The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 63

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 848

USA > Illinois > Mason County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 63
USA > Illinois > Menard County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 63

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

O sprecht ! warum zogt ihr von dannen ? Das Neckarthal hat Wein und Korn ; Der Schwarzwald steht voll finstrer Tannen, Im Spessart klingt des Alpler's Horn.

EARLY SCENES AND PRIVATIONS.

When the pioneers whose names are recorded above came to this section, Bath Township was not the highly cultivated farming district it is now. Wild prairies, timber-land, marshes and sloughs then, are now finely-improved farms. The timber has been cleared off, prairies turned upside down and marshes drained. By ditching and artificial draining, much land once supposed to be worthless may now be reckoned among the best in the town. In place of the elegant country residences of the present day, a cabin of black-jack poles, daubed with mud, sheltered the settler and his family. Wolves were plenty, with now and then a panther to relieve the monotony. The present generation know little of what their parents had to undergo in opening up the country.

In the early times, the people went to mill at Duncan's, on Spoon River, in Fulton County, until Simmonds built a mill on Quiver, which was more convenient, inasmuch as it was on the same side of the Illinois River that they were themselves. A few years after Simmons built his mill, McHarry erected one, also, on Quiver Creek. These supplied the people of this section until the erection of a mill in the village of Bath. There are no mills in the township ·outside of the village.

577

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

The first blacksmith in the township was Guy Spencer. He was an East- ern man and one of the early settlers of the county. He died twenty or twenty-five years ago. The first stores and post offices were in the villages, and are noticed in that connection.

The first school, it is believed, was taught by Miss Berry, who, some time after, married F. S. D. Marshall, noticed in this chapter as one of the pio- neers. She was a stepdaughter of B. F. Turner, brother of Smith Turner.

The first death to occur in the settlement was Louis Van Court, an old hunter. He was a bachelor, and lived " around," staying first with one and then with another; and was very wealthy-owning a gun, a fiddle and an axe. He died in 1836, and, as an old settler informed us, was buried in the sand, near where the village of Moscow once stood. Since his day, many of the pio- neers have followed him to the land of shadows.

Hiram Blunt, a son of Thomas Blunt, is supposed to have been the first birth in Bath. At any rate, he always claimed to have been the first born in the county-contesting that honor with Mr. Krebaum, who is elsewhere men- tioned as the first in the county. The first marriage is lost in the mists of antiquity ; but that there has been a first marriage, followed by many others, the present population bears indisputable evidence.

The first messenger to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to the people of Bath Township was the Rev. Mr. Shunk, a Methodist minister. He estab- lished the first class and church of that denomination, and used to preach at Maj. Gatton's before there was any church edifice erected in the town. He came originally from Pennsylvania about 1841, and died some three years ago from the effects of sunstroke. Another of the early preachers was the Rev. Mr. Daniels, of the Baptist Church, who is still living in the village of Bath, and occasionally preaches in the Christian Church of Bath. Rev. George A. Bonney was also an early preacher in this section, and of the Methodist denomi- nation. There are two church edifices in the township outside of the village, viz .: Mt. Zion Baptist Church, on Sec. 35, some five or six miles southeast of Bath ; it was erected twenty years or more ago, and is an ordinary frame building. The other is a German Lutheran Church, in the northeast part of the town. It is a neat frame edifice, built about 1864-65, and well attended by the German citizens, who comprise most of the population in this part of the town.

THE RAILROADS.

Bath Township is traversed by the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad, which was completed through the town in 1859. A full history of this road is given elsewhere in this work, and will not be repeated in this chapter. It is the only railroad running through Bath, about twelve or thirteen miles of it being in the town. The Springfield & North-Western Railroad, which was com- pleted through from Springfield to Havana in 1873, although not touching this

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

township, receives considerable freight from it, much of the grain in the eastern part of Bath being hauled to Kilbourne and shipped over this road. Thus it will be seen that Bath Township, with the benefit of two railroads and river transportation, is well supplied with shipping facilities.

Mason County adopted township organization in 1861, when some changes were made in the boundaries of the original townships, or election precincts. Bath formerly included in its boundary one half of the present town of Kil- bourne, as noticed in the history of that town. Under the new order of things J. H. Allen was the first Supervisor of Bath Township, while J. H. Dierker represents it at present in the honorable County Board.

In politics, Bath Township has always been Democratic, and, since the organization of the Republican party, it has been more strongly Democratic than ever. During the late war, it was loyal to the core, and furnished troops in excess of all calls. No draft occurred in the town during the entire struggle, and it could have stood another call without having been subjected to one- pretty good evidence in support of Mr. Lincoln's assertion, that he could never put down the rebellion without the assistance of the War Democrats of the West. Bath turned out a number of shoulder-straps, as well as her full quota of muskets. Among the former, we may mention the gallant Ruggles, noticed in the list of early settlers in another page. He went into the war as Lieuten- ant and Quartermaster of the First Illinois Cavalry, but was soon promoted to. Major of the Third Cavalry, and, at the battle of Pea Ridge, to Lieutenant Colonel. At the close of the war, he was breveted Brigadier General for meri- torious services. Charles W. Houghton, Captain in the Eighty-fifth Regiment of infantry ; T. F. Patterson, Captain in same regiment; Charles H. Chat- field entered as a private, was wounded, came home and veteranized, and was. elected Captain in same regiment, and was killed at Chickamauga ; Samuel Young was Lieutenant in same regiment; C. H. Raymond, First Lieutenant in same ; George O. Craddock, entered as private, and was promoted to a Lieutenancy in same regiment before close of war; A. J. Bruner (killed in Missouri), J. H. Mitchell and A. T. Davis were Lieutenants in the Seventeenth Infantry ; J. H. Schulte, Captain, and W. W.'Nelson, Lieutenant, in the One Hundred and Eighth Infantry ; W. H. Rochester, Lieutenant in Twenty-sev- enth Infantry ; J. W. Chatfield, Second Lieutenant in same regiment; A. H. Frazer, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant and then Captain in the Fifty-first. Infantry ; Robert Huston, Lieutenant in same regiment ; Charles Reichman, Second Lieutenant in Twenty-eighth Infantry ; F. S. Cogshall and W. W. Turner, Lieutenants in Eighty-fifth Infantry ; Frank A. Mosely and John B. Brush, Lieutenants in One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Regiment (one hundred days). The rank and file, too numerous to be mentioned in this limited space, were of the sturdy " sons of the soil," who bore themselves bravely in the front. of the fray. To those who laid down their lives upon Southern battle-fields, Requiescant in Pace.

579

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

THE VILLAGE OF BATH.

Bath was laid out in 1836 for John Curtain, who owned the land. It was surveyed by Abraham Lincoln, Deputy Surveyor of Sangamon County ; and the plat of the original fifteen blocks, surveyed by the martyred President, is now in the possession of Maj. Gatton, but so defaced that little is to be learned from the document. The plat was acknowledged before Thomas Mof- fatt (afterward Judge Moffatt, of Springfield), and recorded by Benjamin Tal- bot, Recorder of Sangamon County, under date of December 13, 1836. Maj. Gatton bought out Curtain, and thus became one of the proprietors of the town. There have been several additions made to the original fifteen blocks of Bath, among which we may notice those of Dummer & Mahoney, Ross, Gat- ton, Bunton & Martin, and Ruggles' Addition.

Mr. Lincoln and his surveying party, during their work at Bath, boarded with Charley Richardson, who acted as one of the chain-carriers. The follow- ing good story is told as having occurred, while the surveyors were domiciled at Mr. Richardson's. A party of sportsmen from Schuyler County came over on a hunt, and, as the hotels were all full at the time (with Sunday-school and temperance excursionists), they were " taken in " by Mr. Richardson, and pro- vided for as well as the nature of the case would permit. "Billy " Brown, one of the Schuyler County "tads " (who had partaken, bountifully of deer meat and wild honey), like John on the Isle of Patmos (Richardson lived then on Grand Island) had a vision during the night, in which he saw the world on fire, an event he seemed desirous to evade. Rising from the soft side of one of the puncheons of Mr. Richardson's cabin floor, still half asleep, he looked through a crack between logs of the wall, and saw the blazing furnace of an Illi- nois River steamer with her prow turned shoreward, near where the cabin stood. Her shrill whistle, for the purpose of awakening the men at the wood- yard, was mistaken by Brown for Gabriel's trumpet. Dropping upon his knees, he engaged in fervent prayer, much to the amusement of Mr. Lincoln and the others of the party. Brown did not hear the last of his devotional exercises while the hunters remained, and perhaps not for many a day after their return home.

The first house erected in the present village, deserving the name of dwell- ing, was built by Maj. Gatton, or rather he had it built. His brother, R. P. Gatton, came up and superintended its erection, and when it was completed Maj. Gatton moved into it. When his house was erected, there was a little pole cabin standing in the precincts of the present village, which had been built by a man named Carey. Gatton's house was of hewed logs, as already noticed in. the township history, and is still standing.

The first store was opened by Nelms & Gatton in 1842, and soon after them Col. West began merchandising, and kept the second store in Bath. The first blacksmith is the same as mentioned in the township history. The mercantile

580

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

business steadily increased until Bath became a successful competitor of Havana, the oldest town in the county.

The first post office was established in 1842, and B. H. Gatton appointed Postmaster. He carried the mail himself from Havana to Bath for six months, for which Uncle Sam neglected to pay him, notwithstanding the old gentle- man has always been considered good for his debts to his public servants. His first quarter's pay as Postmaster amounted to the rousing sum of 43} cents, principally cash. John S. Wilbourn succeeded Mr. Gatton as Postmaster. After various changes in this department, U. B. Lindsley has succeeded to the office.

Gatton & Ruggles built the first mill in Bath, about 1850-51, at a cost of about $12,000, which had two run of buhrs. After several years' opera- tion, it became the property of a man named Robinson, who took out the machinery and moved it across the river, and the frame was moved down on the railroad and converted into a grain elevator, which purpose it still serves .. Craggs, noticed among the early settlers, built a saw-mill in the bottom, some years after the one mentioned above, which was bought by Marshall, and was afterward moved into the village. He made several additions to it, changed it into a flouring-mill, and finally made a fortune out of it during the war. He sold it to Cameron & Fletcher. Some years ago, it was burned, and the present " Bath Mills " built. The structure is a substantial frame, with three run of buhrs, and cost about $6,000. The first tavern was kept by Col. West, in what is now the Central Hotel, though it has been enlarged and improved since its first occupation as a place of public entertainment. It is now kept by Mr. Barr, and is the only hotel in the village. Before it was opened by Col. West, Maj. Gatton used to entertain the wayfaring men who chanced to come this way.

The grain trade at Bath was, at one time, the most extensive in the county, . except Havana. . The first dealer was Maj. Gatton, who commenced the bus- iness very early. He bought grain here for about four years, when J. M. Ruggles became his partner. This partnership continued at intervals from 1846 to 1860. The first was under the firm name of Ruggles & Co., and extended from 1846 to 1849, when Gatton had a violent attack of gold fever, sold out and crossed the plains to California. On his return, business was resumed with Ruggles, under the firm name of Gatton, Ruggles & Co., when Gatton took a relapse of the gold fever, and again made an overland trip to California. ` When he again came back to Illinois, the old partnership was renewed, as Gatton & Ruggles. The first elevator was built by Gatton, but the most of the shipping by him and his firm was by river, in barges and canal boats. Barges were often loaded at their wharf and shipped direct to New York, Boston and New Orleans. There are two large grain elevators and grain ware- houses on the railroad, with large storage capacity. Mrs. Simmons now owns the one built by Gatton. The other is owned by the Havighorst estate. The

581

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

grain trade at present is carried on by Gatton,* Low & Foster, of Havana, and Wilson, Garm & Co., of Beardstown. The latter firm do the largest business, and ship by the river exclusively, owning their own boats and barges, and will, eventually (Mr. Gatton says), absorb the entire grain trade of the place. Before the completion of the Springfield & North- Western Railroad, the business- at this point reached an average of 500,000 bushels annually, but has been diminishing ever since its completion, owing to the fact that those in the eastern part of the township, who used to come to Bath with their grain, now ship over that road.

CHURCH AND SCHOOL EDIFICES.

The first church erected in the village of Bath was by the Old School Presbyterians, in the lower part of the town, assisted by all " sects, kindred and tongues," with the understanding that it was to be free to all denomina- tions. But no sooner was it finished than the doors were shut against them. This denomination, however, at no time was very strong, and finally became- almost extinct by removals and death, when the church was sold to the authori- ties, moved into the public square, and converted into a town hall. The Metho- dist Church was built soon after the Presbyterian, on a lot donated by Gatton for the purpose. It is a frame building, and cost about $1,500. The mem- bership is twenty-five, and Rev. Mr. Lowe is Pastor. A flourishing Sunday school is maintained, under the superintendence of Warren Heberling. About. sixty-five is the average attendance of the school.

A few years later, the Christian Church was built, at a cost of about $1,500. It is also a frame building, and was built on lots donated for the purpose by Gen. Ruggles. The membership is small, and no regular pastor is in attend- ance. Rev. J. A. Daniels, a local minister of the Baptist denomination, fills the pulpit occasionally, with now and then a visiting brother of their own creed from some neighboring diocese. A Sunday school, somewhat limited in attendance, is carried on, of which Stephen Brown is Superintendent.

The name of the first pedagogue in the village of Bath is not now remem- bered. The first schoolhouse was the building erected for a Court House, when. Bath was the seat of justice of the county, and which reverted to the proprietors of the town when the county seat was moved back to Havana. They sold the building to the School Board, and thus it became a temple of learning instead of a temple of justice. It was used as a schoolhouse until the erec- tion of the present elegant brick, which stands in the old Court House Square, and was built in 1872, at a cost of $8,000. It is a handsome structure, and an ornament to the town. Prof. McKean was Principal for the term just closed,. with Mrs. McKean, Miss Norbury and Mrs. Hudnall as teachers.

Freemasonry and Odd Fellowship, those benevolent organizations that fol- low close in the footsteps of civilization, are represented by flourishing Lodges

* Since this was written, Maj. Gatton has removed to Missouri and located in Gunn City, Cass County.

.582

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

in Bath. The Odd Fellows were the first to establish a Lodge here. From B. F. Rochester, Secretary, we received the following facts in regard to it : " Bath Lodge, No. 125, I. O. O. F., was instituted July 29, 1853, by M. H. L. Schooley, D. G. M., assisted by the following gentlemen, who represented the Grand Lodge: J. W. Naylor, Grand Marshal ; V. G. Sims, Grand Secretary ; L. H. Doss, Grand Treasurer ; S. P. Guin, Grand Warden ; Zachariah Gatton, G. G., and P. O. Brien, G. C. The charter mem- bers were Harvey Oneal, R. P. Gatton, J. J. Taylor, George W. Pettitt, U. B. Lindsley, G. H. Havighorst and John H. Havighorst. The first officers . were : Harvey Oneal, Noble Grand ; J. J. Taylor, Vice Grand ; G. H. Havig- horst, Secretary ; R. P. Gatton, Treasurer ; John H. Havighorst, Conductor ; G. W. Pettitt, Warden, and U. B. Lindsley, Inside Guard. A list of 138 signatures are attached to the roll of membership, and, at present, there are 15 active members, among whom is J. A. Burlingame, who was initiated August 15, 1853, and has ever retained his membership, is a Past Grand, and, we pre- sume, the oldest member of the Order in the county. Within the past five years, the Lodge and its members have contributed nearly $800 for the relief of the members and their families. It owns real estate and lodge-fixtures valued at $1,000, and its warrants are regarded as cash. The officers-elect for the term commencing July 1, 1879, are as follows, viz .: John F. Bond, N. G .; John L. Ashurst, V. G .; John M. Martin, Treasurer, and B. F. Rochester, Secretary. The meetings of the Lodge are on the Monday evenings of each week."

Bath Lodge, A., F. & A. Masons, was organized under dispensation in June, 1866, issued by Jerome B. Gorin, Acting Grand Master. The charter mem- bers were William W. Turner, Charles Reichman, Charles W. Houghton, John P. Foland, John H. Johnson, Thomas Webb and J. M. Beesley, of whom Charles W. Houghton was named in the dispensation as Master, Charles Reich- man, Senior Warden, and John H. Johnson, Junior Warden. October 3, 1866, it was chartered as Bath Lodge, No. 494, and its charter signed by Most Wor- shipful H. P. H. Bromwell, Grand Master. The first officers elected under the charter were : Charles W. Houghton, Master ; Charles Reichman. Senior Warden ; J. C. Wright, Junior Warden ; J. H. Johnson, Treasurer ; J. M. Beesley, Secretary ; Warren Heberling, Senior Deacon ; T. P. Renshaw, Junior Deacon, and W. W. Turner, Tiler. The present officers are : Warren Heber- ling, Master ; J. H. Dierker, Senior Warden ; M. Frank, Junior Warden ; B. H. Gatton, Treasurer ; J. S. Duncan, Secretary ; G. W. Moore, Senior Dea- con ; J. S. Allen, Junior Deacon, and F. E. Shirtcliff, Tiler, with forty-four names on the roll of membership. The Lodge is in a flourishing condition, owns the elegant and handsomely furnished hall in which it meets, and its affairs are conducted by an efficient corps of officers.

585

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

THE COUNTY SEAT QUESTION.

It may be interesting to future readers of this authentic history, to know that Bath was once the capital of Mason County. She not only aspired to that dignity but attained it, and for a period of eight years was the seat of justice. As pertinent to the subject, we copy the following from the county map. Speaking of the location of the county seat, it says: "There was much dissatisfaction on the part of the inhabitants of Bath, who, justly or unjustly, thought that their town offered superior advantages as the seat of jus- tice of Mason County. An agitation of the subject was kept up, and finally an act, approved January 19, 1843, was obtained from the Legislature, author- izing another election to be held on the second Monday of February of that year. Polls were opened at three places; at James Walker's, in Havana, at Lynchburg and at Bath, where votes were received for the towns of Bath and Havana for the county seat. Bath received a majority of votes and was declared the county seat. Its inhabitants soon had the satisfaction of seeing the archives of the county removed to their town. The June term of the Circuit Court for 1844 was held at Bath, the previous June term having been held at Havana. Entire satisfaction was not yet obtained. Havana still had aspirations which could only be satisfied by another removal of the seat of jus- tice, and, in February, 1851, legislation was obtained by which another elec- tion was held on the second Monday of March, 1851, at which the question was again brought before the people. The clerks of election opened two col- umns, one 'For Havana,' and the other 'Against Removal.' The election resulted in again making Havana the county seat, which it has since continued to be." Thus Bath lost its hard-earned dignity, was shorn of its fleeting hon- ors, and as a consequence, its "glory departed forever." This county seat question, however, is more particularly referred to in the county history.

As stated in the above extract, the first session of Circuit Court was held at Bath, in June, 1844, and, as no building had yet been erected, it was held at the house of Col. West. But a Court House was at once erected by the pro- prietors of the village. It was a commodious brick structure, two stories high, with offices on the first floor and the hall of justice above. The building was 36x40 feet, and cost about $3,000. It was built as cheaply as possible, the brick being manufactured near the spot, and the other material procured at the lowest figures. When the county seat was moved back to Havana, the build- ing was sold to the village for school purposes, as elsewhere stated.

VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.

The village of Bath was originally incorporated under a special act of the Legislature, approved February, 1857. The charter was prepared by Gen. Ruggles with great care, and is said to have been the best and most perfect instrument of its kind in the State of Illinois. An election was held on the

586

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

first Monday in April of the same year, which resulted in the election of J. M. Ruggles, Harvey Oneal, B. H. Gatton, Samuel Young and Richard Bigsby, Town Councilmen. The Board organized by electing B. H. Gatton, President ; G. H. Campbell, Clerk and Treasurer; James M. Robinson, Police Magistrate, and John H. Johnson, Town Constable. It remained under this style of gov- ernment until 1876, when it was organized under the general law, and the following Board of Trustees elected, viz .: Warren Heberling, F. S. Cogeshall, B. H. Gatton, P. Perkins and J. S. Allen. This Board was organized with B. H. Gatton, President, and L. Carpenter, Clerk and Treasurer. At present the Board consists of John L. Rochester, J. H. Allen, A. Schaaf, M. Frank, John R. Horstman and J. H. Daniels. John L. Rochester is President of the Board; L. Carpenter, Clerk; H. Middlecamp, Treasurer, and G. W. Moore, Police Magistrate.

The cemetery on the southern limits of the village is a beautiful burying- ground, inclosed by a handsome fence, and kept in most excellent order. The first interment in its "silent shades " was a daughter of Col. West. She was teaching school at Virginia, Cass County, at the time of her death, and her father (Col. West) came to Gen. Ruggles and suggested the propriety of a burying-ground being laid off, and remarked that he would like to bring his daughter here for interment. Ruggles went and staked off the present ceme- tery, saw the parties who owned the land, and arranged for its purchase. Having surveyor's instruments, he surveyed it and laid off the lots before the first burial in it. Since then, many of the pioneers of the village and town- ship have been laid beneath its weeping willows, to take their last long sleep.

" Where are their spirits flown ? We gaze above-their looks are imaged there ; We listen-and their gentle tones Are on the air."

Although the business of Bath has been waning for several years, as other villages have sprung up in its vicinity, yet it is the center of trade for a large and rich scope of country. Its grain trade has always been its most valuable branch of business. Its mercantile trade boasts of some able firms and ener- getic and wide-awake business men .. The following summary shows the pres- ent status of the business of the place: Two dry-goods stores, two drug stores, two tinware, one hardware, four grocery stores, one furniture, one hotel, with blacksmith, wagon and shoe shops, grain dealers, etc. Several well-filled mil- linery stores furnish the fair portion of the population with all the fashionable flummery and female toggery of the times.

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The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 63

Author: Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 848

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 848