USA > Illinois > Mason County > The History and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 54
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
schools, which, with some changes, became a law. The act was passed on the 15th of February, 1855, and embraced all the essential features of the law now in force.
It is questionable whether any other State in the Union has a better educa- tional system than that developed in Illinois during the past twenty-five years. It is well adapted to the wants and conditions of the people, and fully up to the spirit of the age in which we live. It is within that period that all the schools and schoolhouses have been established in Mason County that amount to any- thing worthy of being proud of. The writer of this is gratified with the reflec- tion that, as a member of the State Senate, he helped to pass the laws which inaugurated the free-school system of Illinois, notwithstanding the abuse that was heaped upon him for doing it by those who could not see or appreciate the beneficence of the system.
There is yet an advance step to be made to complete the system, and that is the adoption of the compulsory feature. Parents who will not voluntarily send their children to school should be made to do so by the mandates of the law ; and the time is near at hand when it will be so enacted, and when every child in Illinois shall have the benefit of at least a rudimentary education.
Those who are especially jealous of their rights oppose compulsory educa- tion on account of its interference with their precious liberty, not think- ing that the law which compels them to pay taxes, work roads. serve on juries, do military duty and many other disagreeable things, is just as much of an entrenchment upon their liberty to do as they please as it would be to compel them to send their children to school ; besides, the liberty to bring up children in ignorance and vice is one of those things that ought to be interfered with and prevented if possible.
A government that depends upon the intelligence of the people for its existence must use the necessary means to compel the education of the masses, or go to destruction.
The way to carry out the grand idea in the Declaration of Independence- to make all men free and equal-is to do it through universal education. The unlettered man can not be the equal of the educated man, nor can he have a free and fair race in the pursuit of happiness, handicapped by ignorance.
Another step, which is to be a tremendous stride in the direction of univer- sal and cheap education, is yet to be made. It is the simplification of the uses of letters in spelling and forming words, so that the English language may be rapidly and cheaply learned by children and those of other tongues. This great reform has long been advocated by wise and thoughtful men, and is now actively inaugurated. There is a class of professional educators who wish to make a monopoly of their profession by making our language so hard to learn that it takes years of labor and mints of money to acquire it ; but this class tuist in time give way to wiser and better men. Many of the nonsensical, use- less, wicked and fraudulent letters that have marred our beautiful language and
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Daniel Diefenbacher HAVANA
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
made it a stumbling-block to children and foreigners, have already been dropped out of the places they have wrongfully occupied in hard and crooked words, that cost so much to learn.
When the English language becomes purified and made plain and easy to learn, it will become the universal language of the world.
The Church in the past ages assumed to be the special patron of education, and, as a part of that education, the religious dogmas of the day were engrafted upon the untutored infant mind, the cunning priest well understanding that " just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."
That time has passed by with us, thanks to the liberty-loving intelligence of our people. We have lived to see
" The Church and State, that long had held
Unholy intercourse, now divorced. She who, on the breast of civil power, Had long reposed her harlot head, (The Church u harlot when she wedded civil power, ) And drank the blood of martyred saints ;
Whose priests were lords ; Whose coffers held the gold of every land ; Who held a cup, of all pollutions full !"
There are school edifices in Havana, Bath, Mason City and Easton that are justly the pride of the people of their respective localities.
The Havana Schoolhouse was built in 1875, at a cost of $30,000. Mr. Thomas W. Catlin, a graduate of Yale College, has held the position of Super- intendent of Havana schools for the past two years, with general satisfaction. The present efficient School Board consists of Capt. Jacob Wheeler, J. R. Foster and H. W. Lindly.
With the following statistics which we have obtained from Mr. Badger, County Superintendent of Schools, we close the chapter on education.
No. of school districts in Mason County. 95
No. of schoolhouses in the connty. 98
Brick houses, 5; frame, 92; log, 1.
No. of lligh Schools in the county.
2
No. of graded schools. 91
No. of ungraded schools.
No. of males under twenty-one years of age
4,268
No. of females under twenty-one years of age. 4,030
Total 8,298
No. of males between six and twenty-one years of age ..
2,865
No. of females between six and twenty-one years of age 2,757
Total No. between six and twenty-one
5,622
No. of male pupils enrolled. 2,217
No. of female pupils enrolled. 2,070
Total enrolled pupils. 4,287
No. of male teachers
64
No. of female teachers
75
Total No. of teachers
139
R
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
No. of months taught by males
365A
No. of months taught by females. 4681
Total No. of months taught 833
Whole No. of months of school
692
Average No. of months of school.
7.22
No. of months taught in graded schools ..
212
No. of months taught in ungraded schools
621.0
Average wnges paid male teachers
$44 21
Average wages paid female teachers
34 65
Total amount paid male teachers
15,166 26
Total amount paid female teachers 15,175 74
Total amount paid teachers.
30,342 00
Amount paid for fuel and other expenses
3,713 42
Total expenses for schools.
34,055 42
Amount of school fund received during the year.
66.123 53
Total expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1879.
46,105 $5
Balance school fund on hand.
20,017 68
Value of school property in county
105,776 00
No. of persons between twelve and twenty-one years, unable to read and write.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
The Sunday-school work in Mason County has been immensely developed within the past few years, and is a valuable auxiliary to educational interests.
The number of Sunday schools in the county, at the present time, is 45; number of teachers, 334; number of officers, 181; number of scholars, 3,483, making a total membership of 4,018.
The number of volumes in the Sunday-school libraries, is 997, and the number of Sunday-school papers in circulation is 3,792. The amount of money raised for Sunday work, during the past year, is $1,043.38, a very small sum compared with the good work that has been done.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
The sound of the Gospel, as also the howling of the wolf, were among the loud noises heard in the wilds of Mason County by the early settler. The pioneer minister imagined himself a second John "crying in the wilderness," and, in humble imitation, he not only cried but howled before his congregation, gathered in the woods for want of houses to worship in.
One of this class of preachers was old Moses Ray-a forty-gallon Baptist minister of the olden time. In one of his black-jack sermons he was laboring to reconcile and harmonize the doctrine of election and fore-ordination, and the goodness, justice and mercy of God with the free will and free salvation of man. As he waded into the depths of his discourse, it soon dawned upon his bewildered mind that the arguments being used were illogical and contradic- tory, and, becoming dumbfounded, he called a halt of some moments of pro- found depression in the midst of his discourse, and then began talking to himself, as it were, and soliloquized thusly : "Be keerful, old man Ray-be
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
keerful ; you are getting in deep water, and had better keep near shore; " and then he waded out of the deep water that has bothered many wiser heads than his !
On another occasion, he was preaching in the timber at the south of Field's Prairie, where it took all the people of the south end of the county to make a respectable congregation. In the midst of his profound discourse, he observed some persons, forgetting the solemnity of the occasion, smiling and not giving the attention that a minister of the Gospel is supposed to be entitled to, and immediately addressed himself to the parties, modestly reproving them in this wise : "Ef the friends are laughing at what old man Ray is saying, and doubt the truth of it, he can tell you that he has the documents in the lids of the Bible to obstantiate every word he says (giving the Good Book a tremendous whack with his open hand), but ef they are laughing at the ignorance of the old man, and because he can't eddify them, why then, old man Ray will sub- sist. and you kin go and hear some preacher with more larnin', ef you kin find any sich ! "
There were many preachers, in early days, of the type of old man Ray. Among the early preachers in the county were John Camp, the County Judge, and Baldwin, the fisherman. Of the better class was John H. Daniels, of Bath, who is a man well posted in religious lore, and is still preaching to the Baptist Societies of the county, where he has been laboring for the past thirty- five years. He has also served the people as a Justice of the Peace and as an Associate County Judge, but is not as well posted in the law as in the Gospel. A pretty good joke is told on him, asserting that, while a Justice of the Peace, he sold a piece of real estate, made out the deed himself, took his own acknowl- edgment and that of his wife, certifying that he had examined her " separate and apart from her husband !" as the law directs.
In these modern times, we have experienced a great change in the ministry, as well as in the kind of religion taught. No longer are the horny-handed sons of toil-dressed in homespun coat and short pants, that seldom deigned to meet with the dirty socks-the shepherds of the flocks. The modern minister. in order to meet the requirements of society, has become an educated man, and, in order to be popular with his Church-especially those of the female per- suasion-pays special attention to the vestments he wears in the pulpit, as well as to the utterances that come therefrom. He has learned that " cleanliness is next to godliness." and that good clothes and good behavior are not altogether unbecoming the minister of the Gospel.
The changes in religious teaching in the past third of a century, are still more remarkable. No longer are the blasphemous utterances against God as the author of infant damnation, and endless punishment in hell fire, heard in the land. The God of hatred and vengeance has been changed into a loving and merciful Being. through the processes of education and development. The ignorant and the vicious person makes for himself or herself an imaginary God
498
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
of evil attributes ; and the more enlightened and better-hearted the person, the better kind of God is required for that person ; so that, in fact, every thinking man is the architect of his own ideal Supreme Being. Of all the strange and confused notions about the Deity, among the different churches and people, it is impossible to find out who is wrong or who is right; for the Bible tells us that " no man hath seen God "-only His "hinder parts," on one occasion- and from that imperfect view, very little can be known of Him or His attri- butes.
The time is fast approaching when it will be a matter of vastly more impor- tance to the world what men Do, rather than what they may THINK of religious dogmas. " Whatsoever ye would have others do unto you, do ye even so unto them," is a good and wise maxim, whether uttered by Jesus Christ or by Con- fucius, hundreds of years before Him. That maxim implies a good, square, honest, kind and neighborly life-nothing more, nothing less !
There are five church edifices in Havana, occupied by the Methodists. Bap- tists, Reformed Church, Catholics and Lutherans.
In Mason City, there are four church buildings, occupied by the Method- ists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Catholics.
In Bath, there are two church edifices, belonging to the Methodists and Christians.
In the other towns in the county, there are also a number of churches to accommodate the church-going people.
In the county, there are not less than thirty-six church edifices, belonging to the various denominations that worship therein.
The character of the ministers in the county is certainly above the average, as there have been but few ministerial scandals, compared with those in other portions of the country.
THE LOTUS CLUB
is one of the Havana institutions that ought not to be overlooked in the history of the times.
It was formerly the custom of men in all grades of society to meet in the publie saloons to talk over business matters, politics, or whatever was upper- most in their minds, as well as to join in social games and the social glass. Five years ago, somewhere about a dozen of first-class men joined themselves into a society, as named above, for social recreation, scientific discussions and intellectual pursuits, the transaction of business and discussion of business enterprises, and rented a large upper room and furnished it for that purpose. Neither gambling or drinking (except pure rain water), is allowable.
The number of attendants is not so large as it has been, but those who con- tinue to go there find it a very comfortable and agreeable place in which to spend their leisure hours in conversation, reading and other pursuits. It is a
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
place that many distinguished people have visited and been delighted with, and, what is still more remarkable in this land of republican simplicity, it has not unfrequently been honored by the presence of kings and queens, that have made themselves quite useful, as well as ornamental, in “ playing such fan- tastic tricks, before high heaven, as make the" other fellows weep.
GEN. GRANT.
There probably will be some people in a few generations hence that may think a history without the name of Grant would be like the play of Hamlet with the one great character left out of it.
For the gratification of many such people, it is considered not out of place to speak of Gen. Grant as a retired citizen of Illinois, whose fame is a part of the heritage of Mason County, as also of the State and nation. As a military hero, his name will probably be handed down to posterity, in the ages that are to come, as the greatest of any age or country.
In another part of this volume of history, the character of Abraham Lin- coln is more fully discussed, because he was a citizen of Menard County at one time. So long as Illinois is remembered as the home of Lincoln, Douglas and Grant, the State will remain immortalized.
Some two years ago, after his retirement from the Presidential chair, which he had occupied for eight years, Gen. Grant and family started out upon a voy- age around the world, and visited every crowned head and every nation of people in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. The progress of his journey was a continuous ovation of the people in every nation and every land, from the highest monarch to the lowest serf-each one vying with others in the effort to do the greatest honors to the plain republican citizen of Illinois as he advanced from one country to another.
The great fame of the country to which he belonged, was one of causes that led to the bestowal of such unprecedented honors upon Gen. Grant, but his personal qualities as a man and a soldier constitutes the crowning glory of the character whom the world delighted so much in honoring.
On the 20th of September, 1879, Gen. Grant returned from his wanderings and again his feet pressed upon the soil of his native land in the city of San Francisco, Cal., where he was met with such a reception as was never before given to mortal man in America.
At the time of writing this brief sketch, Gen. Grant is still the guest of the Golden City. His return to his home in Illinois will be marked in every town and city through which he passes, by the same spontaneous outburst of the joy of the people that greeted him on his arrival.
Many papers have been urging the nomination of Gen. Grant for another term of the Presidency, which could add no new lustre to a fame that already fills the world.
500
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
One of the active papers in this movement is the one from which the follow- ing lines are copied, as indicative of the swelling tide of the " Grant Boom :"
THE BEAUTIFUL BOOM.
BY ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF "BEAUTIFUL .NOW. I. Oh ! the Boom, the beautiful Boom ! Crowding the earth and sky for room : Over the ocean, over the land, With the pace of a whirlwind's four-in-hand, Whizzing,
Sizzing, Whooping along.
Beautiful Boom, it is going it strong,
Filling all space with a music so sweet That the spheres find it trying to keep their feet.
Beautiful Boom, white- wing'd as the dove,
Bright as an angel, and constant as love.
11.
Oh! the Boom, the beautiful Boom : How it grows as it goes, and continues to loom ; Whirling about in its glorious fun, It plays in its glee, like a giant Krupp gun. Roaring,
Laughing. Quivering by,
It lights up the face and sparkles the eye. E'en the man in the moon cannot fail but agree That the man of the Boom is a bigger than he. The country's alive, and its heart's making room To welcome the rule of the beautiful Boom.
APOLOGETICAL.
Without feeling possessed of any special fitness for the work. the writer has been induced to undertake the task by a desire to preserve the names and the memory of the pioneers of Mason County, and also the names of the brave men and the patriotic deeds of those who risked their lives, and those who lost them. in the great war, inaugurated and carried on to a final victory, to preserve the inestimable blessings of an undivided and unbroken Union.
The short time allotted for the completion of so much work, and the imper- fect record of the events of the county that has been kept. have been very great obstacles in the way of getting up the county history in a way at all creditable or satisfactory to the author.
It is fortunate that the work was begun thus early, for a few more years would have swept away the few remaining early settlers of the county, out of whose memory of dates and events much interesting and reliable history is formulated.
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501
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
In the military history, much time and effort has been spent to make it reliable ; still, there will be errors in names, but it is hoped not in any other material matter.
The time will come when every soldier's name who served in this great war will be a precious heirloom in every family to which they belonged, and hence the importance of a reliable record that may pass down to the remotest generations that are yet to come.
In the hurry of preparation of manuscripts, much has been overlooked that should have appeared in the history, no doubt, but not intentionally.
In the record of events that have transpired in the county, the author has, in some cases, had occasion to refer to himself in a way that is not agree- able; but, in order to vindicate the truth of history. it had to be done. We have been obliged to speak of things of which we knew and of things of which we were a part, making it embarrassing to a modest man. For the jokes told upon ministers and others, we hope no animosities will be treasured up. It takes jokes and anecdotes to enliven the monotony of history, and somebody has to bear them. In justice, it is proper to say, however, that every statement made is in good faith, relying upon the entire truthfulness in all matters where it could be obtained.
For a third of a century, the writer has been a resident of Mason County, and more or less identified with its interests. In that time, many things have transpired calculated to endear us to the people of the county. We have seen the county of Mason grow up from a few hundred people without wealth or position into a population of 20,000, many of whom are wealthy, educated, talented and happy. In that time, one full generation of people have passed from the face of the earth, among whom were children, kindred and friends that were dear. Men have arisen from obscurity to high position, and again been relegated to obscurity.
On the other hand, the writer has borne with mishaps, misfortunes and per- sonal wrongs, such as few could or would withstand, trusting with an abiding faith that time brings a recompense to all worthy souls that suffer and can wait. Our work is done.
September 27, 1879.
HAVANA TOWNSHIP.
A late writer, reviewing this fast age, remarks that "the world moves much after the fashion of a falling body," and that at present it " has acquired con- siderable momentum." True, its velocity is simply astounding, yet it moved slow enough in the beginning. In the old times, it took nearly a century for a man to cut loose from the maternal apron-strings, and three or four centuries to attain the prime and vigor of manhood. Rome was seven centuries in expand- ing her power and reaching the zenith of her glory : the temple of Diana at
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Ephesus saw 250 years from its foundation to its completion, and the architects of Babel and the Pyramids planned work for hundreds of years ahead. In these days of mushroom magnificence and tinsel show, one can form but little idea of the gorgeous spectacles, the boundless luxury, the surpassing extrav- agance of those far-away times. Cities grow up now-a-days in a few years, or decades at most, but they amount to little, except as bonfires. Witness Chi- cago. Its growth was unparalleled. It increased in population as no other city perhaps ever did. Like Aladdin's castle, it disappeared in a single night, as it were, and arose again, as if from a touch of the wonderful lamp, and " the new city was more glorious than the first." In the year 2500, where will it be? Is it likely that it will be Queen of the West, as it is now ? We dare not think so. It will have had its day, and, perchance, its crown will adorn some other brow.
Speaking of the Olympian festivities and the old Roman triumphs, and the millions expended on them and their accessories, one of our shrewd business men recently remarked, "We've got beyond all such things now, and I am glad of it, for such things wouldn't pay." That is it exactly ; we have no time for what don't pay. We are economical, and count the cost with the closeness of a Jew. Everything is done for an object, and with a rush. We live fast. Three or four lifetimes are compressed into one. Is it any won- der that our madhouses are filled with insane, with all this strain on vitality and energy ? The ancients were wiser in this respect than we are. They allowed time for their mental and physical capacity to develop. In every- thing we undertake is the same rush and hurry : we never calculate projects a hundred years ahead, but live wholly in the present and for the present. As an example of the rapidity with which we move, in 1800 the present territory of Illinois had a population of about 12,000; now it has over 3,000,000, or a population equal to the thirteen colonies at the time of the Revolutionary war. Fifty years ago. Mason County was an unbroken wilderness of marshes and sand-hills, with not a half dozen white people within its borders. But a few years have passed, and behold the change! The city and township to which this chapter is devoted, have sprung into existence. The marshes and sand- hills have developed into fine plantations, adorned with palatial homesteads, and in their midst has arisen a beautiful little city. At the touch of civiliza- tion, the wilderness has been made to " blossom as the rose :" herds and har- vests have followed the pale-face pioneer, and hundreds of human beings of a higher civilization have taken the place of a few wandering hunters and fisher- men. This is the fast age of the nineteenth century, and illustrates our whole- sale mode of doing business.
Havana Township lies on the east side of the Illinois River. south of Quiver Township, west of Sherman, north of Kilbourne, and, according to Govern- ment survey, embraces Town 21 north, Range 8 west, a part of Town 21, Range 9. a part of Town 22, Range 8. and contains altogether about fifty-six
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
sections of land. It is diversified, like the entire portion of the county along the river, with low, wooded hills, rolling prairie, level land, etc., some of the latter inclined to be a little marshy until drained by artificial ditches. Much of the town is of a sandy nature, but very productive, yielding corn, oats and wheat in good abundance. The territory now included in the township of Havana was originally, perhaps, one-third timber, the remainder rolling and level prairie. It has no water-courses, except those forming a part of its boundaries, viz: Quiver Creek on the north and the Illinois River on the west. The P., P. & J., the I., B. & W. extension and the Springfield & North-Western Railroads traverse it in all directions, and, with the " narrow gauges " now projected, together with the Illinois River, boatable the greater part of the year, it lacks no facilities for travel and transportation. Havana, which is particularly noticed in another chapter, is a thriving little city of the township and the capital of the county. Besides this, is Peterville, which has been surveyed and laid out as a village, but is merely two or three shops and a few houses. With this preliminary description of the township, we will now proceed to notice its
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