probably reached here on board one of the many steamers plying on the Illinois. He possessed "no visible means of support," and either cared not to work or could not get the opportunity, and at the instigation of interested parties was arrested under the provisions of the vagrant act, and advertised for sale for his keeping and costs. There was an active Abolition element at Granville and elsewhere in the County, and on the day of sale the members were present, but finding there was no claimant present for his person, nor any arranged plan to return him to slavery, they allowed the sale to go on, and he brought, we believe, one dollar and costs. William M. Stewart, of Florid, became the purchaser, who put him in the harvest field and paid him regular wages. The "man and brother " earned a suit of clothes besides his freedom, and some money to take him on the road to Canada.
A slave was brought to Union Grove in 1830 by Saml. D. Laughlin, and remained some time. He was taken to Chicago by Thomas Hartzell, and sent on his way.
HARD FOR BACHELORS.
In '1833 there were eleven families, all told, in Hennepin, half .a dozen marriageable females, and about forty eligible bachelors and wid- owers. Of course the former were in good demand among the young set- tlers wanting wives, but the widowers had the inside track and carried off the best ones.
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
In those days an extensive outfit and wedding trip were not thought of, for both parties "meant business," and proceeded in a business way. The groom prepared his cabin for its new occupant, and she, dressed in a clean calico gown, with hair nicely combed, was ready for the ceremony. Next the services of a minister were invoked, a few friends called in, and a bountiful supper of venison and johnny-cake concluded the festivities, after which the bride was conducted to her future home, and their new life began. For ten years there was a marked scarcity of marriageable women, and the first indictment in the County (as stated elsewhere) was found against a man for having two wives. The culprit, a man named Hall, lived in the vicinity of Hennepin, in a small cabin, and claimed to have been lawfully married to the two women with whom he lived, and that his religious views justified his conduct.
The jurymen, most of whom were bachelors, thought it smacked too much of monopoly, and some favored hanging as an example for the future, but their advice was not taken.
What was strange about it was that the women seemed satisfied, and on hearing what had been done by the grand jury, voluntarily followed their much married husband elsewhere.
A PREACHER ANSWERED.
Somewhere about 1831, a minister named Jesse Hale came to Henne- pin to establish a mission among the Indians. He was a man of simple faith and very earnest, believing himself able to convert and civilize them if only a hearing could be obtained.
Old Louis Bailey was sent for as an interpreter, and the Indians came from far and near. Hale mounted a stump in the woods below Henne- pin, and harangued his dusky audience for an hour. When the intrepre- ter had translated the last sentence into the Pottawatomie dialect, old Shaubena came forward, and motioning silence, made reply: "To what white preacher say, I say may be so! Are all white men good ? I say may be so! Do white men cheat Indian ? I say may be so. Governor Cole gave me, Shaubena, hunting grounds, and told me to hunt. Your big White-sides (General Whiteside) come along and tell Shaubena puck a chee (clear out)." Here the angry chief exhibited his papers, bearing the sig- nature of the Governor and the great seal of the State, and throwing them upon the ground, stamped them under his feet. Hale tried to pacify the
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"JERKED " VENISON -WOLVES -THE MILITIA.
indignant chief by saying that "Whiteside is a bad white man;" where- upon Shaubena retorted, "If white man steal Indian's land, hang him!" Hale thought this meant himself, and he fled through the bushes for town, nor ever sought to convert an Indian again.
A PARSON OUT OF MEAT.
During the year 1830 the Gallaher boys caught a fawn, which was easily domesticated, and became quite a pet. They tied a strip of red flannel about its neck, and turned it out to roam the woods at will. It grew rapidly, and the neighbors soon got to know it as the "Gallaher deer." It rambled through the woods, and even the Indians, though con- stantly hunting, never molested it. But one afternoon it ventured too near the smoke-house of a certain parson living near Union Grove, and was never after seen alive. It was not best to insinuate the minister after- ward lived on venison, but his influence with the Gallaher boys was gone from that day.
A WOLF STORY.
As previously stated, Mr. Gallaher's sheep did not suffer so much from scanty feeding as the cattle, and "came through," though in a very lean condition. Their worst foe was the gaunt and hungry wolves, which re- quired continual watching. One day the boys on whom devolved this duty allowed them to range beyond their sight, and stray over the hill into the woods beyond. At night they failed to appear as usual. Search was made, and soon the cause was apparent, as scattered along the course were the dead and mangled carcasses, but no living sheep. Several days later they came upon a ewe alive and unhurt, several miles from home. How she had escaped the fangs of the destroyer was a mystery. She was taken home and a bell put around her neck, and for several seasons she ran with the cattle, unmolested by dog or wolf, as if possessed of a charmed life. She was the only survivor of the flock of eighty originally brought to the country by Mr. Gallaher.
A STILL HUNT.
When the news of the Indian outbreak, the massacre of the whites on Indian Creek, and the killing of Phillips in Bureau had been promul- gated, the white settlers, with very few exceptions, turned out promptly to
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
fight the savages. They had no arms save fowling pieces and squirrel guns, but hastily arming themselves with these, they hurried to the front.
Mr. Gallaher relates how he met about sixty of these brave defenders under Captain Hawes. They had no uniforms, each soldier coming out in such clothing as he had, and consequently no two were dressed alike. They came singing and shouting, yelling and cat-calling, like so many boys on a jamboree, and altogether presented a sight that would have in- spired unlimited mirthfulness instead of fear, even in a savage.
This manner of marching became all the more ridiculous when it is remembered that they had started out on a "still hunt," to surprise a foe the most cunning and cat-like known to history.
A STARVED RECRUIT.
One evening during the Indian war excitement, while the rangers were searching the woods near the mouth of Bureau Creek, they were hailed in a weak, piping voice, and found a poor, emaciated fellow in soldier's uni- form, barely able to walk, who told his pitiful story with much difficulty. He was at Stillman's defeat, on Rock River, and had been hiding in the woods, with very little food, ever since, and was nearly starved. He be- lieved himself the only survivor, and thinking the country in the posses- sion of the Indians, had not dared to venture in the vicinity of the white settlements. He was taken to town and well cared for until he recovered and joined his company.
JAIL BURNED.
The Hennepin Jail was set on fire and burned down September 27, 1842. A fellow named Frederick was confined in it for burglary, having broken open the store of Pulsifer & Co. and stolen valuable goods, for which he was under indictment. It was built of brick at a cost of $3,000, was lined with heavy timbers, and supposed to be burglar proof. While burning the prisoner was placed in the Court House for safety, but gave his guard the slip and escaped. The enraged tax-payers however turned out and hunted him down, keeping him safely until his trial.
A PIONEER EXPRESS.
Before the introduction of steamboats upon the Illinois, business was carried on by keel-boats or pirogues, manned by adventurous boatmen,
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WAR AVERTED AND VICTORY SECURED BY STRATEGY.
who made regular trips to St. Louis, stopping at intervening points and . transacting such business as was required. For many years a couple of half-breeds ran a light batteau on the river, taking furs and light pro- duce to market and filling orders with scrupulous fidelity. When they first began the trade they were but boys, and they continued until the more rapid steamboat drove them from the river.
In the absence of banks of exchange, they were sometimes entrusted with heavy suns and commissioned to make valuable purchases, which they did with entire satisfaction, accounting for every dollar.
INDIANS OUTWITTED.
One of the first merchants of Hennepin was John, Durley, and the fol- lowing incident in which he was an actor, though occurring elsewhere, is told by his descendants. Previous to his removal to Putnam County, he resided in Madison County in this State, where in 1824 they were greatly annoyed by a band of thievish, impudent Indians, encamped in the vicin- ity. Having previously sold their lands to the Government, and consented to emigrate beyond the Mississippi, application was made to the Indian Agent, who sent a company of soldiers to order their removal. The for- nier were few in number, while the Indians were well armed and supplied with ammunition, and the advantages, if force were resorted to, would be all on their side. In this predicament a ruse suggested by Mr. Durley was tried, and proved entirely successful. Accompanied by his son James, now of Hennepin, he rode over to the Indian village, with the chief of which he was on friendly terms, and told him the purposes of the Great Father, who had sent a thousand warriors with orders to kill all Indians who had not left the country as agreed in their treaty, adding that in half an hour they would pass in front of Sugar-loaf Hill, a small conical eminence a mile from the Indian village, and near which they were to camp. He advised the chief to leave, or, doubting his word, to hide among the trees and count the soldiers.
Soon after the troops appeared, marching slowly in front of the hill, and running at full speed on the opposite side, so as to keep the show in front continuous. In this way the duped chief was deluded into counting thirty or forty men over and over until they numbered a thousand or more, when he broke for the camp, hastily packed the ponies, and left helter-skelter for the Mississippi River, followed by the soldiers at a safe
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
distance all night. While crossing the Illinois River, the Indians were fired upon by the troops and several killed. A pony on which was strapped seven little children, while swimming the stream, was shot, and its load of helpless infants all drowned.
FASTIDIOUS TRAVELERS.
Hotel accommodations in 1834-5 were not what they are at present. There was plenty to eat, such it was, but French cooks had not been im- ported, and cook-books were unknown to our grandmothers. Hog and hominy, coffee and molasses were the staples, and the traveler who could not appreciate them after a six hours jolt in Frink & Walker's "mud wagons " was set down as' "too nice for anything." For lodgings, a blanket, buffalo robe, or a sheepskin was provided, and the traveler told to select the softest plank he could find. As landlords grew in wealth they increased their accommodations, and a single large room was devoted to sleeping purposes, filled with beds, upon which was a " shake down " filled with prairie hay, and a blanket. Sheets were a decided luxury, and it was not every "hotel " that afforded them. The traveler was expected to share his bed with others, and this "custom of the country" was ac- cepted as a matter of course, though occasionally some fine-haired individ- uals objected.
Captain Hawes, of Magnolia, once entertained a choleric fellow who claimed to be "a gentleman," said he never in all his life slept with any one but his wife, and rather than do it, sat up all night. At intervals he would groan and wish himself out of the barbarous country, to which the unfeeling lodgers would respond with a hearty "Amen!"
THE INDIAN'S RIDE.
Indian boys affiliated readily with the whites of their own age, and joined heartily in the sports common to both. They were athletic and "springy," but usually under size, and could not cope in a fair rough and tumble with the pale faces. They did not easily take offense, but when once angered, their wrath was fearful. Mr. William Gallaher tells an amusing story of one who was his frequent playmate. Mr. G.'s busi- ness was hauling logs with a yoke of oxen, one of which, a very quietly disposed brute, he used to ride, while his mate was wild and vicious. The Indian one day wished to ride, and G., in a spirit of mischief, put him on
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A YOUNG INDIAN'S PERILOUS RIDE.
the wild animal, at the same time releasing him from the yoke. The ox has an instinctive fear of an Indian, and unused to such treatment, started off at a desperate pace, setting up a bellow that infected every animal on the place with a like frenzy, and away they started in pursuit. The Indian was good rider and held on like grim death, while the ox tore through the fields, brush and briers until he reached the larger timber, when a project- ing limb brushed his rider off unhurt. But the Indian never forgave this too practical joke, and sought to kill young Gallaher, who was careful ever after to keep out of his way.
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
1
CHAPTER XXIV.
A NOTED BURGLARY.
URING the summer of 1869, the hitherto exceedingly quiet city of Hennepin became the scene of a most intense and long continued excitement, owing to the stirring events here narrated.
About the 10th of June a rather suspicious person made his appearance in town, and wandered about from day to day, with no apparent object other than to ask a good many questions, look into alleys and by-ways, and make the acquaintance of the roughs and idlers of the place. On one occasion he went into Leech & Bros'. office, where they kept their safe and funds, ostensibly to get a $10.00 bill changed, but in fact to note the lay of things in the office, the fastenings upon the safe, its lock, and the posi- tion of the windows. This fellow also went to Hartenbower's warehouse for the same purpose, and asked of a young man whom he had made a "chum" of, "Where these grain dealers kept their money?" and "Where
they lived?" He disappeared the morning before the attempted robbery. Another fellow had appeared upon the scene-a tall, lank, illy dressed, gray-whiskered chap, who was seen in several places, apparently drunk, the day before the attempt on the safe was made, and was found next morning in a corn-crib near the scene, where it was thought he had been "telegraphing" his pals when in the warehouse, but when dis- covered was too drunk, or simulated it so perfectly as to completely de- " ceive his captors, who could make nothing out of him and turned him loose. He was either too drunk for a sober man or too sober for a drunken one. In three minutes after, when the enraged citizens had begun to con- nect him with the gang, he was not to be found!
About one o'clock of the morning of June 23, 1869, Mr. John B. Gowdey, a respectable tradesman of Hennepin, had occasion to get a drink of water. After rising he concluded to go down to his shoe- shop for a smoke, when he was astonished to hear the sound of iron striking iron close in his neighborhood. Going out softly, he heard
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DISCOVERY AND PURSUIT OF THE BURGLARS.
the noise more distinctly, and followed it up cautiously, till reaching a window of Leech Bros'. warehouse, he saw three men-one hold- ing a dark lantern, one a cold-chisel, and the third a sledge-hammer, which tools are now to be seen in the County Clerk's office at Hennepin. Mr. Gowdey's first impulse was to "yell" at them to drive them off, but as they had not got in the safe, and didn't seem likely to for a few min- utes more, he crept away and ran softly to wake up the citizens nearest the scene, and secure the burglars if possible. He aroused J. W. Leech, Mr. Small and Frank Sunderland. These men and a few others gathered around the warehouse as soon as possible. Mr. Leech stationed Mr. Sun- derland near the window, going himself to the door toward the river, rightly judging that the robbers had come across in a canoe or skiff, and would head that way on being alarmed. Some one, in coming down the hill near the warehouse, tripped upon a loose stone, and thus prema- turely alarmed the villians, who immediately rushed out of the building through a drive-way toward their skiff, yelling to the citizens to "stand back or get hurt," and the former, with only one gun that was avail- able, and not being able in the dark to distinguish friend from foe, could not safely fire. The robbers returned to their boat. They were ordered to halt, and answered with a shot from a revolver, which fortunately hit no one. A lad named Everett had no gun, and began throwing stones at the retreating party, whereupon they returned several shots with their revolvers. As the boat emerged from the deep shadow of the buildings, they opened quite a lively fire upon the crowd which had by this time assembled upon the shore. Frank Sunderland took the shot-gun and replied with better luck, for the oarsman in the departing boat was numerously peppered, one shot lodging in his face under the eye and in dangerous proximity to that organ. He fell forward, or rather dropped his face between his hands and quit rowing, while his companion seized the oars and exerting his full strength; one of them broke, and he was obliged to paddle toward the shore with the other as best he could.
The country opposite town is low and flat, with a single narrow cause- way leading to the main land. At all times it is little better than a morass, and now the river, swelled by the spring rains, was high, and the whole territory, with the single exception of the causeway alluded to, was more or less submerged. At the point dwelt two men engaged upon the ferry, named Barmore and Thornton, who, hearing the alarm and under- standing the situation, came down to the river prepared to give the rob-
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
bers the warmest possible reception. Had it not been for the broken oar, and knowing the locality well, they would doubtless have gone direct to the landing and fought their way out, or at least attempted to; but that changed all their plans, and the current carried them down stream, where they landed in the half submerged timber, seeking what safety they could.
As soon as it was sufficiently light and skiffs could be procured, the people, now thoroughly aroused, turned out, armed with every available weapon, and the river bottoms were effectually scoured for the skulking vagabonds. Early in the morning the fellow who had been wounded was caught. He maintained a degree of innocence of the attempted crime and "knowledge of the whereabouts of his pals that was refreshing! "He had been out hunting, and had scratched his face with a thorn," but at a later period confessed that he had been shot as above stated, and had fallen be- hind his comrades while endeavoring to allay the pain and stop the flow of blood from the wound on his face, and while bathing his eye the oth- ers had left him, and he dare not call them for fear of attracting their pursuers. About eight or nine o'clock in the morning the remaining bur- glars were found lying by a log in the edge of a swamp or slough. Mr.' Thornton, who discovered the culprits, made signs to Holland, Cook and others to come to him. The signals were speedily passed along the line, and each man, with weapon in hand ready for use, advanced. The leader, seeing the situation and knowing his retreat was cut off and resistance useless, held up both hands, exclaiming, "Don't shoot ; I give up." His companion also surrendered. They were searched, and no weapons found, but afterward revolvers were found hidden deep in the mud near the place of arrest. Seeing themselves surrounded by so many persons all in citizens' attire, they feared violence, and begged not to be mobbed. One of them was escorted by I. H. Cook, but he pretended entire ignorance of what had transpired. He was a poor trapper looking after his traps, and could not understand why he should be arrested by armed men. . As they neared the shore, where a large crowd waited their arrival, he thought of the possible lynching that might follow, and forgetting the trapper role enquired "what they did with the other fellow they caught;" to which the reply was made that they "hung him before breakfast."
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