USA > Illinois > Coles County > The History of Coles County, Illinois map of Coles County; history of Illinois history of Northwest Constitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, &c., &c > Part 19
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Arkansas.
6
IO
Forfeiture of principal and interest.
California
IO
Any rate.
Colorado
IO
Any rate.
Connecticut
7
7
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Dakota.
7
12
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Delaware ..
6
6
Forfeiture of principal.
District of Columbia
6
IO
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Florida
8
Any rate.
Georgia
7
12
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Idaho.
IO
24
Fine and imprisonment.
Illinois.
6
IO
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Indiana.
6
IO
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Iowa.
6
IO
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Kansas.
8
I2
Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 12 per cent.
Kentucky
6
8
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Louisiana.
5 6
Any rate. 6 Any rate.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Massachusetts
6
Michigan
7
IO
Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 7 per cent.
7
12
No Usury Law in this State.
Mississippi
6
IO
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Missouri
6
IO
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Montana.
IO
Any rate. 12
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Nevada.
IO
Any rate. 6
New Jersey.
7
New Mexico
6
New York ..
7 6
8
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Ohio
6
8
Forfeiture of excess above 6 per cent.
Ontario, Canada
6
Any rate. 12
Oregon .
IO
Pennsylvania ...
6
Any rate.
Quebec, Canada
6
Any rate.
Rhode Island
6
Any rate.
South Carolina
7 6
IO
Texas
8
Utah.
IO
12 Any rate. 6
Vermont.
6
Virginia.
6
Washington Territory
IO
6* Any rate. 6*
Forfeiture of excess of interest
Wisconsin
7
IO
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Wyoming
12
Any rate.
8
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Maine.
Maryland
6
Nebraska.
IO
New Hampshire.
6
Forfeiture of thrice the excess and costs. Forfeiture of entire interest.
7 Any rate.
7
Forfeiture of contract.
North Carolina
Any rate.
Tennessee.
Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of entire interest.
West Virginia ..
6
Rate al-
per cent
* Except in cases defined by statutes of the State.
Minnesota
219
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
STATE LAWS
RELATING TO LIMITATIONS OF ACTIONS : SHOWING LIMIT OF TIME IN WHICH ACTION MAY BE BROUGHT ON THE FOLLOWING :
STATES AND TERRITORIES.
Assault slander, &c.
Open Accts.
Notes.
Judg- ments.
Sealed and witnessed Instru- ments.
Alabama
I
3
6
20
IO
Arkansas
I
3
5
IO
IO
California,.
I
2
4
5
5
Colorado ..
I
6
6
3
3
Connecticut
3
6
6
20
17
Dakota.
2
6
6
20
20
Delaware.
I
3
6
20
20
District of Columbia
I
3
3
12
12
Florida.
2
4
5
20
20
Georgia
I
4
6
7
20
Idaho.
2
2
4
5
5
Illinois
I
5
IO
20
IO
Indiana.
2
6
20
20
20
Iowa.
2
5
IO
20
IO
Kansas
I
3
5
5
15
Kentucky.
I
2
15
15
15
Louisiana.
I
3
5
IO
20
Maine
2
6
20
20
20
Maryland.
I
3
3
12
12
Massachusetts
2
6
20
20
20
Michigan.
2
6
6
6
IO
Minnesota
6
6
IO
6
Mississippi.
3
6
7
7
Missouri
2
5
IO
20
IO
Montana.
2
5
IO
IO
IO
Nebraska.
I
4
5
5
IO
Nevada.
2
2
4
5
4
New Hampshire.
2
6
6
20
20
New Jersey
2
6
6
20
16
New Mexico.
I
6
IO
IO
IO
New York ..
2
6
6
20
20
North Carolina
3
3
3
10
IO
Ohio
I
6
15
15
15
Oregon ....
2
6
6
IO
20
Pennsylvania.
I
6
6
20
20
Quebec (L. Canada).
I
5
5
30
30
Rhode Island.
I
6
6
20
20
South Carolina
2
6
6
20
20
Tennessee
I
6
6
IO
6
Texas
I
2
4
IO
5
Utah.
I
2
4
5
7
Vermont
2
6
4
8
8
Virginia
I
5
5
IO
20
Washington Territory.
2
3
6
6
6
West Virginia.
I
5
10
IO
IO
Wisconsin.
2
6
6
20
20
Wyoming.
I
6
15
15
15
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Ontario (U. Canada).
2
6
6
20
20
2
I
.
PRODUCTIONS OF AGRICULTURE, STATE OF ILLINOIS, BY COUNTIES .- 1870.
Improved Land.
Woodl'nd
[Other un - ) improved
Spring Wheat.
Winter Wheat.
Rye.
Indian Corn.
Oats.
COUNTIES.
Number.
Number.
Number.
Busheis.
Bushels.
Bushels.
Bushels.
Bushels.
Total
19.329.952| 5.061.578 | 1.491.331||10.133.207|19 995.198 2 456.578|129.921.395 12.780.851
Adams ..
287.926
112,576
19,3701
16,191
947.616
20,989
1,452,905|
759,074
Alexander
13,836
17.761
1,915
200
368.625
6,240
1,064,052
461,097
Boone
137,307
29,886
2,658
241,042
599
35,871
466,985
579,127
Brown.
57,062
35,491
25,608
13,276
117.502
4,742
337.769
70,852
Bureau.
398,611
41,866
15.803
465,236
724
43,811
3,030.404
987,426
Calhoun
37,684
63.443
2,754
75
221,298
186
234,041
26,23₺
Carroll
186,864
29,793
33,302
418,073
260
25.721
1.367,965
775,100
Cass.
92.902
33,493
6,604
12,165
127,054
2.772
1,146,980
168,784
Champaign
419,368
16,789
58,50
102.577
123.091
45.752
3.924,720
721,375
Christian
241.472
19,803
19,173
18,360
504,041
10,722
1,883,336
383,821
Clark
118,594
102,201
5,420
195,118
7,308
614,582
212.628
Clay.
146,922
80,612
5,225
1,894
85,737
3.221
1,019,994
269.945
Clinton
150,177
48,868
8.722
500
610,888
1,619
813.257
446,324
Coles.
208,337
45,214
3,274
2.651
154.485
8,825
2,133.111 570,427 581,964
1,584,225 136,255
Cumberland
75,342
40,334
5,604
550
84,697
14,798
403,075
171,880
DeKalb
334,502
17,722
6,551
398,059
190
21,018
1,023,849
1,087,074
De Witt.
168,539!
29,548
17,633!
106,493
11,695
11 540
1,311,635
216,756
Douglas
147,633
11,897
7,316
7,683
65,461
9,017
1,680,225
225,074
Du Page.
164,874
17,243
3.851
106,096
693
7,532
331,981
860.809
Edgar ..
265,458
66,803
14,282
13,283
247,360
37,508
2,107,615
290,679
Edwards.
58.912
57,585
830
77
195.716
19,759
620,247
386.073
Fayette ..
187,196
93,460
16,786
42,571
1,008
11,577
565,671
154,589
Franklin.
80,749
3,994
86,710
365
111,324
5.195
653.209
222,426
Fulton
228.132
123.823
4,076
193,669
293,930
131,711
1,508.763
261,390
Gallatin.
49,572
68,750
2.565
83,093
512
509,491
27,164
Greene ..
175,408
93.242
29.653
577,400
415
1.051,313
64,029
Grundy.
193,999
6,256
4,505
21,700
150
4,936
295,971
269.332
Hamilton.
88,996
93,878
3.343
129
92.347
11.672
735,252
203.464
Hancock
311,517
43.385
18.480
181,378
232,750}
133,533
Hardin
28,117
44,771
107
13
32.306
865
1,712,901
229,286
Henry
265,904
12,620
31,459
462,379
445
35.766
2.541,683
668.367
Iroquois.
322,510
22,478
63,498
57,160
10,480
23,259
799,810
JJackson
78,548
87,642
5,991
890
329.036
524
611,951
149,931
Jasper
90,867
67,023
12,250
87.808
9,165
461,345
149,214
Jefferson
118,951
94,888 51,427
1,363
558,367
519,120
71,770
JoDaviess.
156.517
82,076
45,779
282,758
555
7.185
1,286,326
874,016
Johnson. .
57,820
3
399
188,826
325
23.618
674,333
785,608
312,182
10,978
10,598
103.466
480
12,935
637,399
772,408
164.001
14,244
2,283
90,681
1,249
5.16%
681,267
468.890
330,829
41,566
25.155
267,764
7,654
113.547
2,708,319
787,952
21,072
24,399
168,914
221
5.876
517,353
LaSalle .
533,724
2.350
271,181
2.193
48,30%
3,077,02:
Lawrence .
87,828
3,273
450.793
2,260
14,829
1,656,978
Livingston
377,505.
12,462
41,788
1,339
26,163
1,182.69€
321,709
17,394
408
40,963
37.232
4,221,64(
490,226
Macon ..
205,259
18,153
9.115
55,239
196,613
29,223
2.214,468
454,648 459,417
Madison
89,450
13,675
550
1,207,181
3,685
2.127,549
475,252 389.446
Marshall.
166,057
:8.260
2.976
106,129
900
36,135
Mason
209,453
31,739
31,013
73,261
125,628
49,18%
2,648.72+
Massac
25,151
33.39₺
30
72.316
544
133,126
MeDonough
261,635
52.541
14,035
273.871
52.40)
1,362,490
Mellenry
230.566
53.298
57.998
401,790
270
29,264
1,145.005
910.397
McLean
494.978
40.36€
49,087
211.801
10,955
39.824
3.723.379
911,127
Menard.
134,173
34.931
13.952
36,152
45,793
4,28:
1.973 88:
235.091
Mercer.
222.809
45,977
22,588
289,291
13,203
40.778
2,054.962
Monroe ..
92.810
83,369
666
651,767
1,425
543,718
Montgomery
276,682
17.804
8,495
59
744,891
3,29€
1.527.898
293,450
60,217
1.376
18,196
357,523
5.53:
3,198,835
114,220
24,783
13,112
17,128
196.436
6,676
1,753.141
316.883
43.643
14,913
497.038
5,580 31.843
99,502
969,224
334,892
338,760
Piatt.
5,978
13,897
26,382
39.762
9,24.9
1.029.725
Pike
233 785
128,953
9,30%
1.057,497
25.303
1,399,188
161.419
Pope.
55.980
87.754
70,457
2,309
315,958
Pulaski,
19,319
12.516
4.174
796
7.707
334,259
414,487
Richland.
75,079
50,618
2 025
150,268 2.279
20,003
1,459,653
276,575
Saline.
72.309
70.393
809
83.011
568
531,51G
Sangamon
421.748
51,085
19,932
247,658
23,073
4,388.763!
Schuyler
96,195
62.477
21,294
56,221
165.721
20,841
440.975
Scott
85,331
44,633
1,610
18
266.105
930 23,688
2.082.578
Stark ..
138,199
12,375
2,783
124,630
1,562 621
1,008
1.615,679
960.620
Tazewell
229,126
45,268
14,846
132,417
72.410
59.027
2,062,053
505.841
Union
75,832
83 606
5,300
44,806
249.558
52,476
2.818.027 421,361
110,793
Warren ..
266,187
27 294
14,583
186,290
5.712
72.212
2,982,853
601.054
Washington
177.592
55,852
1.931
672,486
2,576
836.115
Wayne
147,352
146,794 78.1671
869
184,321
418
870.521
Whitesides.
289.809
21.823
37.310
457.455
264
31.658
2,162.943
880 838
Will ...
119,442
21.261
6.335
195,286 176
1.996
8,030
1.131,458 655.710
180.986
Winnebago.
211.373
15.237
408.606
2.468
137.985
1,237.406
868.903
Woodford
225,504!
23.2171
23.1351
178.139
108.307
20.426
2.154. 185|
744,582
Cook.
348,824
19,635
17,337
144,296
4,904
20,171
Crawford.
105,505
78,350
27,185
60
212,924
15,497
352,371
129,152
Effingham.
120,343
56.330
26,206
351,310|
25,328
962,525
497,395
Ford
141,298
2,996
63,976
161,112
69,062
96,430
1,510,401 172.651
26,991
Henderson.
140,954|
34,705
14,243
778
100,553
5,934
887,981
285,949
Jersey
94,147
79,141
92,191
2,468
343,29>
74,525
Kane ...
240,120
72,738
264,134
1,121
656,36:
131,386
Lee ..
322.21%
12,071
7,409
120,206
Logan.
231.059
81,224
7,343
160
861,398
2.404
1.051,544
Marion.
173.08]
61,579
4,142
173,65%
14,517
1.034,057
1,182,903 362,604
272,660
668,424
Morgan. Moultrie.
157,504
1.787,066
141,540
Peoria.
48,666
2,516
92.361
350,446
1,016
384.446
195,735|
16,511
Putnam
37.271
17,184
1.170
450
1,031,022
3,235
510.080
204.634
Rock Island.
155.214
31,239
$0,755
15,526
452,015
30.534
1,149 878
476.851
Stephenson
254.857
43.167
13,701
527,394
2.118
135.362
679.753
124.473
Vermilion.
360,251
53.078
31,122
Wabash
54.063
37.558
509
202.201
8,665
1,179.291
404,492
White.
92,398
Williamson
123.448
1,618
170.787
6.228
752.771
637.812
Shelby.
310,179
74.908
9,314
316.726
St. Clair.
231,117
76.591
2,016
2.550
180.231
1.737
436.051
Perry.
170,729| 93,754 94.454
68,470
220
130
44,92%
229
86.519
Randolph
140.764
162,274
3.401
482.594
69.793 397,718
Jake
207,779
699,069
1,509,642
903,197
659,300
Macoupin
257.032
22.097
280.717
452.889
152.251
198,724
263.99%
Ogle.
130,610
67,886
28,137
243,541
200
89,304
119.359 13.463
1.423.121
533.398
10,186
266
164.689
119.652
1,868 682
Bond.
145,045
42,613
42,658
30
244,220
21,627
Kankakee.
34,646
Kendall.
Knox.
48.117
198,056
579,599
430,746
122,703
528
315.954
116.949 37,238
36,146
Dal Adany PLEASANT GROVE TP.
HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
H ISTORY is the camera through which we view the events of countries and people. It records the noble deeds of the soldier and the states- man, and stands the proud monument of a country's greatness. It is history, sacred though it be, that tells us of the glory of Eden, and the purity and happiness of the first pair in its Elysian fields, and likewise of their trans- gression and fall. And through the sixty centuries that have passed since the world's dawn, it is history that presents to us, whether in types, in hieroglyph- ics or in tradition, all that we know of men and things past. The events which constitute the annals of a country are matters of at least some local interest, and be that country ever so " beautiless, barren and bleak," it con- tains something of sufficient importance to be engraved upon the pages of history. How much more important, then, that the fertile region of which we propose to treat in these pages should become a matter of record, and form a part of the history of a great State and a great country.
A history of Coles County is a part of the history of America. Every portion of a thing goes to make up and becomes a part of the whole. The population of this county constitutes a part of the forty millions of American citizens who people this country, and their absolute wealth and prosperity make a part of our national wealth and material greatness. The intelligence of its people form a part of our intelligence as a nation. The patriotism and self- sacrificing devotion of its sons, the gallantry and prowess of its soldiers on a hundred battlefields, are no mean part of the pride and glory of this great American nation.
The age of Coles County (as such) is two years less than half a century, but the date of its settlement extends back nearly a decade beyond its organi- zation as a county. Within that time, the events that have transpired and the scenes that have been enacted upon its soil, will be the subject-matter of these pages. Taking it from the time of its occupancy by the Indians, we will endeavor to trace its progress from that wilderness state to the present period of its wealth and prosperity. Its growth has been rapid and wonderful beyond the wildest dreams of the pioneers who first set foot within its borders.
The present territory of the county was formerly a part of the State of Virginia, and ceded by her to the United States in 1784, and was called the Northwest Territory. Virginia was the home of the " Father of his Country,"
1
224
HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
and prides herself still on being the mother of the nation's best Presidents ; so Coles County comes of no ignoble ancestry. In 1778, Virginia organized what is now Illinois into one county, which, some years later, received the name of St. Clair, from the then Governor of the Northwest Territory. In 1809, Illinois was organized into a separate Territory, and was composed at the time of two counties-St. Clair and Randolph. After this, Madison was set off from St. Clair, and Crawford was afterward set off from Madison. When Illinois was received into the sisterhood of States, in 1818, there were but fifteen counties, of which Crawford was one. This county was named for Hon. William H. Crawford, who was reputed an honest man, and a safe custodian of public money ; for under the administration of Madison and Monroe he was Secretary of the Treasury, and also a candidate for the Presidency in the Adams and Jackson campaign of 1824. During the year 1819, Clark County was set off from Crawford. It then embraced a large extent of territory run- ning up the valley of the Wabash, and far beyond, even to the Canada line, or British possessions. Clark County was named in honor of Gen. George Rogers Clarke, a native of Virginia, and a pioneer warrior of considerable celebrity. In 1779, more than a quarter of a century before the organization of Illinois into a separate Territory, he organized an army in Virginia, and marched it across the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River. A few years later, the world rung with the mighty achievement of Napoleon crossing the Alps with a great army, but to our mind, the deed no more than equaled that of Clarke in crossing the Alleghanies and traversing a wilderness with his little band of soldiers, beset and harassed by hostile savages. He had never seen a steamboat nor heard of a railway-train, but he understood war and the trans- portation of an army. He built rafts, and on them shipped his soldiers down the Ohio to the spot where Shawneetown now stands, and then by forced marches through swamps and marshes filled with water, often knee-deep to his men, he moved them across the country to Kaskaskia and captured that important post from the British. But all this belongs to State history.
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
Coles County was set off from Clark in 1830. It then embraced in its territory what is now Cumberland and Douglas Counties. Upon its organiza- tion, it was christened Coles, in honor of Edward Coles, the second Governor of the State, and elected to that position in 1822. As a general rule, it is not safe to name a child or country for any man while he is yet living, though he be a very Solomon, for we know not how soon he may fall. There is no secu- rity for a good reputation but in the tomb. This side of that "bourn " the proudest name, the most exalted reputation may totter and fall to pieces. In this respect, however, Coles County's namesake died with a name untarnished. Edward Coles was a man eminently fit to give a name to any country. He was a native of Virginia, rich, and a large slave-owner, and when he emigrated
225
HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
to Illinois he brought his slaves with him. A man who loved liberty, its fires lighted up his soul, and its benign influence dictated his action and inspired him with pure purposes and prompted him to noble deeds. Of all other men, he demanded respect for his rights, and to the rights and personal liberty of all other men he accorded the same profound respect. On reaching Illinois and becoming a citizen of the State, he set his slaves all free, and, in addition, gave each head of a family among them 160 acres of land. Such was the law at that time, that a man setting a slave free in Illinois, must give a bond that it should never become a public charge. To this very unsavory requirement of the law, Coles failed to yield obedience, for which little delinquency his case was adju- dicated by the courts, and he was fined $2,000. This fine he was never required to pay, and the cause which gave rise to it will never give rise to another of a similar character in Illinois, in the civilized ages to come.
Coles County, at the time of its organization, was some twenty-eight miles . east and west, and abont fifty miles north and south, but at that time, as already noted, it included Douglas and Cumberland Counties. At present, it is bounded on the north by Douglas County, on the west by Shelby and Moultrie Coun- ties, on the south by Cumberland, and on the east by Clark and Edgar Coun- ties. It embraces twenty-four sections of Township eleven north, and all of Townships 12 and 13, and eighteen sections of Township 14 north, in Ranges 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 east, and a part of Range 14 west. Range 11 east in this county is fractional, being only three-fourths of a mile wide. In the southeast part of the county there is a "jog " in the east line of three sec- tions wide east and west, in Range 14 west, and seven sections long north and and south, in Townships 11 and 12 north. When Coles County was set off from Clark, the latter was unwilling to give up that portion of its territory and inhabitants to a new county. The reason of this is found in the fact that it embraced the best portion of that county, and a settlement of energetic and intelligent people. In the north line of the county, there is also a "jog " of two miles north, in Ranges 11 east and 14 west. This was made to retain the village of Oakland in this county, when Douglas County was created. That village was then regarded as having great room for outgrowth and development. This county was unwilling to give up that portion of its territory, and the peo- ple of that village were unwilling to be given over to a new county organiza- tion. Coles County is situated in latitude 40 north and in longitude 11 west from Washington, and embraces about five hundred square miles. Its general surface is undulating ; not so level as to be regarded flat, nor so broken as to be considered mountainous or even hilly. It forms a beautiful plateau or table-land, and is about eight hundred feet above the level of the Gulf of Mex- ico. It is largely prairie, and constitutes a part of what is known as the Grand Prairie. This prairie is perhaps as large in extent, as rich in soil and as magnificent, originally, in nature's waving fields as any in the Mississippi Valley.
226
HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
In the topography of the county, the prairies form rather a notable feature. The origin of these great plains has been a source of much speculation. One theory is that the soil resulted from the decomposition of vegetable matter un- der water, and that the attending conditions were incompatible with the growth of timber. According to this view, prairies are at present in process of forming along the shores of lakes and rivers. During river freshets, the heaviest parti- cles settle nearest the channel. and here, by repeated deposits, the banks first became elevated above the floods. These natural levees becoming sufficiently high, are overgrown with timber, and inclose large areas of bottom lands back from the river, by which they are frequently inundated. The waters on these flats, when the flood subsides, are cut off from the river and form sloughs, fre- quently of great extent. Their shallow and stagnant waters are first invaded by mosses and other aquatic plants which grow under the surface and contain in their tissues lime, alumina and silica, the constituents of clay. They also subsist immense numbers of small mollusks and other diminutive creatures, and the constant decomposition of both vegetables and animals forms a stratum of clay corresponding with that which underlies the finished prairies. As the marshy bottoms are, by this means, built up to the surface of the water, the mosses are then intermixed with coarse grasses, which become more and more abundant as the depth diminishes. These reedy plants, now rising above the surface, absorb and decompose the carbonic-acid gas of the atmosphere, and con- vert it into woody matter, which at first forms a clayey mold, and afterward the black mold of the prairie."*
As we have said, the prairies form a notable feature in the topography or the county, the soil in them being invariably deep, rich and productive. The original prairie grass grew very rank, often higher than a man's head. As a rule, the prairies occupy the high land and the timber the low land, though there are some exceptions to this. Timber abounds in the county, but is mostly confined to the valleys of the water-courses. The varieties consist of all the kinds of oak, hickory, walnut, elm, maple or sugar tree, cottonwood, hackberry and perhaps some others. There are still some very fine sugar orchards in the valley of the Embarrass River. Speaking of these sugar orchards and the excellent timber of the county calls to mind a stanza from the compositions of a local poet of Northern Illinois on a similar subject :
" The timber here is very good- The forest dense of sturdy wood ; The maple-tree its sweets affords, And walnut, it is sawn in boards ; The giant oak the axman hails --- Its massive trunk is torn to rails ; And game is plenty in the State, Which makes the hunter's chances great. The prairie wolf infests the land, And the wildcats all bristling stand."
#Davidson's History of Illinois.
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
As fine poetical thought, the above effusion is of rather limited merit, but as descriptive of this country fifty years ago, the picture it presents is a very true one. Many years ago, in the settling-up of this part of the country. tim- ber was regarded as quite an object. Every land-owner was of the opinion he must have a piece of timber-land. It was believed that the settlement and im- provement of the country would render it eventually scarce. At one time, tim- ber-land sold more readily, and for a higher price than prairie. Such, how- ever, is not now the case, and a half-century of experience finds still an abun- dance of timber for all practical purposes.
Beautiful lakes, high mountains and large rivers, are not characteristic of Coles County. But lwo streams entitled to the name of river, enter its borders, viz., the Embarrass and the Kaskaskia. The latter is better known in this section of the country as Okaw, but nearer its mouth it is called Kaskaskia altogether. The Embarrass, or Ambraw, as it is almost universally pronounced, is a beautiful stream. It rises in Champaign County. flows through Douglas and this county from north to south, and makes a tributary of the Wabash. It is the dividing line between Morgan and Oakland Townships, Charleston and Ashmore, and Pleasant Grove and Hutton Townships. Before the days of rail- ways and lightning news-carriers, this river was navigable, for an early statute of Illinois so declared it to be. During the time the law was in force, numer- ous vessels were built on this river, at a point near what is now known as Blakeman's Mill, and which went by the high-sounding name of the " boat- yard." Some of these vessels went down and out of the Embarrass, and down the Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, and others foundered in the " Dark Bend," a spot where the sun never shines, except at high noon. These vessels were called flatboats, and were usually loaded with the surplus products of the country, consisting of such articles as would be of small loss if they never reached a market. This stream abounds in fine varieties of fish, viz., bass, cat, buffalo, pike and many others. The Okaw meanders through the township of Okaw, in the northwest part of the county. It is a dull, sluggish, running stream. The water is muddy, has not sufficient action to clear and purify itself of " wiggle-tails," and other such " vermin." Under the law, it, too, was a navigable river for shallow water-craft. and is a tributary of the " Father of Waters." There are two other streams which have their source in this county, both of which are too small to be called rivers, and rather large to be styled creeks. They are the little Wabash and the Kickapoo, and each takes its name from powerful tribes of Indians once dwelling in this region of country. They begin or " head " in the immediate neighborhood of each other, but the Wabash runs to the southwest and the Kickapoo to the east. There is also a small stream in Morgan Township, rejoicing in the oily appellation of Greasy Creek, which possesses some notoriety, by reason of the peculiar manner it acquired its name. In the pioneer days. hogs were "mast " fatted altogether, and in that neighborhood many hogs were stolen and butchered. It was the custom
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