The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 28

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. > Part 28

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THE FIRST DUEL.

The first duel fought within the boundaries of this great State was between two young military officers, one of the French and the other of the English army, in the year 1765. It was at the time the British troops came to take possession of Fort Chartres, and a woman was the cause of it. The affair oceurred early Sunday morning, near the old fort. They fought with swords, and in the combat one sacrificed his life.

BOND AND JONES.

In 1809 the next duel occurred and was bloodless of itself, but out of it grew a quar- rel which resulted in the assassination of one of the contestants. The principals were Shadrach Bond, the first governor, and Rice Jones, a bright young lawyer, who became quite a politician and the leader of his party. A personal difference arose between the two, which to settle, the parties met for mortal combat on an island in the Mississippi. The weapons selected were hair-trigger pistols. After taking their position Jones' weapon was prematurely discharged. Bond's second, Dunlap, now elaimed that aecord- ing to the code Bond had the right to the next fire. But Bond would not take so great advantage of his opponent, and said it was an accident and would not fire. Such noble conduct touched the generous nature of Jones, and the difficulty was at once amicably settled. Dunlap, however, bore a deadly hatred for Jones, and one day while he was standing in the street in Kaskaskia, conversing with a lady, he crept up behind him and shot him dead in his tracks. Dunlap successfully escaped to Texas.

RECTOR AND BARTON.

In 1812 the bloody code again brought two young men to the field of honor. They were Thomas Rector, a son of Capt. Stephen Rector, who bore such a noble part in the

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war of 1812, and Joshua Barton, They had espoused the quarrel of older brothers. The affair occurred on Bloody Island, in the Mississippi, but in the limits of Illinois. This place was frequented so often by Missourians to settle personal difficultiess, that it received the name of Bloody Island. Barton fell in this conflict.

STEWART AND BENNETT.

In 1819 occurred the first duel fought after the admission of the State into the Union. This took place in St. Clair county between Alphonso Stewart and William Bennett. It was intended to be a sham duel, to turn ridicule against Bennett, the chal- lenging party. Stewart was in the secret, but Bennett was left to believe it a reality. Their guns were loaded with blank cartridges. Bennett, suspecting a trick, put a ball into his gun without the knowledge of his seconds. The word " fire " was given, and Stewart fell mortally wounded. Bennett made his escape, but was subsequently captured, convicted of murder and suffered the penalty of the law by hanging.

PEARSON AND BAKER.

In 1840 a personal difference arose between two State Senators, Judge Pearson and E. D. Baker. The latter, smarting under the epithet of "falsehood," threatened to chastise Pearson in the public streets. by a "fist fight." Pearson declined making a " blackguard " of himself, but intimated his readiness to fight as gentlemen, according to the code of honor. The affair, however, was carried no further.

HARDIN AND DODGE.

The exciting debates in the Legislature in 1840-'41 were often bitter in personal " slings," and threats of combats were not infrequent. During these debates, in one of the speeches by the Hon. J. J. Hardin, Hon. A. R. Dodge thought he discovered a per- sonal insult, took exceptions, and an " affair" seemed imminent. The controversy was referred to friends, however, and amicably settled.

M'CLERNAND AND SMITH.

Hon. John A. McClernand, a member of the House, in a speech delivered during the same session made charges against the Whig Judges of the Supreme Court. This brought a note from Judge T. W. Smith, by the hands of his " friend" Dr. Merriman, to McClernand. This was construed as a challenge, and promptly accepted, naming the place of meeting to be Missouri ; time, early ; the weapons, rifles ; and distance, 40 paces. At this critical juncture, the attorney general had a warrant issued against the Judge, whereupon he was arrested and placed under bonds to keep the peace. Thus ended this attempt to vindicate injured honor.

LINCOLN AND SHIELDS.

During the hard times subsequent to the failure of the State and other banks, in 1842, specie became scarce while State money was plentiful, but worthless. The State officers thereupon demanded specie payment for taxes. This was bitterly opposed, and so fiercely contested that the collection of taxes was suspended.

During the period of the greatest indignation toward the State officials, under the nom de plume of " Rebecca," Abraham Lincoln had an article published in the Sangamo Journal, entitled " Lost Township." In this article, written in the form of a dialogue, the officers of the State were roughly handled, and especially Auditor Shields. The name of the author was demanded from the editor by Mr. Shields, who was very indig- nant over the manner in which he was treated. The name of Abraham Lincoln was given as the author. It is claimed by some of his biographers, however, that the article was prepared by a lady, and that when the name of the author was demanded, in a spirit

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of gallantry, Mr. Lincoln gave his name. In company with Gen. Whiteside, General Shields pursued Lincoln to Tremont, Tazewell county, where he was in attendance upon the court, and immediately sent him a note " requiring a full, positive and absolute re- traction of all offensive allusions " made to him in relation to his " private character and standing as a man, or an apology for the insult conveyed." Lincoln had been fore- warned, however, for William Butler and Dr. Merriman, of Springfield, had become acquainted with Shields' intentions and by riding all night arrived at Tremont ahead of Shields and informed Lincoln what he might expect. Lincoln answered Shields' note, refusing to offer any explanation, on the grounds that Shields' note assumed the fact of his (Lincoln's) authorship of the article, and not pointing out what the offensive part was, and accompanying the same with threats as to consequences. Mr. Shields answered this, disavowing all intention to menace ; inquired if he was the author, asked a retrac- tion of that portion relating to his private character. Mr. Lincoln, still technical, re- turned this note with the verbal statement " that there could be no further negotiations until the first note was withdrawn." At this Shields named General Whiteside as his "friend," when Lincoln reported Dr. Merriman as his "friend." These gentlemen secretly pledged themselves to agree upon some amicable terms, and compel their prin- cipals to accept them. The four went to Springfield, when Lincoln left for Jackson- ville, leaving the following instructions to guide his friend, Dr. Merriman :

" In case Whiteside shall signify a wish to adjust this affair without further diffi- culty, let him know that if the present papers be withdrawn and a note from Mr. Shields, asking to know if I am the author of the articles of which he complains, and asking that I shall make him gentlemanly satisfaction, if I am the author, and this without menace or dictation as to what that satisfaction shall be, a pledge is made that the following answer shall be given :

" I did write the ' Lost Township' letter which appeared in the Journal of the 2d inst., but had no participa- tion, in any form, in any other article alluding to you. I wrote that wholly for political effect. I had no intention of injuring your personal or private character or standing, as a man or gentleman ; and I did not then think, and do not now ihink, that that article could produce or has produced that effect against you ; and, had I anticipated such an effect, would have foreborne to write it. And I will add that your conduct toward me, so far as I know, had always been gentlemanly, and that I had no personal pique against you, and no cause for any.

" If this should be done, I leave it to you to manage what shall and what shall not be published. If nothing like this is done, the preliminaries of the fight are to be :

" 1st. Weapons .- Cavalry broad swords of the largest size, precisely equal in all respects, and such as are now used by the cavalry company at Jacksonville.

" 2d. Position .- A plank ten feet long and from nine to twelve inches broad, to be firmly fixed on edge, on the ground, as a line between us which neither is to pass his foot over on forfeit of his life. Next a line drawn on the ground on either side of said plank, and parallel with it, each at the distance of the whole length of the sword, and three feet additional from the plank ; and the passing of his own such line by either party during the fight, shall be deemed a surrender of the contest.

" gd. Time. - On Thursday evening at 5 o'clock, if you can get it so ; but in no case to be at a greater distance of time than Friday evening at 5 o'clock.

" 4th. Place. - Within three miles of Alton, on the opposite side of the river, the particular spot to be agreed on by you.

" Any preliminary details coming within the above rules, you are at liberty to make at your discretion, but you are in no case to swerve from these rules, or pass beyond their limits."

The position of the contestants, as prescribed by Lincoln, seems to have been such as both would have been free from coming in contact with the sword of the other, and the first impression is that it is nothing more than one of Lincoln's jokes. He possessed very long arms, however, and could reach his adversary at the stipulated distance.

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Not being amicably arranged, all parties repaired to the field of combat in Missouri. Gen. Hardin and Dr. English, as mutual friends of both Lincoln and Shields, arrived in the meantime, and after much correspondence, at their earnest solicitation, the affair was satisfactorily arranged, Lincoln making a statement similar to the one above referred to.

SHIELDS AND BUTLER.

William Butler, one of Lincoln's seconds, was dissatisfied with the bloodless termi- nation of the Lincoln-Shields affair, and wrote an account of it for the Sangamo Journal. This article reflected discreditably upon both the principals engaged in that controversy. Shields replied by the hands of his friend, Gen. Whiteside, in a curt, menacing note, which was promptly accepted as a challenge by Butler, and the inevitable Dr. Merriman named as his friend, who submitted the following as preliminaries of the fight:

Time. - Sunrise on the following morning.

Place. - Col. Allen's farm (about one mile north of State House).

Weapons. - Rifles.

Distance. - One hundred yards.

The parties to stand with their right sides toward each other - the rifles to be held in both hands horizontally and cocked, arms extended downwards. Neither party to move his person or his rifle after being placed, before the word fire. The signal to be : " Are you ready ? Fire ! One-two -three !" About a second of time intervening between each word. Neither party to fire before the word " fire," nor after the word " three."

Gen. Whiteside, in language curt and abrupt, addressed a note to Dr. Merriman declining to accept the terms. Gen. Shields, however, addressed another note to Butler, explaining the feelings of his second, and offering to go out to a lonely place on the prairie to fight, where there would be no danger of being interrupted ; or, if that did not suit, he would meet him on his own conditions, when and where he pleased. Butler claimed the affair was closed and declined the proposition.

WHITESIDE AND MERRIMAN.

Now Gen. Whiteside and Dr. Merriman, who several times had acted in the capacity of friends or seconds, were to handle the deadly weapons as principals. While second in the Shields-Butler fiasco, Whiteside declined the terms proposed by Butler, in curt and abrupt language, stating that the place of combat could not be dictated to him, for it was as much his right as Merriman's, who if he was a gentleman, would recognize and concede it. To this Merriman replied by the hands of Capt. Lincoln. It will be remembered that Merriman had acted in the same capacity for Lincoln. Whiteside then wrote to Merriman, asking to meet him at St. Louis, when he would hear from him further. To this Merriman replied, denying his right to name place, but offered to meet in Louisiana, Mo. This Whiteside would not agree to, but later signified his desire to meet him there, but the affair being closed, the doctor declined to re-open it.

PRATT AND CAMPBELL.

These two gentlemen were members of the Constitutional Convention of 1847, and both from Jo Daviess county. A dispute arose which ended in a challenge to meet on the field of honor. They both repaired to St. Louis, but the authorities gaining knowledge of their bloody intentions, had both parties arrested, which ended this "affair."

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CHAPTER XVI.

DRESS AND MANNERS.

Mistake of Charlevoix -"Capots "- Wool Hats- Linsey Dresses and Sun Bonnets - Hunting Shirts - Moccasins - Coon Skin Caps - Deer Skin Pantaloons.

The dress. habits, etc .. of any people, are such true indexes to their conditions and surroundings that we introduce a brief exposition of the manner of life of Illinois people at different periods.

The Indians are credited by Charlevoix with being " very laborious" - raising poul- try, spinning the wool of the buffalo and manufacturing garments therefrom. These must have been. however, more than usually favorable representatives of their race. No such Indians were known in Illinois.

"The working and voyaging dress of the French inasses," says Reynolds, " was sim- ple and primitive. The French were like the lilies of the valley (the . Old Ranger ' was not always exact in his quotations, ) - they neither spun nor wove any of their clothing. but purchased it from the merchants. The white blanket coat, known as the capot, was the universal and eternal coat for the Winter with the many. A cape was made to it that could be raised over the head in cold weather. In the house. and in good weather. the cape hung behind. The reason that I know these coats so well is, that I have worn many in my youth, and a working man never wore a better garment. Dressed deer-skins and blue cloth were worn commonly in the Winter for pantaloons. The blue handker- chief and the deer-skin moccasins covered the head and feet generally of the French Cre- oles. In 1800. scarcely a man thought himself clothed unless he had a belt tied around his blanket coat. and on one side was hung the dressed skin of a pole-cat, filled with to- bacco, pipe, flint and steel. On the other side was fastened, under the belt, the butcher- knife. A Creole in this dress felt like Tam O'Shanter filled with usquebaugh - he could face the devil. Checked calico shirts were then common, but in Winter flannel was fre- quently worn. In the Summer, the laboring men and the voyagers often took their shirts off in hard work and hot weather, and turned out the naked back to the air and the sun.

"Among the Americans," he adds, " home-made wool hats were the common wear. Fur hats were not common, and scarcely a boot was seen. The covering of the feet in Winter was chiefly moccasins made of deer-skins, and shoe packs of tanned leather. Some wore shoes, but not common in very early times. In the Summer the greater portion of the young people, male and female, and many of the old, went barefoot. The substantial and universal outside wear was the blue linsey hunting-shirt. This was an excellent garment, and I have never felt so happy and healthy since I laid it off. It was made with wide sleeves, open before, with ample size so as to envelop the body almost twice around. Sometimes it had a large cape, which answered well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt was mostly used to keep the garment close around the person, but there was nothing tight about it to hamper the body. It was often fringed, and at times the fringe was composed of red, and other gay colors. The belt, frequently, is sewed to the hunt- ing-shirt. The vest was mostly made of striped linsey. The colors were often made with alum, copperas and madder, boiled with the bark of trees, in such a manner and proportions as the old ladies prescribed. The pantaloons of the masses were generally made of deer-skin and linsey. Coarse, blue cloth was sometimes made into pantalvons.

" Linsey, neat and fine, manufactured at home, composed generally the outside gar- ments of the females as well as the males. The ladies had linsey colored and woven to

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

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SCENE ON FOX RIVER.

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suit their fancy. A bonnet, composed of calico, or some gay goods, was worn on the head when they were in the open air. Jewelry on the pioneer ladies was uncommon ; a gold ring was an ornament not often seen."

In 1820 a change of dress began to take place, and before 1830, according to Ford, most of the pioneer costume had disappeared. "The blue linsey hunting-shirt, with red or white fringe, had given place to the cloth coat. [Jeans would be more like the fact. ] The raccoon cap, with the tail of the animal dangling down behind, had been thrown aside for hats of wool or fur. Boots and shoes had supplied the deer-skin moccasins, and the leather breeches, strapped tight around the ankle. had disappeared before unmen- tionables of a more modern material. The female sex had made still greater progress in dress. The old sort of cotton or woolen frocks, spun, woven, and made with their own fair hands, and striped and cross-barred with blue dye and turkey red, had given place to gowns of silk and calico. The feet, before in a state of nudity, now dressed in shoes of calf-skin or slippers of kid ; and the head, formerly unbonneted, but covered with a cot- ton handkerchief, now displayed the charms of the female face under many forms of bon- nets of straw, silk and leghorn. The young ladies, instead of walking a mile or two to church on Sunday, carrying their shoes and stockings in their hands until within a hun- dred yards of the place of worship, as formerly, now came forth arrayed complete in all the pride of dress, mounted on fine horses and attended by their male admirers."

The last half century has doubtless witnessed changes quite as great as those set forth by the old Illinois historian. The chronicler of to-day, looking back to the golden days of 1830 to 1840, and comparing them with the present, must be struck with the tendency of an almost monotonous uniformity in dress and manners that comes from the easy inter-communication afforded by steamer, boats, railways, telegaphs and newspapers. Home manufacturers have been driven from the household by the low-priced fabries of distant mills. The Kentucky jeans, and the copperas-colored clothing of home manufac- ture, so familiar a few years ago, have given place to the cassimeres and cloths of noted factories. The ready-made-clothing stores, like a touch of nature, made the whole world kin, and drape the charcoal man in a dress-coat and a stove-pipe hat. The prints and silks of England and France give a variety of choice, and an assortment of colors and shades such as the pioneer women could hardly have dreamed of. Godey, and Demorest, and Harper's Bazar are found in modern farm-houses. and the latest fashions of Paris are not uncommon.

CHAPTER XVII.

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ILLINOIS-AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER RESOURCES.

Area of Square Miles - Climate - Soil - Adaptation to Agricultural Purposes - Farm Implements in 1876 - Rail- road and Shipping Interests - Permanent School Fund - Manufacturing Industries.

In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It is about 150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in latitude from Maine to North Carolina. The climate varies from Portland to Richmond. It favors every product of the continent, including the tropics, with less than half a dozen exceptions. It produces every great food of the world except bananas and rice. It is hardly too much to say that it is the most produc- tive spot known to civilization. With the soil full of bread and the earth full of minerals: with an upper surface of food and an under layer of fuel ; with perfect natural drainage,

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and abundant springs, and streams, and navigable rivers ; half way between the forests of the North and the fruits of the South ; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal, copper, lead and zinc ; and containing and controlling the great grain, cattle, pork and lumber markets of the world, it is not strange that Illinois has the advantage of position.

There are no mountains in Illinois ; in the southern as well as in the northern part of the State there are a few hills ; near the banks of the Illinois, Mississippi, and several other rivers, the ground is elevated, forming the so-called bluffs, on which at the present day may be found, uneffaced by the hand of Time, the marks and traces left by the water which was formerly much higher ; whence it may be safe to conclude that, where now the fertile prairies of Illinois extend, and the rich soil of the country yields its golden harvests, must have been a vast sheet of water, the mud deposited by which formed the soil, thus accounting for the present great fertility of the country.

Illinois is a garden 400 miles long and 150 miles wide. Its soil is chiefly a black, sandy loam, from six inches to sixty feet thick. About the old French towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without rest or help. She leads all other States in the number of acres actually under plow. Her mineral wealth is scarcely second to her agricultural power. She has coal, iron, lead, zinc, copper, many varieties of building stone, marble, fire clay, cuma clay, common brick clay, sand of all kinds, gravel, mineral paint, in fact, every thing needed for a high civilization.

AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER RESOURCES.

If any State of the Union is adapted for agriculture, and the other branches of rural economy relating thereto, such as the raising of cattle and the culture of fruit trees, it is pre-eminently Illinois. Her extremely fertile praries recompense the farmer at less trouble and expense than he would be obliged to incur elsewhere, in order to obtain the same results. Her rich soil, adapted by nature for immediate culture, only awaits the plow and the seed in order to mature, within a few months, a most bountiful harvest. A review of statistics will be quite interesting to the reader, as well as valu- able, as showing the enormous quantities of the various cereals produced in our Prairie State :

In 1876 there was raised in the State 130,000,000 bushels of corn -twice as much as any other State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United States. It would take 375,000 cars to transport this vast amount of corn to market, which would make 15,000 trains of 25 cars each. She harvested 2,747,000 tons of hay, nearly one-tenth of all the hay in the Republic. It is not generally appreciated, but it is true, that the hay crop of the country is worth more than the cotton crop. The hay of Illinois equals the cotton of Louisiana. Go to Charleston, S. C., and see them peddling handfuls of hay or grass, almost as a curiosity, as we regard Chinese gods or the cryolite of Greenland ; drink your coffee and condensed milk; and walk back from the coast for many a league through the sand and burs till you get up into the better atmosphere of the mountains, without seeing a waving meadow or a grazing herd; then you will begin to appreciate the meadows of the Prairie State.

The value of her farm implements was, in 1876, $211,000,000, and the value of live stock was only second to New York. The same year she had 25,000,000 hogs, and packed 2,113,845, about one-half of all that were packed in the United States. She marketed $57,000,000 worth of slaughtered animals - more than any other State, and a seventh of all the States.

Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in miles of postal service, and in money orders sold per annum, and in the amount of lumber sold.

Illinois was only second in many important matters, taking the reports of 1876. This sample list comprises a few of the more important: Permanent school

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fund ; total income for educational purposes; number of publishers of books, maps, papers, etc. ; value of farm products and implements, and of live stock ; in tons of coal mined.

The shipping of Illinois was only second to New York. Ont of one port during the business hours of the season of navigation she sent forth a vessel every nine minutes. This did not inelnde canal boats, which went one every five minutes.

No wonder she was only second in number of bankers or in physicians and sur- geons.

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The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 28

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932