USA > Illinois > Mason County > The History and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 24
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The following persons who were communicants in this church, have entered the ministry : John II. Moore, Pastor at Birmingham, lowa; D. J. Strain, Pastor at Virginia, Ill. ; John W. Little. Pastor of Cross Roads Church, Alle- gany Presbytery, Pennsylvania ; John J. Graham, Pastor at Mount Vernon, Ill. ; W. C. MeDougall. now an evangelist in Scotland. John Howe Moore, a young man of rare piety and promise, was called to his reward before he com- pleted his studies preparatory to entering the ministry.
In estimating the influence of this church for good, we must go beyond the actual of the communion roll. In the first place, this church, in a spirit of self- reliance, has sustained its ministry without aid from the Board of Missions even when weak in numbers and material wealth. In its early history, when unable to support a Pastor, it united with some other in the support of a min- ister. It has built two houses of worship without asking for help from the
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
general funds of the Church as a body. Its present commodious house of worship was finished and furnished at a total cost of over $3,000, it being 40x60 feet in size. Beside this, they rendered substantial aid in building the Presbyterian Churches of Petersburg, Mason City, Sweetwater and Irish Grovc. This church may be regarded as the parent of all the Presbyterian congregations in the county. This congregation has furnished the first material for the organization of all the other churches of this body in the county. The Presby- terians have three flourishing congregations in the county, and four excellent houses of worship. Each of those congregations have regular ministers. The reader will find a detailed account of each of these congregations in the history of the townships, in which they are severally situated. The Presbyterians pur- chased the house of worship erected by the "Soul-Sleepers," in Sweetwater, some years ago, in which they have occasional services.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
There is but one Episcopal Church in the county, and this is located in Petersburg. The house was erected, and the Church organized, through the energy and zeal of Mrs. Harris, relict of the late Hon. Thomas L. Harris. The Trinity Church is a substantial brick of the Gothic style of architecture, standing on the hillside, commmanding a fine view of Petersburg. The first Rector of Trinity was Rev. Mr. Steel, who served the congregation very acceptably, and then gave up this charge to accept one in Alton, Ill. The Church was without a Minister for upward of a year, but have recently secured the services of a Minister, who entered on his duties in August.
LUTHERAN CHURCH (GERMAN).
This denomination has had a church in the county seat for several years, and, although representatives of the Church are found all over the county where- ever there are Germans, yet no congregation was ever organized in the county, out of Petersburg, until two years ago, when Prof. Winnekin, of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, located at Springfield, organized a congregation in the vicinity of Tallula, and they have since erected a neat, though cheap house of worship. There is, also, a large community of German Lutherans in the neighborhood of Greenview, though they have not, as yet, been formally organ- ized. In Petersburg, the Church owns a small brick church house, and on adjoining lots are a schoolhouse and parsonage. These are all free from debt. Rev. Robert Collier is at present, and has been for more than a year past, their Pastor. The membership in this congregation is large, and they have regular services each Sabbath.
CATHOLIC CHURCH.
There is but one congregation, and one house of worship in this county belonging to this people. The house stands on the crest of the high hill at the south border of the town, and commands a most commanding view of the town
D
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
and river. The house is large, substantially built, and finished in the very best taste. With the church is connected half a block of ground, on which stands a two-story parsonage and a schoolhouse, in which a school is conducted eight months in the year, by Sisters. The membership is large, extending to almost every part of the county. The Pastor occasionally visits the villages of the county, and holds services in them. The church was built about the close of the war, and, since it was completed, there has been a regular Pastor in charge almost the whole of the time. At present, they are without a Pastor, Rev. Father Ahne having left some two months ago, on account of his health, and. as yet. his place has not been supplied.
With this brief account we close the general history of the churches in this county, though the reader may turn to the histories of the several precincts. where he will find full details of all these matters. We sincerely regret that we are not able to get fuller details of the carly preachers and churches, but it was impossible to get this in any reliable form. It is no trouble to find parties professing to know the early history of each of the different churches, but the difficulty is, that when you accept one of these statements so positively made. you will soon find, perhaps, half a dozen persons equally reliable, who will con- tradict almost every fact, and give an almost exactly opposite statement. No doubt many facts here given will be disputed, yet we have the pleasure of knowing that they were gotten from the most trustworthy sources, and where there were conflicting statements, we accepted those corroborated by the greatest amount of reliable proof.
DEATHS AND CEMETERIES.
As before stated, the first death in the county, of which there is any record or recollection, was a son of Mr. Boyer, named Henderson. Some affirm that Joseph Kinney-thrown from a horse and killed-was the second, and some say the third death. The burden of the proof is that he was the second. His grave was the first in the burying-ground now known as Sugar Grove Cemetery. There is a strange fact in connection with this oldest known grave in Menard County. Kinney was injured by being thrown from his horse while on his way from a horse-race, and he died very soon after the fall. Shortly after his burial, an elm sprang up from the very center of the grave. This was allowed to grow from year to year ; and it seems there was peculiar nutriment in the soil of that spot for the elm, for it grew with remarkable rapidity. It stands there to-day, a giant tree, and the grave is entirely covered and obliterated by it ; and there it stands, a living, verdant monument, wrestling with the tempest, and glitter- ing in the sunshine, silently telling of the death of Joe Kinney.
Soon after this, the old " graveyards " in Clary's Grove, and at Lebanon, and at other points were opened. No fact, connected with the carly settlement of the country, is more to be regretted than the practice of burying their dead in places totally unprotected by law, and doomed soon to be abandoned, and, in
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time, to be inclosed in farms, the soil above them ruthlessly torn by the plow, and the very ashes of our ancestors made to feed the cultivated crops. A very little care and effort at the proper time would have prevented all this. But it is a lamentable fact that, even to the present time, there are scarcely any cemeteries in the county for which proper provisions are made.
The principal cemeteries proper are as follows : " Rose Hill," situated on the hill cast of the river, one mile from Peterburg. Some fifteen years ago, Mr. William S. Conant purchased the tract of land, and laid out the cemetery into blocks and lots. The location is one well suited for the purpose. It is a high ridge, level on top, and gradually sloping off, at first into gentle undula- tions, and then, farther south, it breaks into abruptly rolling hills ; so that any taste can be satisfied. Fine drives for carriages traverse every part of the grounds, so that every lot may be closely inspected without alighting. The ground was originally covered with a fine growth of young and thrifty forest- trees, oak, hickory, ehm, walnut, etc .; and the proprietor has displayed great taste in setting out evergreens and flowers in every part of the ground. A great number of graves are already to be seen there, while a great number of fine monuments beautify the ground, standing as mute, but eloquent mourners, bring- ing to the memory of many the tender but broken ties of other years. Mr. Conant deserves great credit for his energy and perseverance in opening and keeping up this " city of the dead."
" Oakland Cemetery" is deserving of mention here, for, while it has been opened but a few months, in point of importance it stands among the first cem- eteries in the county. It is located just outside the corporate limits of Peters- burg, at the southwestern point. It consists of some twenty acres purchased by the proprietor, Mr. D. M. Bone, of Mr. Wadkins, in the autumn of 1878. It would seem that the Great Architect prepared this spot as a private chamber where the sleeping dead may rest. The cemetery proper is cut off from the surrounding fields by a deep ravine running along each side, thus forming a high ridge, slightly declining toward the city, while, on the summit, there are at least seven or eight acres that are almost level, rolling just enough for the water to run off. Along the entire extent of the crest of the hill, running clear around the whole bluff, is the broken brow of the hill, offering a choice of every quality of ground. from the level sward on top to the sloping, wave-like undu- lations on the brow, to the rugged and precipitous sides of the bluff. The earth is close and compact, and, at the depth of three or four feet, it is almost white as lime, while, owing to the peculiar conformation of the entire tract, the ground underneath is very dry, caused by the shedding of the water from the surface. The surface of the tract was by nature covered with a dense growth, princi- pally young and thrifty forest trees, with here and there a gnarled and wrinkled oak or elm, looking the parent of the surrounding forest. These old pioneers of the wood, centuries old, yet showing no signs of age, are fitting sentinels to guard these precincts of the slumbering tenants of the tomb. The natural
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
forest was marred but little by the ax, but left almost as nature formed it. Mr. Bone secured the services of Mr. Cleaveland, of Chicago, the most gifted landscape gardener on the continent, to come and view the ground, and, having examined the land, he laid it out in the highest perfection of the art. Mr. Cleaveland has superintended the laying-out of the leading cemeteries of the country, and, so soon as they got a view of the natural tract, he and his son both spoke in the highest terms of its beauty. It is laid out in gentle curves, and smoothly gliding lines, without any sharp angles, or monotonous squares or diamonds to weary the eye and surfeit the taste. No two blocks or lots are alike; no two drives or walks are similar: but an unending variety and every varying contrast is presented to the eye. Broad drives sweep in grace- ful curves through every part of the ground, and from the carriage every grave may be viewed from the foot, and every inscription be read. In addition to this, the cemetery is chartered on a basis that it can never be neglected nor fall into decay. Provisions are made by which an ample fund, as a kind of endow- ment fund, is laid by in store, the interest only of which is to be used in keep- ing up the repairs. No individual can ever assume the control of it; and as much care will be taken of the grave fifty years after the interment as the first year. Taking all these facts together, and in connection with its location within an easy walk from any part of town, it will, in the very near future, be one of the most lovely cemeteries in the county. Quite a number of persons are already interred there, and many lots have already been sold.
At Indian Point, there is a cemetery one mile east of the church, that is duly incorporated, and is beautifully laid out. At Athens, the cemetery laid out by Mr. Hall is also incorporated, as also the Tallula Cemetery. These, we believe, are all the incorporated cemeteries in the county. There are a large number of private burying-grounds in the county, some containing hundreds of graves ; some have some little care and attention, while most of them have fallen into neglect, and, in the course of a few years, will have gone to entire ruin. This is a matter in which our people are shamefully negligent, and it is sincerely to be hoped that the public mind will become awakened on this sub- ject. Will we take so much pains with our homes and barns and farms, while the dust of our fathers and mothers are thus neglected ? A mere pittance, in the way of expense, and very little care and labor would gather these scat- tered remains from those dreary scenes of desolation and neglect, and place them in incorporated cemeteries, where their graves would be remembered, protected and cared for. .
RAILROADS.
There are two railroads passing through Menard County ; these are the Jacksonville branch of the Chicago & Alton, and the Springfield & Northwest- ern. These roads cross each other at nearly right angles at Petersburg, which is near the center of the county, thus dividing the county in four almost equal parts. The Chicago & Alton Railroad enters the county within less than a
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
half-mile of the southwest corner, and it leaves the county at the Salt Creek bridge, which is but a few miles from the northeast corner; thus it traverses the entire county diagonally from corner to corner. The Springfield & North- western road enters the county at the southeast corner, or as near as it can be found ; it traverses the entire area, and the bridge on the Sangamon, where it enters Mason county, is precisely at the corner of Menard.
The question of the navigation of the Sangamon River had been agitated as early as 1832 or 1833, as the reader will see in another place, but this was soon given up entirely. Another project was then proposed, of opening a canal from Beardstown to Decatur, by way of the Illinois and Sangamon Rivers. In the Legislature of 1834-35, a charter was granted for this purpose. In the spring following, a careful survey was made of the route; then, after a vast deal of gas and calculation and suggestion, the matter was abandoned ; but it did not die in the minds or energies of the people. Occasionally, the matter was agitated, but it was not till 1850, or 1851, that it was again warmly canvassed. So high did the fever run at this time, that the Leg- islature of 1852 granted a charter to the "Springfield and Northwestern Rail- road Company " to construct a road from Springfield to Rock Island. This road was to pass through the county just as the Springfield & Northwestern Road has since done. So far was this enterprise pushed, that the county of Menard voted $50,000 to aid in its construction. The people were so full of enthusiasm over the enterprise that it was thought for a time that it could not fail. Even a small per cent of the amount voted was absolutely raised to defray the expenses of the survey. But it is true that
" The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley,"
and as Sangamon County refused to vote her share of the stock, and troubles anticipated concerning the favorable negotiation of the bonds if voted, as also some unexplained trouble among the Company, the enterprise finally "went up." The people of "Little Menard," by these constant failures, became thoroughly discouraged. For a few years they were despondent; but in the fall of 1856, a new enterprise was suggested. An intelligent citizen informed the writer, that when this was first proposed, the people heard it with a scowl: but later, hope began to revive.
The enterprise proposed was the construction of a line of railroad from Jacksonville to Tonica in La Salle County, to intersect the IIennepin & Strea- tor. Tonica is a village on the last-named road, nine miles from the town of La Salle. A gentleman from La Salle County came along the proposed line of road, talking to the people and holding public meetings; and, having a corps of surveyors with him, he was making a preliminary survey at the same time. As the proposed line was to pass through Petersburg, and that being twenty- two miles from the nearest railroad or navigable river, the proposed road was a grand scheme to the citizens of this section of country. Menard, as a corporate-
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
body, voted $100.000 stock, and such was the zcal of the people that nearly 830,000 stock was subscribed by individuals. A charter was granted the Petersburg & Tonica Railroad. The subscriptions were legalized, and Ilon. Richard Yates was made President of it, and Menard County had two representatives on the Board of Directors, viz .. John Bennett and Hon. W. G. Greene. Work was soon commenced on both extremes of the line, and prose- cuted with vigor, and a great amount of grading was soon done ; but, unfor- tunately, notwithstanding the zeal of the people, the subscriptions ran short, and the work was compelled to stop. About this time. Mr. Yates resigned the Presidency, when Hon. W. G. Greene was called to fill the position, and Hon. W. T. Beekman was made a Director and Superintendent of the road. By almost superhuman efforts, means were raised to complete the road from Jack- sonville to Petersburg, a distance of twenty-eight miles. During the fall of 1861. the locomotive whistled for the first time in Petersburg. This being just at the opening of the war, all hope of its immediate completion was aban- doned. Mr. Milton Moore, recently deceased, was the first agent in the Petersburg depot, and Mr. William Bacon, the very prince of conductors, had charge of the first train. Many were the anecdotes told of the remarkable speedl of this train. There being one train, and the time-table requiring him to make the round trip every twenty-four hours, of course he must run. Fifty-six miles in twenty-four hours ! Think of it! They still tell of the train waiting for a farmer to shell a " grist " of corn to take to mill, and of the conductor's strictness in carrying out the time-table; so strict, indeed, that he helped shell the corn ! Of the lady who had eleven eggs to send to market on the train, and of Mr. Bacon waiting for the hen to lay the other egy : but they do not say that he hurried the hen ! One thing is sure; that is, Mr. Bacon was always a gentleman, and still is.
About the close of the war. a proposition was made by the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, which was accepted, whereby the latter company completed the road, not to Tonica, however, but following the old road-bed to Delavan, in Tazewell County ; there leaving the old Tonica line. it was run directly to Bloomington, there intersecting the line of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. Since that time, this has been an important line of road. Some years ago, the Chicago & Alton Company secured entire possession. Now it is finished to Kansas City. There are no finer trains run anywhere west of Ohio than the " Denver Express" and the "St. Louis Mail." The passenger and freight business of this road is simply immense ; and the company spare no expense in keeping their road up with all others, by putting all new appliances that can add to the success of the road into use.
The reader will remember that, in 1852, a charter was granted by the Legislature to the " Springfield & Northwestern Railroad Company." to build a railroad from Springfield to Rock Island. After that old charter had lain dead for seventeen years, it was revived by the Legislature in 1869-to a new
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
company, however, allowing them to construct a road on the line of the old survey. Menard County voted $100,000 stock in this road, and the town of Petersburg pays $15,000. There was a great amount of trouble over this matter of the " town bonds," as it was in the courts for quite a while ; but as it is a matter that produced trouble and hard feelings, and as it has been settled in the courts, we think it the part of prudence to let it be buried in the obliv- ion of forgetfulness. In the latter part of 1870, work was begun on this line at Havana, but it progressed but slowly. During the next year, 1871, it was completed across Mason County, and a few miles into Menard. In 1872, the cars began to run as far as from Havana to Petersburg. By late autumn in 1873, the road was finished all the way to Cantrall, a distance of no less than thirteen miles from Petersburg! Here another rest was taken ; but after the needed rest and recuperation necessary after such an arduous summer's work, the road was completed at last, in 1874. Mr. William Ludwig was appointed agent at Petersburg depot, a position which he has held to the pres- ent time, to the entire satisfaction of all. The road is doing a good business, both in freights and travel, and both rapidly increasing.
NAVIGATION OF THE SANGAMON.
The location of Menard County being so remote from large rivers, the roads of course, poor, and railroad transportation being then unborn, it is not to be wondered at if the early settlers did seriously ponder the navigation of the Sangamon. We are to bear in mind another fact, viz .: the forests being then undisturbed, the ground untrampled by stock and unplowed, and the flat prairies undrained, it follows, of course, that the average amount of water flow- ing in the river was at least a third more than at present; for, there being more vegetation then than now, there was then a greater rain-fall. Also, the ground being untrampled, the rain all sank in the earth and passed off regularly by springs, feeding the river constantly ; whereas now the ground is hard, and the fall of rain runs off with a dash. The result of this is that we have greater freshets and lower waters than they had in an early day.
Not only was the matter pondered, but the experiment was absolutely made more than once. Some gentlemen in or near to Springfield, being very desir- ous for some lumber. conceived the plan of shipping it up from Alton by way of the rivers. A steamer was found at Alton of the desired size. It was duly laden with lumber, and started on its long voyage. The season was favorable to them, the waters being extremely high, as this was 1831, the spring follow- ing the deep snow. All went swimmingly until they reached the inevitable Salem dam of Cameron and Rutledge. The water was nearly level over the dam, and so they tried to run over it. Unfortunately, they hung; but, removing a part of the cargo, and taking a cable above and fastening it to a tree, and working the rope on the capstan, by steam and ropes combined they pulled over. From this on, they had no more trouble. It went as far as Cotton Hill,
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
which is due east of the city of Springfield. The boat soon after returned in safety to the Illinois River. The name of this first steamer up the Sangamon was the " 'Talisman."
Five years later, in 1836, the steamer Utility came up the same river as far as Petersburg ; but, owing to the rough usage it received coming up, and the low stage of the water, the Captain was afraid to start back to the Illinois with it. He sold the Utility, as he could not utilize it, to Col. John Taylor, one of the early pioneers of Petersburg. Mr. Taylor built the first frame house that was ever in Petersburg or Menard County, of the debris of this boat : the first glass windows in the town came out of this boat, and the first steam mill ever in the town or county was run by the engine belonging to it. One of the residents of the town at the time says that there was not a house in the town that was not ornamented with some part of the Utility. Certainly. the primitive " burghers" utilized it to pretty good purpose.
Some of the old citizens affirm that a third steamboat came up as far as this place ; while others positively deny it. If such a vessel did visit the " wharf" of Petersburg, its name was never known to the people, or is entirely forgotten. It is true that the citizens sent Maj. Hill to Cincinnati, and had a boat built expressly " for Sangamon River ports." The boat was built and came on, but it was too large, and never made a voyage, as some say. but others say that it came to Petersburg and was sunk here in the raging Sangamon. So much for navigation.
EDUCATION.
The year has its seasons, in which the vegetable kingdom is variously affected. During the spring, it grows. expanding and enlarging ; in summer, the newly-formed portions are matured and hardened so as to endure the rigors of winter. Among animals, there is a period in which they grow and advance, and then they decay and die. The tide ebbs and flows ; day is succeeded by night ; and so, all through nature, there is change and variety ; even the plan- ets in their orbits at one point fly with inconceivable rapidity, while at another their motion is retarded. This seems to be true even of the intellectuality of the human family. Especially since the introduction of letters among the Greeks, there have been seasons of advancement and then retrogression in the intellectuality of the race. But this is not so plainly visible till after the revi- val of letters in Europe. This is true, however, in civilization, arts and sciences ; we advance and then recede, drop back, not to the former state, how- ever, and then advance again beyond the point reached before; so that the general tendeney is advancement. So it is in the literary improvement of mankind, the advance being greater than the retrogression. About the close of the war of the Revolution, literature and science began to advance in a man- ner they had never done before, and the interest awakened at that time is still on the advance. From that time, the American people have been fully aroused on the subject of education. But in those sections of country that were settled after
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