Bureau County, Illinois - Chapter 13, 1885

Chapter 13

JOHN H. BEYANT - A BBIEF SKETCH or His LIFE, IN WHICH is CONNECTED EVERY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENT or THE COUNTY SINCE His COMING HEKE - BIRTH or THE REPUBLICAN PARTY - THE FARMER POET - ETC., ETC.

IN the preceding chapters, wherever we have been enabled to give in their own language, the detailed accounts of the voyaging to this place of any of the pioneers, who were young men mostly in their first rough experiences in the world, we have not hesitated to do so, and to make them as full in details as possible. They are full of history and interest, and for the rising generation are very instructive; they will find here food for healthy reflection.

From the year of the first permanent settlement here to the present hour, the biography and life of John H. Bryant and his three brothers, has been very nearly the complete history of the struggle into life of that feeble band and the record, existence and present high standard of the county of Bureau. There need be no apology then, for making this chapter and placing the title that is found at the head, nor need we further explain that when we have once started upon the story of Bryant's life that it is consistently followed up, although it brings in some of the facts that are of recent date, and in the design of the work, except for this reason, would have only appeared in their consecutive order as the work progressed toward completion.

orate notes of the life of Mr. Bryant, by Dr. Richard Edwards, of Princeton, only in cer- ' tain portions being condensed, and some of j the details being here omitted, as they are given in other portions of this history.

It is probably true that no human being has ever lived, whose record, faithfully kept, might not be useful. Even of the humblest and most obscure this would be true. The labors and aspirations, the hopes and disappointments, the successes and failures of men, are an index of the possibilities for good or evil, of a human being. For this reason it happens that no form of literature is more instructive than biography. In the history of another's life each one is reminded of his own experiences, and with the reminder comes instruction. ,

All this is especially true of those lives which have been connected with important events. Every man who has helped in a marked way to mould the institutions of a country, or to conduct its movements, ought in some way to leave a record of what he has done and sought to do. Institutions, political and social movements, are products. They spring from the thoughts and deeds of individual men, and nothing can be more instructive than to observe these developing processes, to note how the labor of head and heart has blossomed into permanent social forces.

The life of John Howard Bryant is certainly worth being written, not merely on the ground that all lives may be so, but for the important events with which it has been connected. His birth and early residence in New England turn our thoughts to the sturdy civilization which has given that part of our country so much influence at home and abroad. His removal to Illinois will introduce the reader to those movements by which the Mississippi Valley has been made the luxuriant home of many prosperous communities. And his concern in political affairs will lead to some study of the great movement by which the country was freed from the incubus of slavery.

Mr. Bryant comes of Puritan stock on both sides, both families having emigrated from Bridgewater, Mass. His father, Dr. Peter Bryant, was a man of considerable prominence. As a physician and surgeon, his standing seems to have been very high, and he enjoyed the distinction, not small, of a seat in the State Senate. He was a man of large culture and excellent literary taste. The mother's maiden name was Snell, and she was of a family that had produced a number of distinguished men. She was a woman of strong character, earnest piety and great skill in practical affairs. Her ideal of duty was high and her code of morals rigorous. The second son was the eminent poet and journalist - William Cullen Bryant.

The subject of this sketch was born July 22, 1807, in the house, in the town of Cummington, known as the Bryant homestead. Some time after Dr. Peter Bryant's death, which occurred in 1820, this estate went out of the family, and remained in the possession of strangers for many years. But in the year 1864 it was repurchased by the poet, and now belongs to his daughter. It is beautifully situated, and surrounded by scenes well calculated to nourish the poetic faculty. John was the seventh child, the youngest of five sons of his parents. Of the scenes of his early life not much is recorded. It is noted, however, that the year 1811 there occurred a notable eclipse of the sun.*

* Simultaneously with the eclipse was the great Xew Madrid earthquake, and the passage, in the midst of the earth's throes, of the first steamboat ever on the Western waters from out the Ohio River and into the Mississippi River. The 18th day of Demaniiesiauons 01 me lorces 01 naiure, me laiter by far me most remarkable on this hemisphere so far recorded in history; while the steamboat was a human thought fashioned into a

This is a well remembered incident, because of its indirect influence upon his early schooling. By looking at the sun with unprotected eyes, his vision was greatly weakened, not until he was about fifteen years of age was he able to apply himself continuously to reading. Thus it appears that about eleven years of his early life were in a large measure lost to him. And this was the very period in which elementary knowledge could be best acquired. But the loss seems to have been well supplied afterward. As compared with his brothers, however, he was decidedly behind in his studies at the age of fifteen.

On the death of Dr. Bryant, the mother found abundant scope for her knowledge of practical affairs. Her husband, in the ardor of his professional enthusiasm, had been careless of money matters. The consequence was he left the estate involved. Accordingly the boys, except Austin, the eldest, and William Cullen, the poet, who had already begun life for themselves, were put to work upon the farm. Cyrus was the manager and John was one of the helpers. In the summer they worked together. In the winter the former taught school and the latter did the chores. The services of Cyrus were considered to be sufficiently important, he being of age, to be paid for by the mother. But of John this does not seem to have been the case.

At this time it seems that a neighborhood club was in operation for the improvement of its members in reading and composition. It included the family of Nortons, Briggs, Porters, Packards, Snells and Bryants. The steamboat - the New Orleans, Capt. Roosevelt. Compared to the awful, the appalling play of nature's forces amid which the vessel rode out of the lashing waters of the Ohio into the yet worse troubled waters of the Mississippi, how insignificant it must have appeared, yet like the great inventions and thoughts of genius ' growing in good and enduring forever - encircling the globe with its blessings, and lifting up and bearing aloft the human family. The earthquake, like wars, famines and pestilences, is but temporary in its effects, and kindly nature covers up and hides forever its wrecks and ruins, and their horrors and the appalling terrors are forgotten. But the thoughts, the discoveries and inventions of genius grow and live eternally. In the perfect economy of God, they alone are immortal.

meetings were held by turns in the houses of the members. The best English literature was studied in private, read at the meetings and commented upon. Mr. Bryant was employed in the combination of farm and literary work for two years; and he declares that during that time he read more good English prose and poetry than in any other period of equal length. The club was an undoubted and permanent benefit to its members. It no doubt had much to do in the formation of the correct literary taste which has always been a marked characteristic of Mr. Bryant.

In the year 1826-27 he was a pupil in a select school taught by the Rev. Mr. Hawks, near Cummington Meeting-house. The same teacher was afteward employed in the academy in East Cummington, where he attended also, one winter. In the years 1828 and 1829 he taught school in the winters, in the town of Williamsburg. In the spring of 1828 he was a student in the Renselaer school, now the Renselaer Polytecnic Institute, at Troy, N. Y. The principal instructor at that time was the able, but somewhat eccentric, Prof. Amos Eaton. The studies pursued by the young man were chemistry, mineralogy, geology, natural philosophy (physics), botany and zoology. For a period of two years, which was the time he spent at this school, this seems a formidable list. But a young man with a clear head and an earnest purpose, with the hunger and thirst for learning upon him, and sustained by the vigor acquired in a country life, often makes astonishing progress, accomplishing great results in a brief space of time. Another helpful circumstance in this case was the fact that much of the work lay out of doors. Collections in botany, and to some extent in mineralogy, were a part of the required course. Hills were climbed and woods tra- versed, as a part of the regular school work. The country about Troy is especially rich in botanical specimens, and the Renselaer student, as he trudges about with his tin cylinder strapped to his back, is cheered and stimulated by the frequent prizes he is able to secure. In this way he attains or preserves the soundest physical health, and at the same time adds most efficiently to his mental possessions. Study is made both effective and harmless by an abundance of pure air, wholesome sunshine and vigorous exercise, to say nothing of the benefit derived from the charming beauty of the scenery.

In June, 1829, he took final leave of Troy, walking home by way of Williamstown, Mass. This place he reached at 9 o'clock at night - a walk of forty miles. Here he spent three or four days with his brother, Arthur, who was then a student in Williams College. The succeeding months of November and December were spent at the same place, in the study of geometry and trigonometry, and " some Latin." All his time, however, was not consumed in these dry topics. He wrote poetry for the Wiiliamstown paper and also, by invitation, wrote for a paper called the Philanthropist, published in Boston. These poems are now lost, and the most that Mr. Bryant remembers of them is, that of one of them the subject was "Cohoes Falls." After this he seems to have returned to the farm. Cyrus had given up his supervision of Lome affairs and gone to South Carolina, and Austin had taken bis place. He worked several summers on the farm. In the summer of 1830 he took the United States census of that part of Hampshire County that lies west of the Connecticut River. In the winter of 1830-31 he taught school in Plainfield, his compensation being $14 a month and " board around."

turn away from the home of his childhood. The valley "of the Mississippi had begun to be permanently peopled. Reports came of the gorgeous beauty and inexhaustible fertility of the Illinois prairies. The stony hills of Hampshire County began to seem hard and sterile. He resolved to seek a home in the new realm, where land was so cheap, and the soil so wondrously productive. In the spring of 1831 he set out for Illinois. His worldly goods, consisting of clothing, carpenter's tools, etc., were stowed into two chests and a trunk. A tanner in West Cummington was accustomed to make business trips to the State of New York. In this man's wagon Mr. Bryant placed himself and his possessions, and was carried to Hudson, on the river of that name. Leaving the baggage in that city, he took a trip by river to New York, wishing to look at the metropolis before emigrating to the far West. He left New York on the 18th day of April, 1831, touching at Hudson for his goods, and passed on to Albany. The Erie Canal, the monument of Gov. Clinton, had then been in operation over five years. On this "artificial river, '' in a "line" boat, a boat for transporting merchandise, he made the voyage from Albany to Buffalo, at an expense, for meals and passage, of $460. The trip occupied seven days.

But the lake at Buffalo was full of ice, which made it necessary to hire a team to convey the traveler and his baggage to Dunkirk. His plan was to go by way of Lake Erie to Cleveland, and then by the canal to the Ohio River. The Dunkirk harbor was open, and a boat was about to set out for the upper lakes, but Cleveland was not to be one of its stopping places. Mr. Gurnsey, of Dunkirk, who gave the traveler a letter to Judge Lockwood, of Jacksonville, 111., advised him to go via Jamestown on Chautauqua

Lake, thence down the Conewango Creek on a raft or flat-boat, and to the Ohio River by way of the Alleghany. After some tribulation Jamestown was reached, but the Conewango had subsided; its waters would not float a raft or flat-boat, hence recourse was had to a wagon, and the Alleghany was thus reached at Warren, Penn. It happened to be court week at this place, and the town was filled with people. At that time the country was violently divided on the subject of Masonry. An exciting discussion was going on in Warren, and soon culminated in a street tight; the first thing of the kind he had ever witnessed.

The next business was to find a conveyance to Pittsburgh. There happened to be at that time two families of English people who wished to make the same journey, and they had moans of conveyance. They owned an " ark," and had their goods on board of it. The heads of the families were elderly men, both of whom had lost their wives in Toronto. One of them, a Mr. Angell, was accompanied by two stout grown daughters. They made room on the ' ' ark " for Mr. Bryant and his baggage. For a time it floated along the stream without any exciting incident. The passenger made himself useful by going ashore, as occasion required, and shooting squirrels for the table, also by putting up a mast in the hope of accelerating their speed. But one afternoon they struck a rock; the ark was turned so as to lie broadside to the stream. The force of the current tilted it somewhat, the water rushed in and the loading, among other things a very fine set of joiner's tools belonging to the Englishman, and our hero's two chests and trunk, were thoroughly wet. The owners of the craft were in great tribulation; they supposed they were ruined by the mishap. But the boat was at last righted and tied up for repairs.

An attempt was made to dry the wetted tools and clothes, but with only indifferent success. The disaster happened on Satur day, and the boat was not loosed from its moorings until Monday following. In seven days they made the trip from Warren to Pittsburgh. At this point Mr. Bryant shipped on board the steamer Abeona, the largest boat then plying the river. An attempt was made to dry the wet clothes that had been wet in the Alleghany River, on the boat's boilers, but the records say " the continuous rains made it difficult." At Louisville he was transferred to another boat for St. Louis. On board were 125 slaves, the property of a number of Kentuckians emigrating to Missouri. The boat was worn-out, leaky and unclean, having long before seen its best days. Among the passengers was a clergyman and his wife from Kentucky, with whom our traveler soon formed a most agreeable acquaintance. The weather had continued wet, and a Franklin stove belonging to these good people was a source of great comfort. St Louis was reached about the 24th of May. The young traveler betook himself to a sailors' boarding house. It sounds strange to write this of the now great city of St. Louis, or that it was ever so small a village as he found it. Its population was then about the same as Princeton now. After a brief stay in St. Louis he boarded a steamer for Naples. It was called the "Traveler," and plied regularly between St. Louis and Naples. On the 27th he reached the latter place. His objective point was Jacksonville, where his brother Arthur had been for some months. From Naples to Jacksonville, about twentytwo miles, he journeyed on foot, reaching his destination before night. In this walk he had for a companion a Mr. Harlam, afterward a prominent merchant and a member of the Legislature. This long and tedious journey from Cummington to Jacksonville occupied five weeks, and the expense of the trip was $60; one-tenth the time now , and less than one-quarter the cost, with incomparably more accommodations and comforts, would make the trip between these points.

The intelligent loader will see at once the importance of these details of this young pioneer's long and dreary journey. It is the vivid story of the changes that have so swiftly taken place in this broad land. Like the stories we give in preceding chapters of Strattons, Kittermans, Henry F. Miller and many others; stories that are full of interest and history. It is impossible for us to realize the increase of value and importance these accounts of the travels of the pioneers will be to the generations that are to come after us hundreds of years from now. Already railroads have been so long in operation in our country that the younger among our people have but slight conception of how our fathers lived and traveled. It is, therefore, a useful exercise to study the details of a journey made by a respectable young man who seems to have availed himself of the best conveyances the country then afforded. The comparison of then and now is full of wholesome instruction, giving themes for the painter, the poet and the historian.

He found his brother Arthur domiciled at the house of Thomas Wiswall, but he himself stopped at the house of his future father-in law, Elijah Wiswall, at 11.50 per week for board, with the privilege of paying this in work. The autumn of 1831 was spent in the store of Henry Wiswall, and the following winter he was a clerk in Gillett & Gordon's store. In the spring of 1832 he worked upon his brother's land near Jacksonville, while

Arthur was East on a mission of marriage. In the meantime his other brother, Cyrus, had joined him at Jacksonville, and in September. John and Cyrus started for Bureau. They came on horseback. Their attention had been attracted here by the knowledge that the Hampshire Colony had located at Princeton.

The colony had been dispersed by the Black Hawk war. On their way they found Elijah Smith's family, in Tazewell County, the husband and wife teaching school. Near Granville, Putnam County, were John Leeper and family. They looked at the country at various points, but Cyrus had known Roland Moseley in Massachusetts, and having received a favorable impression in regard to the land in Bureau, they pushed on to this point and arrived at the Moseley house, a few miles southeast of Princeton. Among others they were introduced to the elder Dr. Chamberlain. Their friends directed their attention to the spot on which John H. Bryant now lives. This was the land Mr. Kitterman had "claimed" two years before, and which had been jumped by " Curt " Williams. The war had run Williams off, and as he did not return, up to this time, they supposed he had abandoned it and left the country. But "Curt" was on hand in time. Suffice it to say, that Williams was finally bought out, and the Bryants peaceably installed in possession. The two brothers took possession of this little cabin, with its dirt floor and stick chimney. They were their own cooks and housekeepers, and most probably did their own washing and ironing, such as it was. The table groaned beneath pork and corn-dodger chiefly, if it had occasion to do any groaning at all. A heroic resolve and struggle was directed toward the luxury of flour bread of their own construction, once a week. This was a daring dash at the enervating luxuries of the day, but the young men made it. Their lot was sweetened by the fortunate discovery, in the autumn, of a bee tree, so that, although there was not any flow of milk in this Canaan, yet the honey was not wanting. In their work they had the help of three yoke of oxen, brought with them. Hay for these was cat on the prairie. Cyrus, it seems, tended the kine, while John was chief housekeeper, and mauled rails while resting from the arduous duties of the household, making thus one hundred a day. During the winter they fenced forty acres each. In the spring they began breaking the sod. They had an old Carey plow they had brought from Jacksonville. When the share became dull, it was carried on horseback eighteen miles to the Laughlins, in Florid, to be sharpened. It was an ugly thing to thus carry, and once the perplexed and tired rider was hailed by an old pioneer: "Why didn't you fill a bag of hay on which to lay it? "

The two bachelors had not time to get very lonesome, yet sometimes it must have occurred to each of them that there was something lacking about their establishment. Perhaps in the lonely watches of the night, when sleep had been for the moment dispelled by a vivid dream of two bright young eyes, and waving curls, or innocent laughter, and pearly teeth - ah, precious, guileless girlhood, helpless and dependent, yet the flush of whose laughing eyes are more powerful over poor, lonesome man, than an army with banners. Perhaps - nay, it is now to us quite plain - in the long watches of the dreary winter there cnme to the young men the first chapter in that old, old story, that is ever new, that is always life's sweetest tryst.

more than fifty- one years has been his worthy and faithful companion and helpmeet. The trip was made on horseback, following the trail made by the soldiers of the Black Hawk war. He was no laggard ou a journey so auspicious, as is evidenced by the fact that the last day carried him over seventy-five miles of the road. On the 17th of June the ceremony took place, and the next week the happy pair started for their little cabin in the lonely wilderness. They came by way of Meredosia and the Illinois River to Hennepin. At this place their goods were placed in a warehouse. High waters had made the river bottom nearly impassable. Young Dr. Chamberlain happened to be in Hennepin, and he had a saddle-horse, the use of which he offered to the young couple. Mrs. Bryant was mounted and the husband trudged along piloting the way on foot, only getting up to ride where the water was too deep to wade. They reached the house of Maj. Chamberlain and spent one night, and the next day they arrived at their cabin and housekeeping commenced. Here they lived for one year, Cyrus remaining with them. That is, he remained during the winter, and in the spring he went east and was married.

In the spring of 1834 Mr. Bryant built for himself a cabin on the site where his present elegant residence now stands. All the work, except the window sash, wasperfoimed by his own hands. At the ' ' raising " no whisky was used. This was probably the first departure in the county toward temperance or prohibition. The new house was first occupied in June, 1834.

Mr. Bryant was the prominent agitator of the subject of the division of the county. His wedding trip across the bottoms from Hennepin evidently made a lasting impression on his mind. Lobbyists were sent to Vaudalia to push the project before the Legislature, but nothing was accomplished at this session. At the Legislature of 1836-37 Bryant and Elston went to Vandalia at their own expense, and finally secured the passage of the act which led to the formation of Bureau County. Stephen A. Douglas was a member and Chairman of the Committee on Counties, and to him these visitors were greatly indebted for the success of their mission. The vote on the adoption of the measure was taken April 1, 1837. The division carried by a majority of thirty votes. This result was reached and the new county formed only after overcoming the greatest obstacles. The people east of the river and especially in Hennepin, were earnestly opposed to the proj ect that would rob them of the most of their rich territory. The particulars of this struggle are given in another place. Suffice it to say here, that the important work and the responsibility rested largely on the shoulders of . John H. Bryant. The completion of the organization of the county took place in 1837, the year noted in American history as that of the beginning of the hard times commencing that year and lasting until 1843. The poor farmers would haul their wheat to Chicago and after spending ten days in getting there through storms, and sloughs, and mud, and mire, have to sell it, if they could find a buyer at all, for 37J cents a bushel and pork $1.50 a hundred.

to the Legislature for Bureau, Stark and Peoria. In 1839 the State Capitol had been removed to Springfield, and the sessions were held in an old stone building on the east side of the square, now used for a United States court room. At this session of 1842 Mr. Bryant was an efficient member, commanding the respect and kind attention of all his fellow-members. A law relating to Bureau County - the Dover Road - was passed by his influence. This was the original road

1 to Chicago from Princeton, and marketers had driven straight across the wild country, but when the lands were being fenced it would compel the road to wind around the section lines. The land owners objected, of course, but the people who had to do the wagoning wanted it as short and straight as possible. Mr. Bryant was again elected to the Legislature in the year of great political excitement in Illinois - 1858.

| Mr. Bryant was the leader in this part of the work, and in paying for the ground and exi ecuting a bond to the amount of f 7,000, required by the Locating Commissioners. His name leads in the list of public and liberalminded men who put their hands in their pockets and furnished the money, as well as the required bond and security. During these years and afterward he was a prosperous far - mer, but not only a farmer. He made roads

'. and bridges, manufactured brick, of which the original part of the court house was built, besides many other houses now standing in Princeton.

Until 1844 Mr. Bryant had always been a Democrat, but in the action of that party at that time in discarding Van Buren because of his opposition to the annexation, he did not agree with his party and he left it and at once affiliated with the Liberty party, the leader of which was John P. Hale in the United States Senate. This organization was distinct from the original Abolitionists of the Garrison school. The Abolitionists claimed that slavery was a constitutional institution, and they therefore attacked the constitution. The Liberty party said that slavery could be abolished under the powers of the constitution; that the spirit of that instrument was hostile to slavery and that whenever the country should become faithful to the spirit, instead of being bound by the letter, the evil would vanish. They believed as did Henry Clay on the subject of slavery, as Jefferson taught, and as was exemplified in the celebrated ordinance of 1787, by Thomas Jefferson, which prohibited the introduction of slavery into all the Northwest Territory.

But his faith in political action did not prevent him from rendering other help to the oppressed. Many times has he entertained fugitive slaves, both before and after the famous law of 1850, and the cruel "black laws" of Illinois of 1853. The unreasoning severity of these laws was an attempt to scourge men for acts of the highest Christian virtue. Their injustice and cruelty made them repulsive to a large majority of our people, and like all excessive laws, they were treated generally with contempt by good men and spit upon. Among the latter were Mr. Bryant. In 1854 he had as many as fifteen runaway slaves on his place at one time. He aided all he could to reach Chicago, sending them in broad daylight over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to Dr. Dyer, of ! Chicago.

On the 4th of July, 1854, the antislavery celebration was held on the ground a little southwest of Mr. Bryant's house. At this meeting the Republican party of Bureau County was organized. Nearly all the Whigs entered the organization, as did many Democrats. The new party carried the county that year, and Owen Lovejoy was elected to the Legislature. This result was chiefly due to the action of Mr. Bryant.

Previous to this, in 1852, Mr. Bryant had been a candidate of the Free Soil party for Congress. But at that time this party had but few earnest supporters in this district.

He was a delegate to the Pittsburgh Convention, February, 1856, for the purpose of a general organization of the Republican party, as were Owen Lovejoy and Charles L. Kelsey. His recollection is that Horace Greeley was much disgusted with a speech in that convention made by Lovejoy.

In 1856 a Congressional Convention was held in Ottawa. Mr. Bryant headed the Bureau delegation in the interests of Lovejoy. Gen. Gridley, of Bloomington, was in favor of nominating Judge Dickey, and he fought. Lovejoy with all the intensity of his intense nature. Mr. Lovejoy was triumphantly nominated and elected, and then commenced that remarkable career that ended only with his death, in 1864. The wide results flowing out from this nomination of Lovejoy are known to the civilized world, and it is no detraction to his other and many patriotic supporters to say that his nomination was in a large part due to his tried and constant friend, John H. Bryant.

Mr. Bryant was a delegate to the Republican Convention in Chicago in 1860 that nominated Mr. Lincoln for President, and in the war of the Rebellion he was among those and the foremost, who gave their time and money to the patriotic work of raising and equipping armies. He visited Springfield and Washington to secure the acceptance of new troops. He advocated and urged the appropriation of money by the towns and county to pay the expenses for the bounties and other purposes connected with the war. In 1862 Mr. Bryant was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Fifth Congressional District of Illinois, and discharged the duties ably and well for four years. His responsibilities were very great; his duties in organizing the most important district in the West, under the new and complex law, were vast and arduous. He not only had to enforce the law, organize its vast and complex machinery, but had to teach the people what the law was and how to comply with its intricate windings. The whole idea of the law and its enforcement were something so foreign to the American people, a people who had never seen or hardly heard of a taxgatherer of their general government, that this was not small work, but an increase of the responsibilities and labors. Some of the heaviest distillers in the nation were in this district. An American tax-payer was to a tax-gatherer, much like our volunteer soldiers who could see no harm in dodging behind a tree when the enemy was recklessly shooting in front. In short, they had educated one another to believe that there was no serious harm in outwitting a tax-gatherer. The Peoria distillers found him rather too alert and vigilant for the whisky smuggling operations, and they, aided by Congressman E. C. Ingersoll, trumped up a long string of charges and allegations, that of course had their temporary effect in discrediting a worthy officer at Washington, but the investigation following was his most triumphant vindication, and instead of ruining Mr. Bryant it ended forever the political career of E. C. Ingersoll, who, in an overwhelmingly Republican district, was beaten for Congress in the succeeding race by Mr. Stevens, a Democrat.

There is a circumstance connected with Mr. Bryant's appointment as Collector that deserves to be told. When the office was created he wrote to Mr. Lincoln and told him he would accept the office with pleasure. Mr. Lincoln knew him personally and intimately, and thus the two men needed no middle man between them for " inflooence." He wrote by return mail, '* You shall have it." But soon the busy politician appeared, claimed the appointment as a perquisite and had arranged this to " go to a friend," etc. Every combination was brought to bear upon the President, to use the office to "grind the ax" for ambitious politicians; a tremendous effort was made in order to promote other interests. Every argument about ' ' fixing fences," etc. , etc. , were brought to bear upon Mr. Lincoln, and all this time Mr. Bryant was at home and unconscious of what was going on to defeat him. He had no reasons in the world to have suspicions - he had none, and the writer does not know whether Mr. Bryant to this day knows anything about it; certainly no word has escaped him indicating that he ever possessed such knowledge. He simply trusted Mr. Lincoln, and the evidence of Mr. Lincoln's trust in him is the fact that his commission was promptly sent him, and he entered upon his office, and probably all the politicians in the world could not have changed this result.

In 1860 Mr. Bryant was a member of the Board of Supervisors of the county which voted, by one majority, to build a court house. The money was not easy to get. Eastern capital was suspicious of Western securities. He went to New York and obtained §15,000, but had first to get the bonds secured

University Of Illinois

The effort to establish in Princeton a high school commenced in 1866. The plan as ultimately carried out was a new one, and involved the necessity of procuring a special charter from the Legislature. The law provided for high schools in districts, incorporated towns and cities, but not for townships. He took the most active and prominent part in this enterprise. A town meeting was called to consider the subject. Although the meeting was legal, it was not certain that what it agreed upon would be legal. It resolved to establish a high school. To this there was only one negative vote in the meeting. Superintendent Bateman was consulted. A project promising so much in the line of improvements could not fail to enlist that gentleman's sympathy. He encouraged the citizens to proceed. But in order to remove all doubts a charter was secured through the Legislature. It fixed the number of Directors at five, aud provided that no new Directors should be elected for three years. The object of this was to permit the school to get fairly under way before its existence could be endangered by opposition. But money was needed to erect the building. Bonds were authorized to be issued, but capital was afraid of this security. Again Mr. Bryant went to New York, taking the bonds with him. Again he got the money but only on a personal guarantee of the leading men of property in Princeton. Total cost about $65,000. Mr. Bryant was the first President of the Board of Directors, and has occupied this position, with a brief intermission ever since. So complete has been the success of this school that by a law of 1874 any township in the State is authorized to establish and maintain a high school.

For six years or more Mr. Bryant was a member and President of the Princeton District School Board, and much credit is due to him for the late and marked improvements in the schools, and especially in the south school building.

Of late Mr. Bryant has been residing quietly in Princeton enjoying the comforts of life. His spacious house is surrounded by stately trees of his own planting, and is rendered attractive by many evidences of refined taste. It is situated a few rods from the southern limits of the city of Princeton. Around it extend his broad and fertile acres, including not only fine farming lands, but also charming scenery. There is a considerable extent of primeval forests, reaching down to the banks of the creek. Through this he has, at considerable expense, constructed carriage ways, over which the public are always welcome to drive. Large numbers avail themselves of the privilege. On almost any summer's afternoon many vehicles may be seen making the circuit of "Bryant's woods." Here the lover of nature delights to walk. Here children gather flowers. Here picnics are held. For the comfort of the frequenters of the place the proprietor has been at pains to furnish a fountain of pure and cool water.

It is not surprising that amid scenes like these, the owner's natural love of poetry has been nourished and intensified. His claim to distinction as a poet is overshadowed by that of his gifted brother, William Cullen. But a volume published some years ago certainly entitles him to a respectable rank among the sweet singers. It is marked by great purity of language, a correct knowledge of metrical laws, and a severe accuracy in the description of natural objects, as well as by the worth and beauty of the thought. The following is inserted as a mere sample:

The Valley Brook

In politics Mr. Bryant has always manifested a sturdy independence. In the early years of the Republican party, as we have seen, he gave that organization a cordial and efficient support. In later years he has felt at liberty to oppose it. For this his action has been criticised by some, but by none who were broad and liberal enough in their own natures to comprehend his, or they had built conclusions without foundations. Surely an American citizen ought to be allowed to dictate his own politics. Not only has Mr. Bryant the right to change his party affiliations, when in his judgment the good of the country requires it, but it is his solumn duty to do so. It will be a sad day for the Nation when fealty to party becomes stronger than fealty to the republic. And it is to be remembered that the discarding of a party commonly involves to the individual a loss both political and pecuniary. The bolter seldom secures any outw'ard benefit. As a rule, he neither gets office nor makes money by the operation. The only possible exception to this rule is when the bolt is into the majority party, and from the minority, and never vice versa. His only reward is the comfort that comes from the honest discharge of duty. Mr. Bryant'enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest and one of the most prominent and highly respected citizens of Bureau County. He has been the friend of every good enterprise, the eager champion always of the cause of the people of his county and the State, ever giving his time, his talents and his money to promote the cause of the general good. Here he has lived and toiled for fifty-two years, and his imperishable monument shall be the good works of his life and the beautiful words he has spoken. Amid the surroundings of a pioneer life with all its scarcity of the advantages for self improvement and the severest labor of the hands, his acquirements are varied and profound. He has drunk deeply of the fountains of English literature and philosophy, and kept pace with the thought of this great age. All his writings, in prose or poetry, show the man of thought and cultured taste; his bearing al- ways dignified, courteous and polite, with no particle of self-assertion in his nature. Firm and conscientious in all his views, and bold and fearless in their enunciation, he has,at the same time, respect for those who honestly differed from him on even the most vital tenets of his faith. His personal experience, his education, and his reason taught him the fallibility of human judgment and the liability of honest and wise men to disagree upon almost every question of political philosophy in a government constituted as ours is; and he claimed no charity for himself that he was not ready to cordially extend to others. In all the relations of life a sense of duty-stern and inexorable - accompanied him and has characterized his every aat, and disregarding selfish and personal considerations, he has obeyed its behests.*