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 21
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
Not only were the people hard run to live, to " keep soul and body together," but when we consider the tools and implements they had to work with, we won- der in our minds how they managed to live at all. The old "bar share" and "Cary " plows would be objects of great curiosity to the present generation, in this age of magnificent plows-plows that will almost turn the soil, if put in the field, without team or driver. An old farmer told us the other day, that for years after he settled in the neighborhood, there was but one wagon in the settlement, and one grindstone "and upon the latter," said he, "we used to grind our Cary plows when they become too dull to plow well." And yet we complain of hard times ! Why, we don't know the meaning of the word, as compared to these early settlers, who broke down the barriers between the wilderness and civilization. Again, quoting from Capt. Adams, "They hauled hay eight miles in winter on hand-sleds, sold their horse-collars to buy bread for their children ; rocked their babies in sugar-troughs, and stood guard over them to keep the wolves off, and fed them on venison and wild honey."
Nor is the credit all due to the "lords of creation," in the privations endured in these early days. Noble women lent their presence to " gild the gloom" of wilderness life, and cheerfully shared the toils and cares met with in their new homes. Figuratively they put their hands to the plow, and, in cases of emergency, did not hesitate to do so literally. They drove oxen, assisted in planting, cultivating and harvesting the crops, besides attending to their household duties ; and these last were much more onerous than at the present day. Then they included the spinning and weaving into cloth, flax, cotton, and wool. The wool was carded into rolls at the carding mill or machine. spun into yarn on the "big wheel " by the wives and daughters, woven into cloth and manufactured into garments by the same busy hands, for the family wear. If a lady was so fortunate as to possess a calico dress, she was the envy of her " set," just as the "lady of the period," who robes in satin and a "love of a bonnet," is the envy of her less fortunate sisters at the present day. But the half-century that has passed has made many changes, and brought us many improvements. We have grown much older in many respects, if not wiser, and become more extravagant in our desires and more luxurious in our tastes. We cannot think of living on what our fathers lived on fifty years ago. Our very appetites have changed. The "corn-dodgers" and fried bacon our parents were glad to get, if set before us at the present day, would cause us to elevate our "Grecian noses" to an angle of ninety degress. But this is as it should be. We live in an age of improvement, and it is but just that all should move ou together. It is not in a spirit of grumbling or dissatisfaction that we have fallen into a moralizing mood, but by way of contrasting the past and present, and of showing the grand march of improvement for the past fifty years. When we look back over the years that are gone, at the changes and improvements wrought in the land, we are almost ready to attribute it to the power of Aladdin's won-
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derful lamp. As a cap-sheaf to the reflections we have been indulging in, we give the following gem from the "poet laureate" of Coles County :
"The old log cabin with its puncheon floor ---- The old log cabin with its clapboard door ! Shall we ever forget its moss-grown roof, The old rattling loom with its warp and woof ?
The old stick chimney of ' cat and clay,'
The old hearthstone where we used to pray ?
No! we'll not forget the old wool-wheel,
Nor the hank on the old count-reel ; We'll not forget how we used to eat
The sweet honey-comb with the fat deer-meat ;
We'll not forget how we used to bake,
That best of bread, the old Johnny-cake! "
INDIAN HISTORY.
When the first white people came to Coles County, there were plenty of Indians in this portion of Illinois. They were the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos and Winnebagoes. From Davidson and Stuve's History of Illinois, which con- tains the most complete history of the aborigines inhabiting this country, that we have ever read, we make a few extracts with reference to the tribes that once occupied this section of the State : "The early traditions of the Winne- bagoes fixes their ancient seat on the west shore of Lake Michigan, north of Green Bay. They believed that their ancestors were created by the Great Spirit, on the lands constituting their ancient territory, and that their title of it was a gift from their Creator. The Algonquins named them after the bay on which they lived, Ween-ni-ba-gogs, which subsequently became anglicized in the form of Winnebagoes. They were persons of good stature, manly bearing, had the characteristic black circular hair of their race, and were generally more uncouth in their habits than the surrounding tribes. Their language was a deep guttural, difficult to learn, and shows that they belonged to the great Dacotah stock of the West. Anciently, they were divided into clans distinguished by the bird, bear, fish and other family totems.
How long they resided at Green Bay is not known. × Coming down to the era of authentic history, Carver, in 1766, found them on the Fox River, evidently wandering from their ancient place of habitation, and approaching Southern Wisconsin and the northern part of Illinois and Iowa, where portions of the tribe subsequently settled, while others wandered further south. * *- * * In the war of 1812, they remained the allies of England, and assisted in the defeat of Col. Croghan, at Mackinaw, Col. Dudley at the rapids of the Maumce, and Gen. Winchester, at the River Raisin. In the Winnebago war of 1827, they defiantly placed themselves in antagonism to the authority of the General Government, by assaulting a steamboat on the Mississippi, engaged in furnishing supplies to the military post on the St. Peters.
" The Kickapoos, in 1763, occupied the country southwest of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. They subsequently moved southward, and at a
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
more recent date, dwelt in portions of the territory on the Mackinaw and Sanga- mnon Rivers, and had a village on Kickapoo Creek. and at Elkhart Grove. They were more civilized, industrious, energetic and cleanly than the neighboring tribes, and, it may also be added, more implacable in their hatred of the Ameri- cans. They were among the first to commence battle, and the last to submit and enter into treaties. Unappeasable enmity led them into the field against Gens. Harmer. St. Clair and Wayne, and they were first in all the bloody charges at Tippecanoe. They were prominent among the Northern nations, which, for more than a century, waged an exterminating war against the Illinois Confederacy. When removed from Illinois, they still retained their old animosities against the Americans, and went to Texas, then a province of Mexico. to get beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. They claimed relationship with the Pottawatomies, and perhaps with the Sacs and Foxes, and Shawnees.
" The Pottawatomies are represented on early French maps as inhabiting the country cast of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. At the mouth of the St. Joseph. falling into this part of the lake, the Jesuits had a mission- ary station, which, according to Marest, was in a flourishing condition as early as 1712. Here, an unmeasured distance from civilization. for more than half a century, the devoted missionaries labored for their spiritual weltare. These years of toil and self-denial were, however, little appreciated ; for, in Pontiac's war, they proved themselves to be among the most vindictive of his adherents. Disguising their object under the mask of friendship, they approached the small military post located on the same river, and, having obtained ingress, in a few minutes butchered the whole of the garrison except three men. From this locality, a portion of the tribe passed around the southern extremity of the lake into Northeastern Illinois. Time and a change of residence seem not to have modified their ferocious character. Partly as the result of British intrigue, and partly to gratify their thirst for blood, they perpetrated, in 1812. at Chi- cago, the most atrocious massacre in the annals of the Northwest. After their removal from Illinois, they found their way to the Indian Territory, and, in 1850. numbered 1,500 souls."
The foregoing extracts give a pretty authentic history of the tribes that claimed this county fifty years ago as a part of their hunting-grounds. There is much in the nature of the Indian to loathe and abhor, and there is, too, much to pity and deplore. They claimed this great country, originally, by right of possession. if not of discovery, and it was no more than human nature that they should maintain their right to it to the last extren.ity. From a lack of civilization, they committed acts of barbarity shocking in the extreme, but, to a certain extent, excusable through ignorance of the "higher law " of humanity : and even their deeds of cruelty, barbarians though they were, were often equaled by their more civilized but little less barbarous white neighbors. In an exrly day, we are told, they had a trading-post near where the village of
WE Adams
CHARLESTON
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
Camargo now stands. In was established by two French Canadians, we believe, named Vesor and Bullbery. They also had a cemetery, or burying-ground in this vicinity, and, once a year, a grand powwow was held within its precincts. They were friendly toward the whites then sparsely scattered through the country, and, in their limited and ignorant way, religious. Says Capt. Adams in the address several times referred to in these pages : " Their ideas of heaven and hell they represented on dressed deerskins. On one side was painted a huge fire, and toward it some Indians going with bottles in their hands. This was a representation of hell, or the bad hunting-ground. On the other side were painted beautiful woods, abounding with deer, looking pleasant, and Indians going that way, dressed finely and seemingly happy. This was heaven, or good hunting-ground." The following legend belonged to the Pottawato- mies, and formed the basis of their theology and origin : "They believe in two Great Spirits-Kitchemenedo, the good or benevolent spirit, and Matche- monedo, the evil spirit. Some have doubts which is the most powerful ; but the great part believe that the first is-that he made the world and called all things into being, and that the other ought to be despised. When Kitche- monedo first made the world, he peopled it with a class of beings who only looked like men; but they were perverse, ungrateful, wicked dogs, who never raised their eyes from the ground to thank him for anything. Seeing this, the Great Spirit plunged them, with the world itself, into a great lake and drowned them. He then withdrew it from the water and made a single man, a very handsome young man, who, as he was lonesome, appeared sad. Kitche- monedo took pity on him and sent a sister to cheer him in his loneliness. After many years, the young man had a dream which he told to his sister. 'Five young men,' said he, ' will come to your lodge-door to-night to visit you. The Great Spirit forbids you to answer or even to look up and smile at the first four ; but when the fifth comes, you may speak and laugh and show that you are pleased.' She acted accordingly. The first of the five strangers that called was Usama, or tobacco, and, having been repulsed, he fell down and died; the second, Wapako, or a pumpkin, shared the same fate; the third, Esh- kossimin, or melon, and the fourth, Kokees, or the bean, met the same fate; but when Tamin, or Montamin, which is maize, presented himself, she opened the skin tapestry door of her lodge, laughed very heartily, and gave him a friendly reception. They were immediately married, and from this union the Indians sprang. Tamin forthwith buried the four unsuccessful suitors, and from their graves there grew tobacco, melons of all sorts, and beans ; and in this manner the Great Spirit provided that the race which he had made should have something to offer him as a gift in their feasts and ceremonies, and also something to put in their akeeks, or kettles, along with their meat." *
Davidson, in his history of Illinois, speaking of the psychology of the Indians, says : " Prominent among these was the idea that every natural * Schoolcraft.
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
phenomenon was the special manifestation of the Great Spirit. In the mutter- ings of the thunder-cloud, in the angry roar of the cataract, or the sound of the billows which beat upon the shores of his lake-girt forests, he heard the voice of the Great Spirit. The lightning's flash, the mystic radiance of the stars, were to him familiar displays of a spirit-essence which upheld and governed all things, even the minute destinies of men ; while the Indian attributed these to the Great Spirit, an antagonistical deity was created in his theology, whom he regarded as the potent power of malignancy. By this dualty of deities, he was careful to guard his good and merciful God from all imputations of evil by attributing all the bad intentions and acts which afflict the human family to the Great Bad Spirit."
The Indians, it is said, never killed a wolf. Old pioneers say that they held that the wolf, like the Indian, made its living by hunting, and, therefore, it would be wrong and cowardly to kill it. Even their dogs would not molest a wolf, and the ravenous little savages would follow a band of Indians for hours to pick up any dead or wounded game left by them along their route. Mr. Brown, of Ashmore, relates a circumstance that occurred near his father's, of an Indian who, in a frenzy of religious excitement, shot and killed a warrior. He was, by the tribe, considered crazy, and taken to a grove near by and tied to a tree (rather a novel insane asylum, and as it proved an ineffectual one), from which the Indian succeeded in making his escape. The incident is more particularly referred to in the history of Ashmore Township.
Coles County claims its Indian battle-grounds. Though she can make no pretensions to any such memorable battles as Tippecanoe or the River Raisin, there is a tradition (but somewhat dim and misty) of two battles with the Indians fought on the " sacred soil" of Coles County, at or very near the same place. As the story goes, the first occurred in 1815, between a corps of Government surveyors, protected by a sufficient guard of armed men, and a large band of Indians. The whites were encamped on the Embarrass Hills, a little distance west of Blakeman's Mill, and, in addition to being well armed, were protected with artillery. The Indians, in their usual style of battle-array, attacked them upon the flank, and with blood-curdling war-whoops threw the engineers and their guard (for a time) into confusion. They soon rallied, how- ever, and ascertaining the enemy's position, formed their line of battle and opened upon them with their artillery. A general engagement followed, which continued some time with great severity, finally resulting in the defeat of the Indians, with considerable slaughter. This is the prevailing tradition, but how much of it is true, we are unable to say.
The other battle referred to occurred in 1818, between the "Illinois Rangers," under command of Gen. Whiteside, a pioneer Indian fighter, who figured conspicuously in his day in the Indian wars of Illinois, and a large band of Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, and Winnebagoes. The Indians had col- lected in force in the Upper Embarrass country, and proceeding to the Kas-
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
kaskia settlement, committed many depredations among the scattered settlers. Among other things, they stole and drove off a large number of horses and cattle. Gen. Whiteside, then in command of the Illinois Rangers, as they were called, followed their trail to the site of the Blakeman Mill, where it crossed the Embarrass River. Near this point, the Rangers came up with the Indians, and at once prepared to give them battle. Skirmishers were thrown out, and a line of battle formed. A charge was ordered, and a shout from the Rangers was answered by one from the savages, and the neigh- boring hills soon echoed with the roar of battle. For some time the fight raged fiercely, but the Indians were defeated and the captured property re- taken. How many were engaged on both sides, and the losses sustained by each, are not known. Like the account given of the battle with the Gov- ernment surveyors, it is traditional. The trees in the neighborhood, however, show signs of war, we have been told, and the scars made upon them with fire-arms have been seen by many living witnesses. But these little " serim- mages " between the white and red races on the soil of Illinois are long past, and in a few years more there will be none left who remember the red man's wigwam within the borders of the State.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
It has been said by a late writer that " the native American mind tends as naturally to self-government as the duck takes to the water." The organiza- tion of new counties into corporate bodies with legal existence, while yet there are but a few hundred voters within their limits, is proof positive of the trite remark. In 1830, the population of this part of the country had increased to such an extent (for a wilderness) that the people began to think of forming a new county. What is now Coles County was then a part of Clark, as we have already stated, and Darwin, the county seat, was remote from the settle- ments of this region. In the year above mentioned (1830), a petition to the Legislature to have Coles set off from Clark County, was circulated by Joseph Henry, George Hanson and Andrew Caldwell. During the session of 1830-31 the act was passed by the Legislature creating the new county, which em- braced in its limits, as mentioned in the beginning of this history, the pres- ent counties of Coles, Cumberland and Douglas. The following is the act of organization :
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General As- sembly, That all that tract of country within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of Section Four, in Township Sixteen north, in Range Fourteen west of the second principal meridian ; thence west on the line dividing Townships Sixteen and Seventeen, to the eastern boundary of Range Six, east of the third principal meridian ; thence south on said line the line dividing Ranges Six and Seven, the eastern boundaries of Macon and Shelby Counties, to the southwest corner of Clark County, Township Nine north, Range Six ; thence east on the line dividing Townships Eight and Nine, to the southeast corner of Section Thirty- one, the east boundary of fractional Range Eleven east; thence north on said line, which is the division between fractional Range Eleven and Range Fourteen, to the northeast corner of Section
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
Nineteen, in said Range Eleven, in Township Twelve north ; thence to the northeast corner of Section Twenty-one, in said Township Twelve, and Range Fourteen ; thence north on sectional lines, the center of said range, to the place of beginning, shall form a new county, to be called Coles.
SEC. 2. For the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of said county, the follow" ing persons are appointed Commissioners, viz .: William Bowen, of Vermilion County, Jesse Essarey, of Clark County, and Joshua Barber, of Crawford County ; which Commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of Charles Eastin, in said county, on the fourth Mon- day in January next, or within five days thereafter, and being duly sworn before some Justice of the Peace of the State, faithfully and impartially to take into view the convenience of the people, the situation of the present settlement, with a strict view to the population and settle- ments which will hereafter be made and the eligibility of the place; shall proceed to explore and carefully examine the country, determine on and designate the place for the permanent seat of justice of the same : provided, the proprietor or proprietors of the land shall give and con- vey by deed of general warranty, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a quantity of land, in a square form, or not more than twice as long as wide, not less than twenty acres. But should the proprietor or proprietors of the land refuse or neglect to make the donation afore- said, then and in that case the said Commissioners shall fix said county seat (having in view the interest of the county) upon the land of some person who will make the donation aforesaid. If the Commissioners shall be of the opinion and decide that the proper place for said seat of jus- tice is or ought to be on land belonging to Government, they shall so report, and the County Commissioners shall purchase one-half quarter-section, the tract set forth, in their name, for the use of the county. The Commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice shall, so soon as they decide on the place, make a clear report to the Commissioners' Court of the county, and the same shall be recorded at length in their record-book. The land donated or purchased shall be laid out into lots, and sold by the Commissioners of the county to the best advantage, and the proceeds applied to the erection of public buildings, and such other purposes as the Commission- ers shall direct ; and good and sufficient deeds shall be made for the lots sold.
SEC. 3. An election shall be held at the several places of holding elections as now laid off by Clark County, in said Coles County, on the Saturday preceding the first Monday in February next, for one Sheriff, one Coroner, and three County Commissioners, for said county, who shall hold their offices until the next general election in 1832, and until their successors be qualified. And it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of said county, and if there be none, then the Recorder or Judge of Probate, to give at least fifteen days' notice previous to said elec- tion, and who shall appoint the judges and clerks of said election, who shall be legal voters ; and the returns of said election shall be made to the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder or Judge of Probate, as the case may be, and by him, in the presence of one or more Justices of the Peace, opened, and they jointly shall give to the persons elected Commissioners, certificates ; and that of the Sheriff and Coroner to forward to the Governor; which election in all other respects be conformable to law.
SEC. 4. All courts shall be held at the house of Charles Eastin in said county, and con- tinue to be held there until public buildings shall be erected for the purpose, unless changed to another place by order of the County Commissioners' Court, who shall make the same a matter of record.
SEC. 5. The Commissioners appointed to locate the county seat, shall be allowed $2 per day each. for every day necessarily employed in locating the same, to be paid by said county.
Approved, December 25, 1830.
This act gave to Coles County a legal being, and steps were at once taken to put the machinery of existence into operation. According to the provision of the act creating it a county, an election was held in February, 1831, at Ashmore's, the only voting place in the county, and about sixty votes were cast. At this election, George Ilanson, Andrew Caldwell and Isaac Lewis were
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
elected County Commissioners, and constituted a County Court for the transac- tion of county business ; a system which continued in force until the adoption of a new State Constitution in 1848. The Commissioners mentioned in the foregoing act to locate the seat of justice, viz., Bowen, Essarey and Barber, met, and after a thorough investigation of all eligible points suggested, decided on the present site of Charleston. Charles Morton and and Benjamin Parker owned the land, and each donated twenty acres for town purposes, as provided in the act of organization. In February, 1831, the survey was made by Thomas Sconce, first County Surveyor, and in April of the same year, the first sale of lots was made. The Commissioners gave the name of Charleston to the county seat, in honor of Charles Morton, one of the men who donated twenty acres of land to the county. Feeling under some obligations to Mr. Morton for the assistance he rendered them while engaged in locating the town, they told his wife that they had determined to call the place Mortonville, when she offered an amendment to their proposition, saying that if they desired to compliment her husband in that way, to add the last syllable of Morton to Charles, and call their town Charleston. They accepted her suggestion, and thus the capital of the county received its name.
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