Cass County, Illinois - Chapter 5: Early Settlements, 1915

Chapter 5: Early Settlements

REMOTE HISTORY - CONFUSION OF TERMS - COUNTY OF ILLINOIS - FIRST SETTLERS - THOMAS BEARD - FOUNDING OF BEARDSTOWN - SETTLERS PRIOR TO 1830-31 - rRoADS AND TRAVEL - HARDSHIPS AND DANGERS - CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES - -METHODS OF TRAVEL - PRAIRIE SCH OONERS - PERSONS ENTERING LAND - WINTER OF THE DEEP SNOW - PASTIMES AND AMUSEMENTS - PIONEER CONDITIONS - HON. WILLIAM H. THACKER - SCENES OF FRONTIER DAYS RECALLED.

Remote History

Title by right of discovery is founded only upon the recognition of that right by the comity of nations; and this comity obtains only among so-called civilized nations. Strictly speaking there can be no such title, absolute, unless it can be made to appear conclusively that the land in question was not in possession of any human being, actually or constructively.

Although many of the old world nations claimed portions of America by right of discovery, yet they were unwilling to rest their claim of title exclusively upon such tenure, but wherever they found natives in possession or who had a reasonable claim of title, they sought to extinguish the native's title by treaty or purchase. Oftentimes titles were secured by treaty or purchase after the use of methods not always creditable to the alleged civilized race of traders.

England had claimed a large portion of North America, by right of discovery, and having so claimed it without much dispute from other nations, concluded to dispose of at least a part of it. So, on May 23, 1609, King James, who was, as he himself said "By grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc.," which said date was the fourth year of his reign as king of England, France and Ireland, and the thirty-ninth year of his reign over Scotland, gave to a colony organized to receive it, a grant or charter of Virginia. The land included in the grant was described as that part of America lying along the coast 200 miles south and north from a point of land called Point Comfort, and extending from sea to sea. It also included all islands lying within a hundred miles along the said coast of either sea. The title was to be in free and common socage, and not in capite. The consideration was the payment to the king the fifth part only of all ore of gold and silver that from time to time might be gotten or obtained, for all manner of service. When or how often this fifth part of the ore was paid, if at all, is not known. The changing political conditions soon put an end to the rights of both high contracting parties.

Confusion Of Terms

ginia charter of 1609, mentioned above, led the Virginians to make claim to that part of the domain north of the Ohio River and extending west to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers as a part of the original grant. The interpretation placed by them upon that charter justified them as being fully within their rights in legislating for that territory. The state of Virginia also felt its title by the original charter was strengthened by the success of her troops under Colonel George Rogers Clark. Further history of this period is taken up in the first volume of this work.

County Of Illinois

On November 30, 1778, a requisite bill for the government of the "County of Illinois," as it was then designated, was introduced in the Assembly of Virginia, and on December 9 of the same year was duly passed by both houses. The new territory was, by the law, treated as a county of Virginia, and Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia, became also the first governor of Illinois. The chief executive officer for the county was called the county lieutenant or commandant. Being desirous of having the new government for that portion of their unknown domain, put into operation as soon as possible, the governor, three days after the passage of the act, on December 12, appointed John Todd county lieutenant of the County of Illinois. John Todd was a native born American, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his father naving come from Scotland in 1737, and settled in Pennsylvania.

Matters, however, had not been at a stindstill in the West, since the capture of Kaskaskia by Clark, on July 4, of the same year. A form or semblance of advancing civilization had been set in progress by Clark, who established a tentative government, and also, as he says in his memoirs, a court of civil judicature in Cahokia, the judges to be elected by the people; and in fact such a court was established consisting of seven justices, and as these were elected by popular vote, this became the first election of chief magistrates in Illinois, and occurred in the month of October, 1778.

In the course of time, the war of the Reyolution ended and the first struggle for independence from the old world came to a successful termination. The "Illinois County,' or territory, was still claimed by and recognized as a part of Virginia, but in 1784, it was ceeded to the general government of the United States. A committee of Congress proceeded to provide for the establishment of a form of government for the new territory. The action of the committee was approved, and the act adopted provided that when there should be 20,000 free inhabitants within the limits of any territory, they should have authority to call a convention to establish a permanent constitution and government for themselves without any other limitations than the following: That they should forever remain a part of the confederacy of the United States of America, with provisions of a more or less general nature and interest. The eighth article provided that any state having adopted a constitution, and having as many free inhabitants as the least numerous of the thirteen original states, might be admitted into the Union. The form of government then provided continued until the adoption or passage of the Ordinance of 1787.

While Congress was yet sitting under the Articles of Confederation, in 1787, it passed an act for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River; under which act or ordinance, Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor of the territory. Pursuant to authority given him by the ordinance, he, in 1790, by proclamation, established the county of St. Clair, so named in honor of himself. It covered a large part of the territory, its boundaries being: from the mouth of the Mackinaw River down the Illinois to the Mississippi; then down that river to the Ohio, then up the Ohio to the mouth of Massac Creek; thence in a direct line northward to the mouth of the Mackinaw, the place of beginning. Thus, being in that portion of the Northwest Territory entirely within the present limits of Illinois, St. Clair became the first county of the state. Although many and frequent changes in the area and boundaries as first erected have been made, the present St. Clair County has always beep a part of the original St. Clair County territory, and hence will always bear the distinction of being the first county of Illinois.

First Settlers

Looking back over a period of one hundrea years, there are few indeed of this generation but have an interest in knowing who first determined to, and actually did become the first permanent settlers of Cass County. While the sources of information as to the persons, and dates of arrival of the earliest settlers is meager, yet from the best obtainable data, it is generally conceded that the first white settler in Cass County was Eli Cox, who came into the county in 1816, and located in the eastern part of the county at the head of a creek which was given his name and is still called Cox's Creek. <A large grove of excellent timber which had escaped the effects of the prairie fires, Was growing there, and it too bears the name of Cox. <At that time, there was not another white person, as far as can be learned, in all that part of Sangamon County. The government had not yet secured the Indian titles, and of course had made no surveys. There were no such divisions as sections or townships to guide him, but Mr. Cox staked out a claim, and remained upon it for awhile, when he left and did not return until 1819. He then built a cabin and commenced permanent improvements. He lived upon that tract of land continuously until his death, which occurred in 1881.

Thomas Beard

In the year 1819, when Mr.-Cox returned to take up his abode here for life. there appeared at Edwardsvillle. in Madison County, about 100 miles south of the Cox home, a young man, twenty-five years of age, inteligent and ambitious. This was Thomas Beard, who had come ftrony the state of New York to seek his fortune in the then West. He had heard much of the Illinois River and surrounding country, and wished to visit it with a view of locating if conditions suited. Te made the acquaintance of General Murry McConnell, who had explored the Illinois Valley to some extent, and being attracted to this bright, sturdy young man, General McConnell offered to make a trip to the Illinois River country with Mr. Beard. There were no highways, no bridges over streams, lo way of travel except on foot or horseback. However, Mr. Beard had come all the way from New York over rocky roads and hilly or mountainous country. and General McConnell had been a soldier in the War of 1812, and had seen rough service, besides he had lived for many years in the wilderness, so these men thought nothing of a horseback ride through untrayeled country. They set out on their lonely journey of 100 miles, recognzing the fact that their trip was fraught with some danger from the hostile Indians, who were at that time restless on account of the fact of the agitation relative to the closing of the treaty of 1819, which would transfer their rights to the whole Sangamon country to the government, and there was an angry undertone of feeling among the braves, even if it was not shared in by the chiefs, to the effect that the lands should not be delivered over to the white man, even though they were to receive a reasonable remuneration therefor.

Beard and McConnell struck out across the prairies, followed the streams and stretches of woodland that bordered them, avoiding the lagoons and swamps as much as possible, and after a week's ride they emerged upon the banks of the Illinois River, and moving on to the north they soon discovered the famous Indian Mound village, so named from a very high mound standing close to the left bank of the river, on an island, cut off from the river by a marshy slough. This famous mound is treated of in the chapter on Mound Builders.

Thomas Beard was delighted with the situation, and after a further survey of the surrounding country, wisely concluded that this was the ideal spot upon which to build a town tbat would ultimately attract the attention of pioneer business men, and result in the development of a beautiful city. Then and there, he resolved to remain and make this spot his future home. His wisdom, foresight and sound judgment have been more than verified by the splendid commercial city now standing upon the site then dotted over with Indian wigwams, tepees, and one lone cabin or hut built of poles. down by the river bank. This hut was believed to have been erected by French voyageurs down the Illinois River some years previous, as it was. when Mr. Beard first looked upon it, in a very dilapidated condition.

As Thomas Beard was the founder of the city of Beardstown, and really the first white man to encourage and lend all his energy to advance civilization and prepare the way for the coming of the splendid men who in so short a period built up one of the most substantial of the smaller cities of Central Illinois, it is deemed fitting that a mention of Mr. Beard be given in this place, somewhat more extended than is found in the first volume of this pub-

Thomas Beard was born at Granville, Washington County, N. Y., December 4, 1794, eldest child of Jeddiah and Charlotte (Nichols) Beard, the mother being a native of Vermont. In 1800 the family moved from New York to the Western Reserve in Ohio. As evidence of the hardships and difficulties encountered by early pioneers moving west into a little known and sparsely settled country, the following is quoted from a sketch of Thomas Beard's family, written by the Hon. J. N. Gridley, now of Pomona, Cal.:

"They" (speaking of the family of Jeddiah Beard) "and company with them, began the journey on the first day of the year, and the season being so severe and the fatigue of the journey so great, most of the party halted at Northeast, Pa., and refusing to proceed further, settled at that place. Jeddiah Beard, with his wife and their three children, the youngest a babe in arms, pressed onward on horseback. Mrs. Beard became ill on the way and a halt was made for a time until she so far recovered her strength so as to enable her to proceed. For a portion of the way there was only a bridle path for a road. The father led one _horse with Thomas and his little sister clinging to the animal, while the mother with the babe in her arms brought up the rear on another horse. The brother came out to meet them with an ox team and the party finally arrived at their destination at Barton, on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River, on May 4, 1800."

Thomas Beard's grandfather had been a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and when the War of 1812 broke out, the war spirit in the blood of Jeddiah Beard began to stir, and he soon enlisted in his country's cause and left young Thomas to look after the family, which he did with great fidelity. When twenty-one years of age, Thomas Beard left home, as has been stated, to go farther west to find, if possible, a better place for permanent settlement and better opportunities for young men. He passed through Ohio and the Indiana and IIlinois territories, and finally landed at St. Louis, Mo., from which point he went over into Illinois to the town of Edwardsville, which had but recently been laid out and named after Gov. Ninian Edwards. There, after a hard spell of sickness, he made the acquaintance of General

Founding Of Beardstown

After the treaty of July 30, 1819, with the Kickapoos, Pottawatomies and other tribes, by which the government secured the large country known as the Sangamon Country, national suryeyors were put into the field, and soon had the townships, ranges, sections and other divisions marked out so that the settlers could detinitely locate their lands after selecting them. Thomas Beard then became more than ever convinced of the wisdom of his choice in locating on the east bank of the Illinois River, on public land, 120 miles above St. Louis. "My reason for choosing this location is on account of its being a valuable site for a town and ferry. The country is settling fast," is what Mr. Beard said of his choice. On June 5 of the same year he obtained a license from Schuyler County, which lay just across the river from Mound Village, for running a ferry, and established one, which was the first across the Illinois River. In the meantime, one Enoch C. March had come to the settlement, and in September, 1826, he and Thomas Beard entered from the government the fractional northeast quarter of section 15, in township 18, north, range 12, west, containing 144.54 acres, and on October S of the same year they entered the fractional northeast quarter of same section, containing 80.54 acres. On October 10, 1826, Thomas Beard entered the west half of the southwest quarter of section 15, the same township, and on September 9, 1829, he and Enoch March laid out the original town of Beardstown. On February 23, 1830, Mr. Beard wrote home again, dating his letter as follows:

"T am still keeping ferry and public house. A part of my land I laid out in town lots, which the people have given me the honor of calling by my name. The place is improving. There are three new stores and a very extensive steam mill, capable of manufacturing from fifty to seventy-five barrels per day. Also a saw mill and a distillery attached. I am now engaged in building a two-story and a half brick house, 30x43. This building prevented my coming home last fall. as I intended. My iron constitution still holds good, though exposed to every hardship."

Mr. Beard had but limited education, but was of a bright intellect and used every particle of knowledge obtained in his schooling to the very best advantage. He had been taught in early life by a private tutor, who prepared him to enter an academy, which he did later, studying history, mathematics and surveying, as well as the fundamentals of a common school education. Added to this, his sound judgment and energy in promoting every undertaking, made him a forceful leader in those trying pioneer times in which he lived. He was a highly publicspirited man, and an earnest advocate of educational matters. Mr. Beard and his friend, Francis Arenz, built the first schoolhouse, which was also used for public purposes and for religious worship. Mr. Beard was about six feet tall, straight as an Indian, and fully as muscular and active as one. He had blue eyes and light hair, and wore no beard except short side whiskers, which were of a slightly reddish cast. The portrait of him appearing in this yolume is taken from an oil painting now hanging in the city hall of Beardstown, and is a very fair representation of that sturdy character that gave to this county the full strength of his early manhood to redeem it from the wilderness and make it one of the most delightful and habitable spots on the globe. Even the iron constitution which he had could not, howerer, withstand a sudden and virulent attack of typhoid fever, which occurred in the fall of 1849, and he succumbed to that dread disease after a very short illness. He is buried on the Thomas Beard farm, section 16, township 1S, range 11. in Cass County.

The fame of the Illinois River and Sangamo Country bad spread to every part of the United States then settled. and many parts of Europe, and Beardstown was known as an excellent landing point which could he easily reached by boats from St. Louis and Cincinnati, as well as other points along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, where emigrants from the East or South might board them in their journey westward. Thus Beardstown first saw many of the early settlers who mored on farther east or mto the central part of the state, as well as those who settled at Beardstown permanently, or in other portions of Cass County. Among those who came were:

Lindsley, Timothy Harris and John Chittrough, and a family named Eggleston. Archibald Job landed at Beardstown, then moved on east and settled in Sylvan Grove in 1821. In that year, it is said on good authority that there were but twenty families in all Morgan, Scott and Cass counties. Reddick Horn, a Methodist preacher, settled in Beardstown in 1823. He entered lands later near the Bluffs and finally became cterk ot the Circuit court. The exact date of the arrival of each settler, or any considerable number of them, is difficult to obtain; we must look to public records and to conspicuous events from which to reckon. Many who came before the deep snow in 1880-31 may be named, and even then there may be a large number omitted. Between Beardstown and where Chandlerville how stands there were: Solomon Penny, John Wagoner, the Carrs, the Horroms, Jerry Bowen, a Mrs. Stewart a widow, Shadrach Richardson and Thomas Plasters, Sr. Then above Chandlerville were: Robert Leeper, William Meyers, Henry McHenry, Peter Dick, John Taylor, William Morgan, James Hickey, Amos Ogden and Isham Reavis. James McAuley and Elijah Garner came in 1832. In and about the vicinity of Arenzville were: Henry McKean, John McIkean, Alexander Pitner, John Melone, William McHenry, James Davis, George Bristow, Aquilla Low, J. A. Arenz, Richard Mathews, Charles Robertson, James Crum, Peter Hudson, Charles Wiggins, David Black, Alexander Huffman, Benjamin Mathews, William Summers, Andrew Williams and Richard Graves.

Near the center of the county. about where Virginia now stands, came Charles Brady, Captain Jacob Yaple, Henry Hopkins, Elijah Garver, John DeWeber, Thomas Hanby, John Dawsy, Samuel Way, William Weaver, Thomas Gatten, Halsey Smith, James Beadles, Matt Beadles. John Beadles, Silas Freeman and Littleberry Freeman. In the southern part of the county were: James Stephenson and his five sons, Wesley, James, William, Robert and August; Charles Beggs, Jacob and John Epler, John Hiller, Rev. John Biddlecome, Isaac Mitchell, John C., Peter and William Conover, James Davis, Isaac Bennett, Strother Ball and William Grovye, settled in the southeast corner of Cass. Farther out on the prairie, and near Panther Grove, were: Stephen Short and his four sons; Tilman Hornbuckle, Stephen Lee. Dr. Stockton, John Miller. James Thompson, Daniel Blair and Rey. William Crow. Along the east side of the

' county extending northward were the homes of George and John Willson, William Daniels, Bartlet Conyers, John Lucas, John B. Witty and Robert Hawtborn. Dr. Charles Chandler and Marcus Chandler and another early comer named English, settled near the mouth of Panther Creek, the present site of Chandlerville. From 1832 on, the country rapidly filled up with settlers from all parts of the East and from foreign countries. Many came from Tennessee and from old Virginia, and quite a host from nearby Kentucky, which had furnished so many of the citizens of southern Illinois, and who had been aggressive ili the matter of office holding, and had, in fact, up to that time, dominated almost every official act of the new state. Ther had modeled largely our first constitution upon that of Kentucky, but Kentucky sent us many excellent, highly capable men, fitted to cope with conditions in a new ceuntry, and a large number of them made their way up into Cass County. Quite a number came "farther west" from Ohio and Indiana. Also came a large delegation from the eastern states, and in a very few year's came the great immigration from Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. Very few French came to Cass County, though many had settled in this state farther south, and a number of early French voyageurs had passed up and down the Illinois River.

It was natural. of course, that each nationality should settle in more or less close proximity, and thus we find the different settlements in this county which remain very marked to this late day. Around Beardstown and Arenzville came the Germans; the Scotch and English settled along the Sangamon bluffs, and back towards Virginia. Quite a number of Ncotch and English families settled in township 14, north, range 10, west, and their descendants still occupy the lands entered by them soon after the county was organized. Most of the foreigners came to New Orleans and then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. a few stopping at Shawneetown on the Ohio River and taking the trail across by land. It was in the picturesque and commodious "prairie ship," or "schooner," that most of the early settlers emigrated from the older states. These schooners were thoroughly substantial, with solid running gear heavily ironed, four huge wheels with broad, well-tired felloes. and tongue so arranged that either oxen or horses might he hitched. The high boards and curving side- boards were ribbed, barred and riveted, and great bows of hickory or young white oak were shaved out and bent over the bed of the big wagon, and over these were stretched the white canvas, with the loose curtains, which, flapping in the wind, gave the appearance in the distance which explains the derivation of the name. Most of these vehicles were drawn by four horses, or ox teams, some of the small ones by one team of horses or oxen. An early writer, referring to this style of craft and means of travel, says:

"The old 'Prairie Ship,' with its great white cover and flapping curtains, Jooking at a distance on the prairie like a ship on the ocean, was the great original of the emigrant wagon of the West. This craft was of vast capacity. It contained ample bedding for a large family made up of all ages and both sexes. It held cooking utensils, provisions, ammunition, tubs and buckets. besides a family. The wagon box. or bed, was fitted with flat, iron staples. about 18 inches apart along ifs sides. and in these were placed ashen hoops which bended over, from side to side of the wagon box, leaving a roomy space inside about five feet high and 20 or more feet long, which, when covered witb canvas looped over at the ends, made a comfortable room, Upon the sides of the wagon box were cleats to secure the crow-bar, axes, spades, mattocks, chisels and augers; and underneath hung the kettles. tar bucket, water bucket and baskets. An extra logchain was coiled around the coupling pole under the wagon for use in emergencies. which frequently occurred."

Roads And Travel

There were but few roads and bridges at that time, and the prairies had to be crossed on Indian trails, the rivers forded where there were no ferries, and creeks and brooks. where the banks were steep. were still more ditticult to cross. In such cases, sometimes bridges were improvised, or a tree felled across the stream, the limbs being removed. The wagon was then taken apart, and each piece and article of freight carried by hand across over the fallen tree and set up on the other side, and the wagon reloaded. Sometimes the one man of the party would do all this alone. Generally, howeyer, for convenience, those movers traveled in companies or caravans, and in that case each man would assist the other, and thus make the journey more pleasant, safe and expeditious. It Was a common sight in those days to see such a carayan, the white canvas tops of the prairie schooners looking in the distance like a_ fleet under sail. These emigrants usually drove along with them a few head of cattle, or led some brood mares, so that in the new country they would be prepared to raise cattle and horses. Frequently there were also to be seen, attached to the outside of the wagon, coops with a few fowls for the purpose of raising chickens in the new settlement. The movers on their long journey found many pleasant incidents to relieve them of monotony. They had the bracing open air in which to sleep, the cheerful songs of the birds to awaken them from their refreshing slumbers, the ever changing, entrancing scenery to gladden their eyes; green hills and verdant yalleys traversed by sparkling streams of fresh, pure water, broad rolling prairies, with myriads of beautiful wild flowers filling the air with their sweet odors, and bordered by magnificent timber, where under some spreading oak they pitched their camps for the night. HARDSHIPS AND DANGERS.

Yet they endured hardships that the present generation cannot imagine. They encountered terrific stornis. deluges of heavy rain that soaked the earth and swelled the streams So that they were often delayed for days until they could proceed. Then there were the moments, hours, aye, days, of depression; the longing for a sight of the friends and relatives and the old familiar scenes they had left behind. <A feeling of homesickness, that disease which no physician, however skillful, can diagnose or cure, woud overpower them. It was not alone the women, but also the men, who were subject to these soulracking and body-weakening attacks, but the men, not being of so fine a mental organism, and being stronger physically. and sustained by their responsibilities, could throw off more readily or repress their feelings in the presence of others. The days of such methods of travel are over and gone with the prairie schooner and the ox-team, and are but a dim vision in the mystic halls of memory. No more slow windings of slow ox-teams over the mountain steeps and the trackless prairies; no more stopping on the rise of the hill to take one last, fond. lingering

Construction Of Houses

Having reached their destination and selected the tract of land that appealed to their fancy aud suited them Lest, the pioneers staked it out and soon thereafter rode off to the government land office to make an entry under the law. Then they began in earnest the building of a new home in this vast, boundless region of the West. The first thing was the erection of the cabin. Early settlers invariably selected land With a goodly portion of timber growing upon it. Choosing tall, straight trees, their experiences in their old habitations had taught them were suitable for their purpose, they cut them in proper lengths and sometimes hewed them on both sides, then notched them at the ends so they would fit close together when laid up. What cracks were left were filled with slabs and clay mixed with straw if they had any, and if not, with dried grass or similar substitutes, in order to keep the clay together. Rafters were cut and put in place, then came the covering, and it was with no little skill that the pioneers prepared the roofing for their houses. A fair-sized, straight-grained black oak would be selected and felled, the experienced eye being able to recognize the right kind of a tree before cutting into it. Blocks were then cut of the required length and shaped until they were of the proper width. Holes were bored into another standing tree, and pegs driven in and cross bars at the proper height to support the prepared blocks, so that one doing the work of riving could stand in a comfortable position. Blocks were placed on the supports and the frow was taken up. Perhaps the reader has never seen a frow. It was made from a bar of steel about fourteen inches long and two and one-half inches wide. At the back the bar was from one-half to three-quarters inch thick, and ran to a point at the forward end. The front edge was shaped and ground only fairly sharp, just sufficient for it to enter the wood when struck a blow from a wooden mallet. The other end of the blade had an opening welded around for the handle, which was nothing more than a smooth, round stick. large enough for a firm handhold, and perhaps two feet long. This handle was placed in the loop formed in the end of the blade and extended at right angles from the back. Grasping the handle in the left hand, and placing the blade against the board block at the right distance from the top side of the block so as to form a bvard of the required thickness, a blow was struck with the wooden mallet held in the right hand, which drove the blade into the wood square across the block, then a pull downward on the handle like a lever, and the board was split off the full length of the block. These boards were called clapboards, or sometimes weather boards, from the manner in which they were laid over each other.at the end so as to exclude the rain or snow. It was extremely interesting and sometimes astonishing to watch an expert board-maker with his frow and mallet, and to note how rapidly and skillfully he would resolve a large block of wood into nice, smooth boards of even thickness. After a number of boards were made, they were piled up crossed alternately three or four feet high, and left to dry out. When utilized for roofing, the most general use to which they were put, they were, in the very early days, placed in rows, beginning at the lower or eaves edge of the roof, and after the second layer was on, the ends lapping well over the first row, a pole was laid lengthwise and pegged down at the ends. Thus the builders continued until the top of the roof was reached. In later years when nails were obtainable, the boards were laid on as ordinary shingles are now laid, but they had to be nailed before they were thoroughly seasoned, for when one of these old-fashioned oak clapboards did get hard, a bullet from one of the pioneer squirrel rifles would hardly pierce it. There was a use, however, made of these boards which the younger generation of pioneers will always remember. Some of the boards would get split, leaving a slat two feet long and from two to three inches wide. It was the rod of discipline, under which we all had to pass. The biblical quotation is never heard by the writer but that, in vivid imagination, he sees Solomon bending over a pile of split clapboards selecting a piece that would be exceedingly pitiful for him to see spoil.

The floors were made of puncheons, which were nothing but boards split out of straight logs, and if not made thin and smooth enough by the splitting process. they were hewed with a foot adze. The doors were made of split boards and hung with wooden hinges. and fastened with wooden latches. Sometimes a large bar of wood was prepared and kept in readiness so that in times of danger the doors could be made more secure therewith. The cabins usually had but one room and a loft overhead. <A smaller room was sometimes added, and was a great convenience for storing provender and utensils out of the weather. As there were Lo stoves in the earlier days, it was of course necessary to have a fireplace. This was made by cutting an opening in one end of the house and building up three sides with small logs, as in building the cabin, daubing the walls with clay on the inside. This primitive chimney was continued on up to the roof, where it was topped out like building a rail pen. After passing the opening in the side of the house, the chimney was drawn in and continued smaller to the top. <A slow fire was made and kept up until the clay lining was as hard as a brick. Such a chimney would stand a hot, strong fire for years. The opening for the fire wood was made very large, and would take in a back log 4 or 5 feet long, and from 18 inches to 2 feet thick. These logs were frequently dragged into the house by a horse, and then rolled into place with big, wooden hand spikes. The big andirons, often called dogirons, were brought from the old home by the mover, and were placed in front of the back log. on which was laid the fore stick. The hickory bark and other dry pieces of wood were placed between until a great heap was had, and the fire when lighted was soon roaring up the huge chimney mouth.

The cooking was done before the fireplace. Pots and kettles were hung on cranes, and baking was done in ovens of iron, which were big skillets with legs, with a covering of iron made to fit them closely. Coals were drawn out on the hearth, the oven was set on them, and more live coals were heaped around. Splendid corn pones were thus baked, and when wheat was grown, even large loaves of bread were also baked in the same way. Phere was also another kind of pone baked, called a corn dodger. This was made by forming the dough into large rolls, which were patted round. by hand, and then covered with clean wood ashes and laid iu the hot ashes and coals, where they soon were excellently cooked, and were considered as among the best breads provided for the hungry household.

After the cabin was built the family removed from the wagon which had been their home for so many months, a shelter was provided for the beasts: fences were erected, and an effort made to get in a crop, and then civilization could be considered to be on an upward grade. After 1832 came many settlers of all kinds and characters, of both a high and low degree of intelligence. Some came to linger awhile and then pass on, bringing nothing with them, and taking nothing away. Others came with a definite purpose and determination to better their condition, and as a necessity and natural consequence of their indefatigable efforts. steady labors and upright course of conduct, this once wild country soon became the happy home of a noble, industrious and thriving people.

Persons Entering Land

Many of those who came before 1530 entered land, thus indicating they intended to make their permanent homes here. A list of the entries are given here that may include some Dames that have been omitted in the list of early settlers given previously, with township and range.

There were, of course, Many who came about that time and settled in the towns, purchasing lots as they were laid out, and erected homes and business buildings, whose names either have appeared or will appear in other parts of this history, in connection with the narrative of progress of this county. Francis A. Arenz had come from Germany, along with others, at about the time of organization of the county, and a large settlement was effected near the present site of Arenzville, and in and around Beardstown. Early settlements were made at Monroe, at Panther Creek and Sylvan Grove, also at Lancaster, east of Philadelphia. Quite a large settlement formed at Princeton in the southeast part of the county, and in 18386 Dr. Henry Hall entered a large scope of land in township 17, range 10, and laid out the town of Virginia.

out of the county, the settlers went to work, after the Black Hawk war, with renewed energy to accomplish the next necessary subjugation of the soil. Until the time of the deep snow, cotton was grown to a Considerable extent, but after that severe winter, cotton crops were a failure. Sheep had been brought into the community, and when flocks could be protected against the encroachments of the wolves and other beasts of prey, the wool was shorn from the sheep and carded by hand. It was then spun into cloth and made into clothing. The hand looms and spinning wheels usually formed a part of the household paraphernalia. The Wwolmen usually dressed in linsey-wovolsey, of their own weaving, and the men in jeans, the cloth being colored either blue or with a dye made from walnut bark, which produced a color known as butternut. The skill of the people produced, from whatever materials lay at hand, that which was necessary for their comfort, and they were indeed fairly comfortable under all circumstances, except during the occasional severe cold spells, when,

It was indeed necessary that the people supply their own wants as far as possible, and they early learned to do so. The opportunities for purchase were rare. Prior to 1834 there was not a single merchant north of the Mauvisterre outside of Beardstown, unless possibly the small store at Princeton was then opened, but from 1880 on it was not necessary for the settlers in Cass County to go far to mill. In that year a steam mill, of large capacity for those times, was established and continued for many years at Beardstown, besides a few good grist mills on streams which had been dammed to furnish water power. The Beardstown Chronicle, a hewspaper published at Beardstown by Francis A. Arenz, under the management of John B. Fulks, in the issue dated March 1, 1884, says:

"Since the opening of the river, there have been shipped from this place 1,502 barrels of flour and 150 barrels of pork. Ready for shipment at the warehouse at this time are 581 barrels of flour, 400 varrels of pork, and 150 kegs of lard. Two steam flouring mills and one steam saw mill are now in operation. A large brewery and distillery are being built, with a grist mill."

A few schoolhouses had been built and were used as places of public worship. Itinerant schoo] teachers came along and were employed to instruct the children in the rudiments; the jay of these teachers was raised by subscription, and the school term ended when the subscriptions ran out. There was preaching at the homes of the settlers, those having the larger houses opening them to the preachers and all who would come were welcome. There were also at certain times of the year camp meetings held in the groves where suitable conveniences were obtainable. Altogether, the people of those early days managed remarkably well and enjoyed life. despite the fact that they lacked anything approaching present day luxuries or even conveniences. The lives of the old settlers of Cass County and their environments were very similar to those in all of Illinois at that period, which have been so often depicted by writers of early days, and by all historians of the state. so it is hardly deemed worth while to extend these remarks upon this subject. It will suffice to close this chapter with a beautiful poem by one of Cass County's former citizeus. now deceased, Hon. William H. Thacker. He was born July 15, 1836, at Goshen, Ohio, the fourth child of Stephen and Esther (McKinney) Thacker. Brought to Illinois by his parents in 1839. he lived near the Des Plaines River, west of Chicago. then a frontier wilderness. He acquired an education at subscription schools and at Lake Zurich Academy. Migrating to Mason County. Ill. he taught school until 1SG2. when he enlisted for service during the Civil war, in the Seventy-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry. and re-enlisted. serving until the close of hostilities. In 1876 he came to Virginia. Cass County. where he completed his study of the law and was admitted to the bar in 1880. Ile removed to the state of Washington. in -\pril. 1890. and there continued the practice of law, for three terms representing San Juan County in the state legislature, and also served a term as Probate judge. On April 1, 1914. this eminent man died at bis home in Arlington. Wash. He was a highly respected citizen in every comunity in which he lived. was a man of noble impulses. and was possessed of marked literary genius, which the following poem clearly proves.

The Scenes Of Frontier Days

The settlers' cabins here and there, With clapboard roof and puncheon floor; The jots are boiling on the fire, The shortcake on the coals before. The home-made loom against the wall, Where back and forth the shuttle flies, And show the linsey-woolsey grows, And patient skill the weaver plies. Above the door on wooden hooks Convenient hangs the old smooth bore; A trusty flint-lock, charged and primed, And good at forty rods and more. Here's grandma's rocking chair that's made Of hickory withes, bent so and so; A fawn skin stretched from side to side, Supplies the cushion seat below. This lin-wood trough on rockers fixed, In royal style the baby bore; And to and fro the lullaby, It timed upon the puncheon floor. The spinning wheel and fluffy rolis The maiden spins in endless threads, As back and forth the wheel she twirls, And gaily sings and lightly treads. Dressed in her linsey-woolsey frock On Sunday eye, her cheeks aglow, And wild flowers in her braided hair, Miranda waits her expected beau. The old well sweep and watering trough; The grape vine swing heneath the oak - The trysting place where lovers say The sweetest words were ever spoke. Across the bleak and frozen waste I hear the howling blizzards roar: The drifting snow the window hides, And heats against the cabin door.

Fresh logs are piled upon the hearth, The crackling flames drive back the cold; The huddling children half afraid, The mother's sheltering arms enfold. Again the fierce prairie fire Sweeps on in demoniac wrath - A seething, roaring wall of flame, Leaving destruction in its path. I see the settlers helpless stand. (The women white-faced bowed in tears) Gazing in silent grief upon The ruins of the work of years. But from the depth of their despair, A glorious courage seems to spring. That gives them strength to build anew, And hope for what the days may bring. Theirs were the hearts to do and dare, And loyal in the hour of need; No matter whether rich or poor, They questioned not of faith or creed. Their generous hearts and helpful hands Poured out their Christian love like wine; And towering church and brazen bells Could make their work no more divine. Today across the gulf of years. In retrospect, I see them all: Those scenes of early frontier days, Whose pictures hang in memory's hall. That hardy band of brain and brawn, They builded better than they knew - They lived the pure and simple life; From nature, inspiration drew. They heard the call from out the West. And westward on their course they led, They bridged the stream and blazed the trails, The feet of empire soon should tread. The common luxuries of life To them indeed were things unknown. And where they delved and sweat and toiled, The palace homes of wealth have grown. No truer lives were ever lived. In honest toil their years were spent: And though they sleep in unknown graves, The country round's their monument.

County Seat

EDWARDS FIRST TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS - THREE MORE COUNTIES CREATED - CASS BECOMES A PART OF MADISON COUNTY - ILLINOIS MADE A STATE IN 1S81S - SANGAMON COUNTY CREATED - MORGAN CREATED INCLUDING SCOTT AND CASS COUNTIES - BOUNDARY LINES A CAUSE OF DISPUTE - METHODS OF MEASUREMENT - METES AND BOUNDS - RECTANGULAR SYSTEM - CREATION OF CASS COUNTY - WORDING OF THE ACI - -THREE 'PRECINCTS ArT FIRSTt - POLITICAL ACENITIES - ACE) TOe REMOVE) SSTATE. (CAPITAL PASSED - LOSS TO CASS OF THE THREE-MILE STRIP - FIRST COUNTY ELECTIONS - LIST OF FIRST VOTERS - FIRST OFFICIALS - THREE MORE PRECINCTS CREATED - FIRST REPRESENTATIVE FROM CASS COUNTY - BEARDSTOWN FIRST MADE THE COUNTY SEAT - REMOVAL TO VIRGINIA - BUILDING THERE OF A COURTHOUSE - COUNTY SEAT RETURNED TO BEARDSTOW N - VIRGINIA THE PRESENT COUNTY SEAT.

Early Boundaries

County organization has been a favorite subdivision of a state or territory among the more civilized nations dating back many years, it having been found to be a convenient and effective method of granting the people, under whatsoever form of government existing, that certain measure of home rule, or self-government, so much prized by human beings. All of the Various states of the Union have county subdivisions, except South Carolina, which has districts, and Louisiana, which has parishes. Both district and parish. however, correspond to the counties in other states.

The second county in Illinois was named IKknox, but no digression will be made to speak further of it, as the only purpose of mentioning these early counties is to trace and note the changes in the area, boundaries and organization of the Northwest Territory, and the subsequent territories and state formed from it of which the present Cass County was at any time a part. Observing the boundaries of St. Clair County. as heretofore given. the reader will at once see that Cass County was a portion of the northern part of St. Clair County as first established, and if we are looking for historical] distinction it will be further noted that Cass County was thus a part of the first county in the territory later converted into the state of Tllinois.

In 1800 the Northwest Territory was by <Act of Congress divided into two districts. The Western district was named Indiana, but included all the present Illinois. William Henry Harrison, afterwards president of the United States, became the territorial governor. Under the law at that time counties were established by proclamation of the territorial governor. Acting under that authority, Governor Harrison issued a proclamation February 3, 1801, by which he changed the county lines of St. Clair County and made it a county of the territory of Indiana and gave to it all of Illinois, but a small portion in the southern end lying south of a line running east and west about a mile and a half south of the present south line of St. Clair County, and extending east until it intersected a line drawn directly north from the "Great Cave,' on the Ohio. Two years later this line was changed to run from a point on the Mississippi River four miles farther south, northeast to intersect the sime north and south line before mentioned. The portion north of that east and west line retained the hame of St. Clair, and to the part south of the line was given the name of Randolph County.

Organization Of Illinois Territory Goy. Ninian Edwards

secretary of the new territory and acting governor, by proclamation on April 28, 1809, continued the counties of St. Clair and Randolph without change of boundaries or area except to extend the eastern boundary of each county to the eastern Illinois boundary line. which boundary lines are the present eastern boundary lines of the state of Illinois. GOY. NINIAN EDWARDS.

No further changes were made affecting the territory in which Cass County was situated until 1812. when Ninian Edwards. who. by appointment. had become the first territorial governor of Illinois, by a proclamation dated September 14. 1812. created three new counties. one of which he named Madison, which comprised all the territory of Tllinois north of a line running east to the Wabash River along the northern line of the present St. Clair County, and which line the proclamation said should be the second township line above Cahokia. Thus Cass County, after being a part of St. Clair County for twenty-two years, now became a part of Madison County, whose seat of justice was by Governor Edwards' same proclamation located at the house of Thomas Wirkpatrick. This house was on the site of the present city of Edwardsville, in Madison County. <As at that time there was not a white person, so far as known, in the part of Madison County now comprising Cass County, and as the inhabitants thereof were all Indians, subject to and governed by their tribal relations. it made little or no difference to them where or how far away Was the seat of justice. Many changes were subsequently made in the area and boundaries of Madison County, but it continuously retained the future Cass County within its borders until 1S21.

Illinois Made A State

In the meantime Illinois territory had, by an Act of Congress passed December 3, 1818, been adiitted to the Union-as a state, with all the powers and privileges of the original thirteen. Its officers, legislature and high court had already exhausted the pleasures and pastimes of a sojourn in Kaskaskia, as the first territorial capital, and had removed the seat of government to Vandalia. Judge Sidney Breese, who was at the time of the removal of the capital the chief clerk in the office of the secretary of state, says. in writing of the subject in later years, that it cost twenty-five dollars to move the archives from Kaskaskia. in a small wagon, and that it was necessary to cut a road part of the way through brush.

equally ambitious constituents in various parts of the northern end of the state. accelerated largely by the extinguishment of Indian titles, county seats erected more accessible to the people. Again there was the alluring prospect of official position. The more counties there were, the more offices there would be to fill. Always, in every locality. is to be found an abundant force of citizens with sufficient patriotism to offer themselves as a sacrifice on that particular altar of their country. Yielding to this urgent

"Prom the northwest corner of town 12, range 1 west of the third principal meridian, north with that meridian to the Illinois River ; thence down the middle of the river to the mouth of Ballance or Negro Creek; up said creek to its head; thence through the middle of the prairie dividing the waters of the Sangamon and the Mauyais Terre to the northwest corner of town 12 north, range 7 west of the third principal meridian; thence east along the north line of town 12 to place of beginning." The Ballance or Negro Creek, mentioned in the above description to the boundary lines, is Indian Creek, in the southwest part of Cass County. It is therefore seen that a small portion of Cass County omitted from Sangamon, was that part that now lies between the Indian Creek mentioned and the north line of Morgan County.

The restive, active petitioners and legislators would not permit the county boundary lines to remain long enough in one place to become known to the local inhabitants or to become a cause of territorial disputes. Two years later, to the exact day, January 31, 18238, Morgan County was created, including the present counties of Morgan, Scott and Cass. The boundary lines of the new county were as follows:

"From the northwest corner of Greene County, east to the range line between 7 « 8, west of the third principal meridian ; thence northerly along the middle of the prairie dividing the waters of the Sangamon from the Mauvais Terre, Apple and Indian creeks, to the middle of Range §; thence north to the main channel of the Sangamon; thence down to the middle of the main channel of the Illinois; thence down the Illinois to the place of beginning." The northern part of the boundary lines above given is the present boundary of Cass County, as will be noted in the official boundary lines of the county. Some mention is made in giving boundary lines of some of the counties established. of township and range lines. These occur only in county lines of late established counties. as there was no system in use of township and range in the earlier days.

Boundary Lines A Cause Of Dispute

always have been a source of dispute and trouble, oftentimes resulting seriously. The difficulties arising were formerly due, principally, to the system of describing lands by "Metes and Bounds," in universal vogue in this country until about the close of the eighteenth century, and still perhaps is to some degree in use in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the New England states, and in a few other of the older states. In making suryveys under that system, it was of course necessary to start at a given landmark and follow the proposed line according to the magnetic bearings of the compaxs needle, or the course of a stream; or perhaps some ancient footpath or highway. This plan could but result in endless confusion and litigation, as landmarks decay or change; and it is a well known fact that tne compass needle varies and does not always point due north. In order to avoid further confusion in the government survey of land, Congress, by an act adopted May 7, 1785, provided for tne use of the "Rectangular Nystem."

Rectangular System

All land measurements under this system are made from two principal lines, at right angles to each other, a north and south line called a principal meridian, and an east and west line called a base line. The principal meridians are accurately established and tested by astronomical observations, and each has its own base line. The intersection of these two lines is the starting point for governmental land measurements, and measuring each way from that point, at intervals of six miles, are drawn parallel lines to these principal lines. The space of territory extending north and south between the parallel meridians is called a range, and the space of territory extending east and west between the parallel lines is called a township. The squares formed by these lines crossing each other are the government townships. The townships are numbered from one consecutively north or south from the base line, and ranges are numbered from one consecutively east or west from the principal meridian, as far as these principal lines control. Had the legislature in creating county lines given more attention to this system of land measurements. and government survey, much confusion would hare been avoided. and it would: not have been called define boundary lines. It required a_ special act of the general assembly to make changes or define the lines, and an inspection of the session laws of the state from 1823 to 1854 show that no less than sixteen acts were passed re-defining county boundary lines, among them one for re-defining the boundary between Morgan and Sangamon counties, and providing for a survey. The northern part of the new surveyed line, from township 17, north, is the present eastern boundary line of Cass County.

No further changes were made in area or Loundary lines affecting the territory in which Cass was situated until 1887. The country had very rapidly settled up; Jacksonville was the county seat of Morgan County, and at that time was the most noted city in the state. Its people were entertaining high hopes that the state capital would be located there. The question of removal of the state capital was then being greatly agitated before the legislature. Four of Morgan County's representatives in the general assembly and the senator from this district lived at Jacksonville, as did also the governor of the state, Joseph L. Duncan. The Indian titles had all been quieted; the last of the Indian uprisings in the state had been subdued, and the Indians were fast disappearing from the Sangamon country and Illinois. For the sake of the continuity of the abstract of title, as it were. of Cass County, further reference to other historical matter will be deferred and the action upon matters affecting the passage of the Act of the General Assembly creating Cass County taken up. Petitions had been presented to the assembly by interested persons asking for the formation of a new county to be taken from the northern part of Morgan County, being all that part north of the south line of township 17, but by some shuffling of bills presented to the legislature and committed. a bill finally appeared from the committee room which provided for the new county to he called Cass, but instead of the dividing line between it and the remainder of Morgan County being the south line of the township, the line was made to run east and west in the center of the township, thus making the territory of the new county three miles narrower north and south than was expected by the friends of the new county. The bill, however, became a law on

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That all that tract of country within the following boundaries to wit: Beginning at a point in the center of the main channel of the Illinois River, where a line running through the center of township seventeen north intersects the same, in range thirteen west of the third principal meridian, thence east with said line to the east side of Morgan county, from thence north to the center of the main Channel of the Sangamon River, thence down said river to the center of the main channel of the Illinois River, thence down said river to the place of beginning, shall constitute a new county to be called the county of Cass.

Sec. 2. The county aforesaid is created upon the following conditions: The people of the county of Morgan as the same is now organized, shall meet at the several places for holding elections for representatives and senators in said county, on the third Monday of April next, and proceed to vote in the same manner of voting for representatives and senators to the General Assembly, whether the said county shall be created or not. The judges of elections in said county shall give twenty days' notice of the time and place of holding said elections by posting notices thereof in six public places in the county, and on said day shall open a poll book at each election precinct, in which they shall rule two columns, in one of which they shall set down the number of votes given for the creation of said county, and in the other column the votes given against same, and said judges shall conduct said election, and make returns to the clerk of the county commissioners court of Morgan County, in the same manner as is now provided by law in the case of elections for senators and representatives for the General Assembly, and said returns shall be opened and counted in the same manner as in such elections. and if a majority of all votes given at said election shall be in favor of the creation of said county, a certificate shall be made by the clerk of said county commissioners court. under the seal of said court. and transmitted by him to the office of the secretary of state. of the state of Illinois, to be filed in his office as evidence of the existence of said county, which shall be entered of record at the next succeeding term of the said county comumissioners court, and shall be sufficient to prove the facts therein stated, after which the said county shall be one of the counties of the state of Illinois. The clerk of the commissioners court of Morgan County shall cause a notice of said election to be published in all the newspapers published in the county of Morgan.

Sec. 8. If said county shall be created as aforesaid, the legal voters of said county shall meet on the first Monday of May next, at the several places of holding elections in said new county, and vote for the place where the county seat of said county shall be located, and the place receiving the greatest number of votes shall be the permanent seat of justice of said county, and on the first Monday of August next said county shall proceed to elect all county officers for said county, to be commissioned and qualified as in other cases.

Sec. 4. The owner or owners of the land where said county seat shall be located, shall donate and convey to said county of Cass, at least fifteen acres of Jand at the place where said seat shall be located, which may be disposed of in the manner the county comiissioners court of said county shall deem proper, the proceeds whereof shall be applied to the erection of the courthouse and jail, and clerk's office of said county, but if the county seat aforesaid shall be located at Beardstown in said county, the corporation of said town shall, Within one year from the said location, pay into the county treasury of said county, not less than ten thousand dollars to be applied in the erection of said public buildings.

Sec. 5. Said county shall vote with the county of Morgan for senators and representatives until the next apportionment. and said county shall make a part of the first judicial circuit, and so soon as said county shall he organized. the clerk of the county commissioners court of said county shall notify the judge of said circuit. and it shall he his duty to appoint a clerk and hold a court in said county at such times as said judge shall appoint. The seat of justice of said judge shall he located at Beardstown until the public buildings are erected. But if the county seat shall he located at Beardstown, and said corporation shall not pay to the treasurer of said county, said ten thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting said public buildings within one year after the location of said county seat, then the county commissioners court of said county shall locate the county seat at some other point near the center of said county, when the quantity of land mentioned in the fourth section of this act shall be denoted as therein provided.

Sec. G. The school funds belonging to the several townships in said county, and all notes and mortgages pertaining to the same. shall he paid and delivered over to tke school comnissioners of said Cass County by the school commissioners of the county of Morgan, as soon as the said county shall be organized. and the commissioners of school Jands shall be appointed and qualified according to law, together with all interest arising out of said money, that has not been heretofore expended for schools within that part of Morgan County now proposed to be set off into the county of Cass. This act shall take effect according to the conditions thereof from and after its passage.

See. 7. In case said county of Cass shall he created under the provisions of this act. then until the next apportionment of senators and representatives to the General Assembly, the said county shall be entitled to one representative to the General Assembly, and shall at the next election vote with the county of Morgan for one senator, also at every succeeding election for said senator, and the county of Morgan shall be entitled to five representatives and two senators. Approved March 3rd, 1837."

Pursuant to the law enacted by the legislature of 1837, and set out in the above quoted Act, an election was held on the third Monday of <April, 1887, to determine by the votes whether the new county of Cass should he created or not. Governor Joseph L. Duncan, who signed the bill after it passed both houses of the assembly, lived at Jacksonville. in Morgan, from which was to be taken, if the voters so directed. a very large and valuable tract of land. It is wondered how the bill for the new county ever got out of the committee or passed either house against the well known influence the members from Morgan possessed. As there was some prospect, at least. of the location at Jacksonville of the state capital, it would seem reasonable that all interests of Jacksonville and Morgan County, would be directed in the direction of retaining as much territory as possihle, and as many voters who, presumably

The legislature had, at the session of 1833, passed an act providing that when the limit of twenty years expired, during which time the eapital should remain at Vandalia, the people should vote for the state capital to be at one of the following places:

"The geographical center of the state, Jacksonville, Springfield, Alton, Vandalia or Peoria." The one receiving the highest number of votes should be the permanent seat of government, but it seems that the politicians knew that the legislature would ignore that law or repeal it, and gave little attention to the voters. There was much dissatisfaction on the part of the voters living in the northern part of Morgan on account of the fact that the strip three miles wide on the south had been left within the boundaries of Morgan County. This strip contained about eighty square miles, most of it excellent prairie. and while if left with Morgan County, would make that county one of the best in the state, by depriving Cass County of that amount of good land, it reduced it to one of the smallest and weakest territorially in the state, and according to the popular estimate of the value of the lands of Cass County, as proposed to he created, after deducting the inundated lands bordering on the Illinois and Sangamon rivers, the sand ridges and bluffs by which they were skirted. and the waste and untillable lands in the interior, it said that Cass would contain less productive land than any other county in the state. So. notwithstanding the further fact, that the north end voters were much incensed against the "political ring" at Jacksonville. and much desired a new county, yet the vote was against the organization. The Ganvassing board at Jacksonville, however, when they met to canvass the returns. threy out the votes of the entire precinct of Meredosia, the southwest corner of the county, and Lucas Precinet, in the extreme northeast part of the county. which were against the creation of the new county. and thus declared the proposition carried. and so certified to the secretary of state. and the county of Cass as created by the aforementioned act, became one of the counties of Illinows.

Act To Remove State Capital Passed

The legislature which passed the act creating Cass County, and at the same session, but a few days earlier, passed an act for the removal of the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield, Was elected in August of the year previous, or to be exact, August 6, 1836, included some of the holdover senators, and was for mental strength and ability of its members, the most remarkable of any yet chosen in Illinois. No previous General Assembly of our state, and yery few since, has comprised such an array of brainy, talented men; or as many who subsequently gained such eminence in the annals of the state and nation. In the senate were: Orville H. Browning, Cyrus Edwards, William J. Gatewood, John S. Hacker, Robert K. Me- Laughlin, Henry I. Mills, William Thomas, John D. Whiteside and John D. Weed; and in the house were Edward D. Baker, John Hogan, Milton Carpenter, Newton Cloud, Richard M. Cullom, father of the late United States Senator Shelby M. Cullom, John Dement, John Dougherty, Stephen A. Douglas, Jesse IK. Duboise, Ninian W. Edwards, William L. D. Ewing, Augustus C. French, John J. Hardin, Abraham Lincoln, Usher fF. Linder, Dr. John Logan, father of General John <A. Logan, John A. MecClernand, James Semple, John Moore, William <A. Richardson, James H. Ralston and Robert Smith. In this list are found one president of the United States, six who later occupied seats in the United States senate, eight congressinen, three governors, three lieutenant governors, two attorney generals, five state treasurers, two state auditors, one superintendent of public instruction, and several supreme and circuit court judges. Comment is made by Dr. J. F. Snyder in one of his historical papers that "it was this same body of learned and distinguished statesmen who committed at that session, the supreme folly of exacting the famous Internal Improvement measures that in three years placed the state on the verge of hankruptcy burdened with a public debt of over $14.000,000." The results of that legislation fully justify the comment, and illustrate what effect and influence public clamor will have upon legislative bodies. History sometimes repeats itself. Morgan County. which then included Cass and Scott. had in that assembly three senators. and seven representatives, as follows: William Thomas, William O°'Rear and

William Weatherford, senators, and Newton Cloud, Stephen A. Douglas, William W. Happy, John J. Hardin, Joseph Morton, Richard 38. Walker and John Wyatt, representatives.

The people. of the new county of Cass, though much chagrined at the loss, as they believed, by trickery and unfair dealing, of the valuable three mile strip, accepted tbe result philosophically and proceeded to call an election for officers to organize the county government. The election was held August 7, 1837, and as there were but three election precincts, it needed but little election machinery. At Beardstown the election was held at the house of Moses Perkins. In Virginia Precinct at the house of John DeWeber, and in Lucas or Richmond Precinct at the house of John Iucas. The election officers at Beardstown were: Thomas Beard, James Arnold and John Schaeffer, judges, and C. W. Clarke and T. W. Webb, clerks. At Virginia, Isaiah Paschal, William M. Clarke and James Daniels were judges, and William Blair and M. H. Beadles, clerks. John Taylor, Mathew Lownsbury and Robert Leeper were judges at Richmond, and Robert B. Taylor and Cyrus Wright were clerks. <A list of the voters at that election is here copied and is interesting, as these men were the first to exercise the right of franchise in Cass County. At that time the law permitted residents of the county to vote at either precinct where he might be on election day, and thus it happened that the names of some persons appear as voting in a precinct in which they did not reside.

List Of Voters First Officials

The necessary officers to be elected for the purpose of forming the legal county machinery, were a probate justice of the peace, a sheriff, a coroner, recorder, surveyor, treasurer, three county commissioners whose deliberations were called a county commissioners court, and a clerk of that body, or as now designated, county clerk. Though the Democratic party was in control of the national government, yet political sentiment was pretty evenly divided at that time in this part of Illinois between that party and the Whig party. The first election for officers in Cass County did not turn upon party lines. There was no nominating convention; each candidate announced himself and took his chances. At the first election, when the voters whose names are above given, voted, there were several candidates for each of the required offices, as follows: for probate justice - J. S. Wilbourn, William Scott and James Berry; for county commissioner - A. Bonny, Joshua P. Crow, George F. Miller, Benjamin Stribling, Henry McKean and Henry McHenry ; for sheriff - Lemon Plasters, John B. Bueb and Martin F. Higgins; for county clerk - Robert G. Gaines and John W. Pratt; for recorder - N. B. Thompson, O. M. Long, Alfred Elder, and Thomas Graham, Jr.; for surveyor - William Clark and William Holmes; for treasurer - I. C. Spence and Thomas Wilbourn; for coroner - Ephraim Rew, Jacob Anderson and Halsey Smith. The following were the successful candidates: Probate justice, John S. Wilbourn. Recorder, N. B.

With these sturdy pioneers at the wheels, the county of Cass started on its eventful journey. On August 14 of that same year, the county commissioners met and divided the county into six precincts named as follows: Beardstown, Monroe, Virginia, Sugar Grove, Richmond and Bowens. The first general election in the county was held one year later on August 6, 1538. Nominating conventions had come into vogue, and the Democratic party held its first convention at Vandalia, presenting a ticket to be voted at that election, with Thomas Carlin as candidate for governor. Joseph L. Duncan was not a candidate to succeed himself for the reason that by terms of the constitution, a governor was not eligible "for more than four years in a term of eight years." The election in Cass County was conducted on party lines, and the Whigs proved to be in the majority, Edwards the Whig candidate receiving 335 votes to 118 for Carlin, while William Holmes, who had the year previous been elected surveyor for Cass County, now received 208 votes as a Whig candidate for representative against 198 votes for Thomas Beard, and 114 for Henry McKean, both Democratic candidates. Thus it happened that Mr. Holmes was the first representative for the new county.

Cass, and had resulted in the selection of Beardstown for that honor. The seat of justice had already been, by said law, established at Beardstown, but some doubt as to the legality of the election on the question of the county seat having arisen, and the legislature being in special session in July of that same year, passed an additional act, or one supplementary to the original one, erecting the county, wherein it Was provided that the county of Cass as designated and bounded in said original act, was declared to be one of the counties of the state, and that the county seat should be at Beardstown, provided, however the corporation § of Beardstown should comply with the provisions of said act relating to the raising of the sum of ten thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting the public buildings for said county, but extending the time to one, two and three years for the payment of said sum, and further providing that the county commissioners should make their contracts for the erection of said buildings so as to make their payments thereon when the installments of said ten thousand dollars should become due. Said act further provided that the courthouse should be erected upon the public square in Beardstown. This little sentence in the act caused much dissension among the residents of Beardstown later on, and the courthouse was not built upon the public square. Thanks to the good judgment of the dissenters, and their persistence in standing by it, no public buildings of any kind were ever erected on the public square, and it has remained as it was originally intended, a public park, now beautifully ornamented with walks and splendid shade trees.

In spite of all this legislation, a peaceful and acceptable solution of the county seat question had not yet appeared, so interested parties hied themselves to the General Assembly for another act of the legislature, that panacea for all troubles, and on March 2, 1839, the legislature, by preambling the doubts, and whereasing the cause, again undertook to construe the loose and ambiguous act of March 3, 1837, creating the county of Cass. In the preamble of the last act it was noted that Beardstown had failed to comply with the provisions of either the original or second acts, concerning the erection of public buildings, and that the county commissioners had under the provisions of the original act, contracted for the erection of a courthouse at Virginia, and had located the

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in The General <Assembly, That the county seat of Cass County shall be and remain at Virginia, and the courts of said county shall hereafter be held at that place; and the several county officers, who are required to keep their oftices at the county seat, are required to remove their respective offices, and all bonds, documents, books and papers pertaining to the same to Virginia, on or before the first day of May next, and thereafter hold and keep their respective oflices at that place. and in case one or more of said officers shall fail or refuse to Colply With the provisions of this act, such officer shall forfeit his office."

The latter clause seems to have had the desired effect, and the public paraphernalia was removed to Virginia. Indeed the officers would rather have moved the Illinois River to Virginia than to give up the offices. The citizens of Virginia had accepted the conditions precedent to the establishing of the county seat there. and Dr. Henry Hall had donated the fifteen acres of land as required by the original law. That law provided that the land so donated "may be disposed of in the manner the county commissioners court of said county shall deem proper, and the proceeds whereof shall be applied to the erection of the courthouse and jail and clerk's office." Dr. Hall proposed to the commissioners that if they would reconvey the fifteen acres to him which he had donated he would build the courthouse and jail. MRealizing the liberality of the offer, the com missioners accepted it, and that summer a substantial twostory brick building was erected which accommodated the county amply for court room and offices until the county seat was again removed to Beardstown some years later.

County Seat Returned To Beardstown

The people of Beardstown and vicinity were still nursing their ill feeling towards Virginia over the loss of the county 'seat. characterizing the manner in which the removal had been made as a highhanded outrage, although as a matter of fact the people of Virginia were not chargable with reprehensible conduct in the matter, and criticism should not have fallen upon them, but should have been placed upon the legislature, which enacted the measure of March 2; 1839, above referred to. Aside from any question of blame to any one the citizens of Beardstown were determined to recapture the prize when opportunity offered. The population of Beardstown had rapidly increased and there Was then within its limits a large number of splendid, energetic men, alert to every interest of the town, and active in securing everything helpful to its future progress.

An election was called and held September 4, 1848, on the question of removal of the county seat from Virginia to Beardstown. The election resulted in 453 votes being cast for removal to only 28S against removal, so Virginia lost. Beardstown citizens, although active in every other matter, seemed extremely dilatory about the erection of ~ublic buildings for sheltering the county records they had been so successful in recovering from Virginia. The buildings were not ready until 1845. On February § of that year, Henry E. Dummer appeared before the county commissioners at their session in that month at Virginia, and presented a deed to Cass County for Lot 1, in Block 31, Beardstown, on which the courthouse was built. from Thomas R. Saunders, and also a receipt from B. W. Schneider, contractor for building the courthouse at Beardstown, as well as a receipt from Thomas Beard, contractor, for the erection of the jail. They also presented a further certificate from Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood, presiding judge of the Cass County Circuit court, of the sufficiency of the buildings. All of these papers were ordered to be recorded. Thereupon the commissoners adjourned to meet at Beardstown, on March 3, which was the first Monday of the month.

In 1872, the question of the location of the county seat was again taken up, and an election was held with reference to this question. By popular vote the seat of government was again transferred to Virginia, although the matter was contested through the courts, the verdict being in favor of Virginia, which continues to hold that honor.