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 37
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A. Francis informs the citizens of Mattoon that " he is now opening at the store opposite and nearest the depot, another choice stock of spring and summer goods, of almost every kind and description, and that he will keep on hand con- stantly the best brands of flour."
Norvell & Brother announce that they have just opened a "saddle and harness shop, west of the Central Railroad, over the Gazette office," and that their terms are " exclusively cash."
K
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A. Engle announces the " Mattoon House now open, and that he is ready to receive the patronage of the public, and afford them a home, at reasonable tertus.
Thomas McKee advertises that " the Pennsylvania House has recently changed hands, and has been very much enlarged and otherwise improved by painting and papering it throughout.'
Mr W. H. K. Pile says that "the Kentucky House, at the corner of Secondi and Broadway, will furnish supper, lodging and breakfast for $1, and that he will give one meal for 35 cents."
H M. Tremble & Son " announce to the public that they are receiving dry goods of every description, hardware and cutlery, groceries, boots and shoes. clothing. cordage, carpenters' tools, farming utensils, rich and fashionable bon- nets : all of which we offer for sale cheap for cash, or in exchange for corn, oats, wheat. rye, rags. butter, eggs, tallow. beeswax, and. in short, everything in the produce line, at market prices."
S. Knight & Co. deal in lumber, shingles. lath, timber and dressed lumber.
Conley & Hitchcock have the largest advertisement of any firm. They report new style prints, new style poplins, sugars and other groceries, summer clothing. boots and shoes, and everything to be found in any other store. They give market reports, from which we learn prices paid then for different articles bought and sold. Wheat is reported from $1 to $1.50 per bushel : corn, from 12] to 15 cents : oats. 20 cents : potatoes, $1 and $1.25: timothy-seed, $2.25: cornmeal, 25 cents per 100 lbs .: butter. 12] : eggs. 10 cents per dozen : coffee is 14 cents per pound : sugar. from 10 to 15 : bacon is reported from 7 to 10 cents per pound. beef at Tand s cents ; chickens are worth $1.50 and $2 per dozen : rye is worth 50 cents and 60 cents per bushel : hay. $6 per ton : whisky, 35 cents per gallon, bran ly 84.50. wine $4 and gin $2.50, when bought by the barrel.
This description includes almost all noticed in this first issue of the paper. referring to Mattoon. The rest of the paper is devoted entirely to foreign matters-no local items noticed. Probably Mr. Houghton did not have time to gather any. He appears to have all his paper but one page printed el-e- where-probably in Terre Haute, as much of the advertising is from there, and some of it is inserted twice. The paper is quite creditable for the start, and we are surry that no second copy was preserved so its advance could be noticed.
The Gazette was ann unced to appear every Saturday. and carefully fulfilled its contracts. Mr. Houghton, who had been a printer in Terre Haute, and had published a paper in Greenup until the county seat was removed. continued with the Gazette until autumn. when he sold to Dumas J. Van Deren, and returned to a farm near Greenup. He remained there and in the town till the spring of 1857. when he moved again to Mattoon and purchased the Gazette of Mr. Van Deren. He conducted the paper till the fall of 1859, when he sold it
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to McIntyre & Woods and removed to a farm near Majority Point. Shortly afterward, Mr. Woods sold his interest to W. P. Harding, and the firm of Harding & McIntyre, who took charge of the Gazette. Mr. Houghton returned the third time to Mattoon after raising one crop, and again secured an interest in the Gazette. He subsequently enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty- third Illinois Volunteers, and lost his life in an engagement on the 18th Septem- ber, 1863. When he went to the army. the paper continued under McIntyre & Harding's control. the latter gentleman as editor until February 1, 1861. July 19. 1865, Mr. Mcintyre sold to J. O. Harding, and the Gazette came under the charge of Harding Brothers.
When the war broke out, J. O. Harding enlisted first in the Sixteenth Indi- ana, afterward in the Seventy-ninth Illinois. He was taken prisoner and confined in Libby eighteen months. On his return from the war, he came again into the Gazette office on July 19, 1865. with his brother. The firm of Harding Brothers managed the Gazette until June 20. 1866, when the junior member sold his interest to Mr. C. B. Bostwick, and Harding & Bost- wick conducted the paper until May 29. 1867. At this date, Mr. Harding sold his interest to Mr. Bostwick. who managed the Gazette until July 10, 1867. A radical change in the paper occurred at this date. The Democratic party had for some time been desiring a paper, and when Mr. Bostwick sold, it was to a committee of prominent citizens of that political party. They changed the name to the Mattoon Democrat and its politics to their own. They employed Charles W. Dunifer as editor, who remained but a few months, when he was suc- ceeded by a Mr. Crouch, who remained in charge only two or three months. The adventure not proving a success. the committee desired to sell. They found a purchaser in the persons of Tavlor & Bowen, who changed the name to Mattoon Clarion. They, however, were not able to pay for it, and, soon after, the establishment was sold at Sheriff's sale, and the materials moved to Sullivan.
When Mr. Bostwick sold in 1867, he contracted to stay out of the printing business five years, and. the time expired, he returned and concluded to revive the old Gazette. He and George B. MeDougall purchased a new outfit, and, on the 16th of August. 1872. they issued the first number. They also opened a job office in connection with their paper, and soon had a good business. They continued together until January, 1874, when Mr. McDougall sold his interest to Mr. Bostwick, who has since conducted the Gazette. It is a large-sized. eight-paged paper. and has an excellent reputation and circulation. The office is fitted with a good steam-power press. two job presses, power paper- cutter, ruling machine, and all the material necessary for doing all ordinary commercial book and blank work.
The Journal was established November 1, 1865, by W. O. Ellis. He, in his editorial " salutatory," defines his intended position ; refers to the fact of the late war; to his position regarding it ; to the desire he entertains for peace :
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to the cause of education, which he hopes to see fostered in the town ; to the growth of trade and the encouragement of manufactories, and to the general advancement of the city wherein he has cast his lot.
The editor notices the fine weather of that fall : the discharge of the Thirty- third Illinois, at Vicksburg; the granting of 8,000 pardons by the President, and the fact of there being 20,000 still on file. Many other items of State and national news are given ; a liberal patronage of advertising appears, and, all in all. the paper evidently was issued after a careful canvass was made.
Some one gives a history of the inception of the Mattoon Business College and Female Seminary, and, through successive numbers, concludes arguments in favor of their firm establishment in the city.
The Journal starts out evidently well prepared for work, and shows a dis- position to maintain and elevate its standard. Mr. Ellis continued as editor and proprietor until June 23, 1866, when he sold an interest in the paper to Capt. Thomas E. Woods. Two weeks before, the Journal was considerably enlarged and improved. showing the year's adventure had been successful. Capt. Woods, in his " salutatory " to the readers of the Journal, says he is here again among the people he had formerly known when he conducted the Gazette, and later, when he had wielded the pen in the sanctum of the Charles- ton Courier, before that journal, as he thinks, apostatized. He alludes to the fact of his late connection with the war, fairly closed, and avers that, having tried both the pen and the sword, though the foriner may be " mightier, it is less swift."
The current news of the day are given : a good local column is maintained, while general news appears. Mr. Ellis remains with the paper, Capt. Woods acting as editor.
The Journal was run under this arrangement until the fall of 1869. when Capt. Woods purchased the entire interest, and assumed exclusive control. He conducted the Journal alone until March 1, 1876, when he associated with him- self his brother, Winfield Woods, and the paper was conducted by Woods Brothers until January 1, 1879, when Capt. Woods received an appointment in the Treasury Department, at Washington, and went there. He is still con- nected with the paper, however, and furnishes much of its editorial matter.
On January 1, 1879, William F. Purtill, who has been connected with the papers of Mattoon as a general printer and foreman for several years, and has been for a long time with the Journal, obtained an interest, and now the paper is conducted by Woods & Purtill. It began in 1874 to issue a daily, which it maintains with commendable enterprise, and which is an important factor in the life of Mattoon. It had been run as a tri-weekly two or three years prior to the daily ; this was, however, abolished when the daily was founded, and the weekly issue resumed.
The third paper in Mattoon, the Commercial, is the outgrowth of the Rad- ical Republican, a paper started early in December, 1867, by Mr. Ebenezer
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Noyes. When the Gazette was sold by Mr. Bostwick to the committee of Democrats, Mr. Noyes determined to establish a strong Republican paper in its stead, purchased materials and opened an office on the north side of Broadway, west of the railroad, in the room now occupied by 'Squire Robb. He employed Charles Robb as printer, and assumed the editorial charge himself. He made the paper what its name implied, and was not at all afraid to freely express his views. He was assisted by Mr. Chittenden in his editorial work, who had the main control in the business office and as a gatherer of news. James Williams was soon after also engaged in the printing department.
Mr. Chittenden did not remain long in the office, and the entire editorial and reportorial duties devolved upon Mr. Noyes, who took in his sons to aid him. They continued the Radical Republican until sometime in 1871, when they sold the paper to Mr. A. Bookwalter, who changed the name to Commer- cial. He continued it until the fall of 1872, when he suspended. He soon after sold the office to Mr. R. Sumerlin & Sons, who moved it to its present location. Their first paper appeared on October 3, 1872. Under their man- agement, the paper was made the organ of the Democratic party, and was con- tinued by them until August, 1876. Mr. Sumerlin sold the paper at this time to a stock company, and went to Florida. The company appointed Mr. A. Sumerlin, who had been in the office with his father, editor and manager, and, under this management, it is still continued. The Commercial is a four- page paper, issued weekly, and has a good circulation among its constituents.
The office is very well supplied with material, and a general printing and job office maintained in connection with the paper.
LODGES, ASSOCIATIONS, SOCIETIES, ETC.
MASONIC-Godfrey de Bouillon Commandery K. T., No. 44. Instituted October 28, 1874. First officers : E. A. Thielens, E. C .; F. K. La Fever, Gen. ; J. B. Ayer, Capt. Gen. Present officers : Michael Meller, E. C .; G. W. Shaw, Gen. ; G. W. Clark, Capt. Gen .; C. G. Weymouth, Recorder. Regular conclave the second and fourth Fridays of each month.
Mattoon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 85. Instituted October 26, 1865. First officers : James M. True, H. P .; S. J. Fisher, K .; W. II. House, S. Present officers : Thomas Davis, H. P. ; James Darnell, K .; J. II. Clark, S .; J. J. Ayer, Sec. Meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, at their hall.
Mattoon Lodge, No. 260, F. & A. M. Instituted in 1858 (oldest Masonic Lodge in town). First officers : N. W. Chapman, W. M. ; J. W. Dora, S. W. ; J. B. Tayler, J. W. : E. W. True, Treas. ; H. C. Rogers, Sec. Present officers ; James L. Scott, W. M. ; James H. Clark, S. W. ; John F. Scott, J. W. ; I. Jennings, Treas. ; W. A. Bell, Sec. Meets first and third Mondays of each month, at their hall.
Circle Lodge, No. 707. Instituted January 10, 1873. First officers : George Wenlock, W. M. ; F. K. La Fever, S. W. ; Benjamin S. Capen, J. W .;
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
William H. Lewis, Sec. Present officers : J. B. Durnell, W. M .; Thomas Davis, S. W. ; J. A. Mulford, J. W .; George W. Clark, Sec. Meets first and third Wednesdays of each month, at their hall.
Eureka Lodge, No. 13. (Colored Masons.) 'First officers : Austin Perry, W. M. : Milford Norton, S. W. ; James Hunt, J. W. : David Smith, Treas. ; Henry Sweet, Sec. Present officers : Austin Perry, W. M .; I. W. Barnes, S. W. : C. Beacham. J. W .: Patrick Williams, Treas .; D. L. May. Sec. Meets first Monday of each month, at Kilner's Block.
Masonic Benevolent Association. (Insurance.) Chartered August 23, 1876. Officers : Joseph H. Clark, Pres. ; J. Richmond. Vice Pres. ; J. S. Anderson, Sec. ; J. R. Tobey, Treas. : J. W. Dora, M. D .. Med. Ex. Has at present a membership of -- , and is steadily increasing.
ODD FELLOWS-Mattoon Encampment, No. 97. Instituted in 1868. First officers : John Owens, C. P. : J. D. Kilner, S. W .; A. P. Frick, H. P .; Elza McKnight, J. W. Present officers : J. D. Hawes. C. P. : Frank Garthwait, S. W. ; J. D. Kilner, H. P. : D. S. Coom, J. W. Membership, over seventy. Meets first and third Fridays of each month, in Kellerman's Building.
Harmony Lodge, No. 551. First officers : F. M. Phipps, N. G. ; W. E. Murry, V. G .; W. C. Drish. R. S. ; George Goldgart, Treas. ; S. A. Camp- bell, P. Sec. Present officers : John M. Kelley, N. G .; Henry Gochonour, V. G. ; Frank K. La Fever, R. S. ; A. Spitler, Treas.
Coles County Lodge, No. 260, I. O. O. F. Instituted in 1856 or 1857. Present officers : John Snyder, N. G .; John Soules, V. G. : Oliver Goggin, R. S. ; John Birch, Sec. : J. T. Kilner, Treas. Meets every Tuesday evening.
Mattoon German Lodge, No. 414. I. O. O. F. Instituted in 1864. Pres- ent officers ; John Kelley, N. G. : Henry Gochonour, V. G. ; Frank La Fever, Sec. ; Abram Spitler, Treas. Meets every Wednesday evening.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS .- Palestine Lodge, No. 46. Instituted April 7, 1874. First officers : S. A. Campbell, P. C .; R. B. Moore, C. C .; M. E. Boyd, V. C .; R. B. Woolsey, P .; George W. Clark, M. of E .: Frank P. Clark, M. of F .; Ira B. Jackson. K. of R. S .; W. H. Augur, M. of A .; George E. Cartmell, I. G .; John A. M. Scott, O. G. Present officers: S. G. Tiley. P. C .; C. B. Fry, C. C .; J. B. Benefiel. V. C .: Henry Wright, P .: Thomas W. Gaw, M. of E .: William M. Chettle, M. of F .; D. McCaull, K. of R. S .; Thomas MeClurry, M. of A .; Anthony Stewart, I. G .; Robert Owenby, O. G. Number of members, fifty. Meets first and third Thursday evenings of each month, at their Castle Hall, West Broadway.
K. of P. ENDOWMENT .- Section, No. 148. Instituted in April, 1872. First officers : Charles B. Fry, President ; Robert N. Gray, Vice President ; John W. Hanna, Secretary and Treasurer ; Henry Wright, Chaplain; W. Pat- rick, Guide ; Henry Gullion, Guard; A. Stewart, Sentinel. Present officers : Charles B. Fry, President : John W. Hanna, Vice President ; W. M. Chettle, Secretary and Treasurer: Henry Wright, Chaplain; U. Culson, Guide : Henry
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
Gullion, Guard ; Anthony Stewart, Sentinel. Membership. over twenty-five. Meets first and third Thursday evenings of each month, at K. of P. Hall.
KNIGHTS OF HONOR .- Eureka Lodge. No. 598, instituted April 20, 1877, by William Obermeyer, with twenty-nine members. First officers : J. F. Drish, Past Dictator ; L. G. Roberts, Dictator ; Frank Noyes, Assistant Dictator ; J. G. Wright, V. D .; P. B. Lynn, Reporter : R. S. Holding, F. Reporter; R. B. Roberts, Sentinel ; A. Danheiser. Guide : George Beacham, Guardian. Present officers : J. G. Wright, Past Dictator : H. M. Coulter, Dictator; S. R. Coddington. V. D .: Lee Schneller, Assistant Dictator : J. L. Matthews, Reporter : A. Danheiser, Fin. Reporter ; George Bugh. Treasurer ; J. M. Mitchell, Chaplain : B. F. Hays, Guardian ; J. B. Ward, Sentinel. Member- ship. over one hundred. Meet every Monday evening at their hall, East Broadway.
Knights and Ladies of Honor-Alpha Lodge No. 28, instituted in April, 1878. First officers : J. F. Drish, Pro .; Mrs. J. W. Hanna. V. Pro .; L. V. Woods, Sec .; Mrs. W. W. Smith, Fin. Sec .: Mrs. Ira James, Treas. Pres- ent officers : L. G. Roberts, Pro .; Mrs. Norvell, V. Pro .; Harry Coulter, Sec .; John Parmalee, Fin. Sec .; Mrs. Vining. Treas. Meets second and fourth Thursdays each month in K. of IL. hall.
Excelsior Council R. T. of T .- Instituted January 10. 1879. First and present officers : O. W. Gogin, S. C .; B. W. Hunt, B. C .; W. S. Hinkle, P. C .; T. A. Allison, Sec .; Calvin Moore, Treas .; U. T. S. Rice. Herald ; W. J. Stotts, Sentinel. Mcets every Friday evening.
W. C. T. U .- Organized June 5. 1878. First officers: Mrs. M. J. Hinkle, Pres .; Mrs. Thomas Clegg. Sec .: Mrs. Lillie Mulford, Cor. Sec .: Mrs. Maggie Duncan. Treas. Meets every Thursday afternoon in their hall. Fur- ther particulars of this society, its objects, etc., are given in the history of the city.
ASIIMORE TOWNSHIP.
This town is pretty well divided between prairie and woodland, the latter, perhaps, predominating to some extent. Its timber is principally oak, hickory, sugar-maple, and a light scattering of walnut. The township is watered by the main branch of the Embarrass River flowing along its western boundary, together with several smaller streams which have their source in its territory, the most important of which is Pole Cat Creek. The sweet-scented name of this stream was derived. it is said. from the fact that a new-comer first learned upon its classic banks the power and alacrity of that species of feline to defend itself against its enemies. Ashmore is bounded on the north by Oakland Township; on the west by the Embarrass River : on the south and east by Hutton Town- ship and Edgar County, and is much larger than a regular Congressional town- ship. It is a fine agricultural region, and contains many excellent farms. The Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad passes nearly through its center from east to
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
west, and has been of incalculable benefit to the town. The village of Ashmore, which will be again alluded to in this chapter, is a thriving place, and the ship- ping point for a large scope of country.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
The first white men who made claims in the territory now embraced in Aslı- more were the Dudleys. James Dudley entered land here in 1826. He was originally from New Hampshire, but had been for several years a resident of Edgar County before coming to this section. When he entered land here he put his brother, Guilford Dudley, on it, and Laban Burr, a son of Laban Burr, one of the early settlers of Edgar County, and he remained for several years afterward in that county before coming to his new possessions. Guilford Dudley and Laban Burr were both single men, and kept " bachelor's hall " for several years. Coles County, at the time of which we write, was a part of Clark, and the first frame barn erected in what now comprises both counties, was put up on the Dudley farm about 1830. It was a frame structure, as we have said, of the New England pattern, and after the frame had been "raised," a man of the name of MeCracken climbed to the top of it to christen it by name, as he said was the custom down in New England. With all due solemnity, and "in the name of the good people present," he pronounced the name of "Bachelor's Delight and the Pride of the Fair," and then threw away the bottle, though, as our informant expressed it, bottles then were rather scarce. What use they had for a bottle in such a ceremony we are unable to conjecture. The romantic name under which the barn was christened appears a little contradictory, and the latter clause a misnomer, as the household at that time was said to have been a bachelor one. The "raising" of the edifice was quite an event, and men came from the "Big Creek " settlement (in Edgar County) to assist in the enterprise.
Guilford Dudley, after taking to himself a wife, entered land a short distance from his brother's place, on which he remained until his death several years after. His youngest son, Elbridge Dudley, now occupies the place. Laban Burr eventually married Miss Melissa Sutherland, of Grand View Town- ship (Edgar County), and entered land south of Dudley's, in what is now Hutton Township. James Dudley, mentioned above as the first to enter land in this section. after living a bachelor until the mid-day of life, married a widow lady named Brown. He sold his farm to a man of the name of Olmstead about 1837, and returned to the East. Adam Cox is supposed to have been from Ken- tucky, and settled in this township in 1826-27. He located near Dudley's, and, after remaining there a number of years, sold out and removed to Jasper County, and finally to Missouri, where he died. He settled in the "Big Creek " neighborhood before coming to this county.
Job W. Brown was born in the old Nutmeg State, but his parents removed to Kentucky when he was ten years old, where they resided several years ; then came to Lawrence County, Ill., and, in January, 1825, removed to Walnut
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
Grove, at that time considered the very outskirts of civilization. In 1838, he, with his father, Jonathan W. Brown, took a contract to build two sections of the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad, which they completed in 1840. and, the same year, he settled in Ashmore Township, on a farm he still owns, and upon which he resided until 1877, when he retired from active labor, and removed into the village of Ashmore, where he at present lives, enjoying a competency won by honest toil. Mr. Brown tells the following story of his "sparking " days : There was living in the neighborhood a family with a grown-up daughter of whom he was rather fond. After a time, the family moved away some distance to the northwest, and he would mount his horse semi-occasionally and ride out to see her. As the country palaces in those times usually consisted of one room, which served as parlor, dining-room, bedchamber, kitchen, etc., "it required a good deal of courage," he said, " to corner his girl under such cir- cumstances," but he " at length got used to it." Upon an observation from us, that, had we lived in those primeval days, we would have done our sparking in the summer time, when, with the fair one of our choice, we might have wan- dered in the " darkling wood, amidst the cool and silence," or lingered beside the " purling brook, as it meandered over its pebbly bottom," etc., etc., he quietly remarked that " where there was a will there was a way," and that " people in a backwoods country could get used to almost anything."
The severest punishment, he said, that he ever received at school, was given him by his father when going to school to him. The boys and girls were allowed to " sit around the room promiscuously," and " all mixed up together." He was quite a large boy, and one day a pretty little French girl chanced to be sitting next him, when, upon the spur of the moment, he put his arm around her, drew her to him and kissed her-" for her mother." His father did not see the performance, but the titter that ran round the room " gave him away." The old gentleman forced some timid little fellow to tell the cause of the laugh, when he walked him and the little girl out in the middle of the room and com- pelled him to repeat the operation. He braced himself for the ordeal and went through it like a little man, but he observed that his "heart was not in it as it was the first time."
John Carter, Pearson and John Wiley, John Wright, Thomas Reed, James Wells, John K. Spears, William H. Galbraith, C. L. Duncan, William Woods, Joseph Epperson, Charles'D. Phelps and Fountain Turner were from the old Blue- Grass State. Carter was from the Crab Orchard country, and came to Illinois in 1830, arriving in this township on the 13th of April, and settled a short dis- tance east of the present village of Ashmore. He has two sons living-Shelton Carter, in Ashmore Township, and Joseph Carter, in Morgan Township ; both are honorable, upright citizens. A daughter married John Austin, and lives on the place where Mr. Carter built his first cabin. Mrs. Joseph Reed is also a daughter, and Mrs. Catharine Young, living in Washington Territory. Mr. Carter died in July, 1841. The Wileys came in 1829, and settled some two or
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