Cass County, Illinois - Chapter 21: Public Utilities, 1915

Chapter 21: Public Utilities

EARLY RAILROAD PROJECTS - FIRST RAILROAD IN 1859 - ILLINOIS RIVER RAILROAD COMPANY - PEORIA, PEKIN & JACKSONVILLE - LOCATION OF DEPOT AN INTENTIONAL INCONVENIENCE TO VIRGINIA - TWO EARLY STAGE LINES - DRIVER OF SPRINGFIELD STAGE CARRIES FIRST NEWS OF LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION TO. VIRGINIA - WABASH, ST. LOUIS & PACIFIC RAILROAD - CHICAGO, PEORIA & ST. LOUIS - PANA, SPRINGFIELD & NORTH WESTERN - SPRINGFIELD & ILLINOIS SOUTHEASTERN - OHIO & MISSISSIPPI - BALTIMORE & OHIO SOUTHWESTERN - OTHER PROJECTED RAILROADS - BEARDSTOWN & PETERSBURG - UPPER & LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER - ROCK ISLAND & ALTON - ROCKFORD, ROCK ISLAND & ST. LOUIS - FIRST TRAIN OUT OF BEARDSTOWN IN SUMMER OF 1ST0 - NoW <A PART OF THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY - ST. LOUIS, ROCK ISLAND & CHICAGO DIVISION - ST. LOUIS, JACKSONVILLE & CHICAGO - CHICAGO & ALTON RAILROAD - FINE SHIPPING POINT AT ASHLAND - PUBLIC HIGHWAYS - STATE ROAD - OLD HALFWAY HOUSE - PLANK ROAD OVER SAND RIDGES - STATE EXPERIMENTAL ROAD LAW - SOME

Progress Early Railroad Projects

The first railroad to enter Cass County was secured through the efforts of Dr. Charles Chandler, Hon. R. 8S. Thomas and Dr. M. H. L. Schooley of Cass' County, and Judge William Thomas, of Jacksonville, Morgan County. In 1853, Hon. James M. Ruggles of Bath, in Mason County, represented the counties of Mason, Menard and Sangamon in the state senate. That legislature, or the people back of it, seemed to have a mania for incorporating railroads, whether there was any immediate prospect of the building of the roads or not. Everybody seemed to want a charter for building a railroad, and the legislature was willing, and it appears gave a charter to every body of men that asked for one. The Eighteenth General Assembly convened at Springfield, January 3, 1853, and adjourned February 14 the same year, being in session forty-three days. In that short time it passed thirty-seven acts granting charters to companies -for building a railroad, and if Sundays are deducted from the total days in session, it will leave an equal number of legislative days and railroad charters granted. Among the charters granted was one secured by Mr. Ruggles, February 11, 18538, for the building of a railroad from Jacksonville, in Morgan County, through Virginia in Cass County, and Bath in Mason County, to Pekin in Tazewell County, and thence through Lacon in Marshall County, to La Salle in La Salle County, and to be known as the Illinois River Railroad Company. Cass County was represented in the lower house of the assembly by Hon. Cyrus Wright, Baptist preacher, who, no doubt, voted for the measure, as he made his home in and near Chandlerville. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $1.000,000, but might be increased to $2,000,000. James M. Ruggles was one of the incorporators, but no Cass County person appears to have been at that time directly interested. The right of way was secured from Pekin to Bath, and about $100,000 of the stock subscribed, and there the project stopped. The incorporators had not organized but had only opened books for the sale of the stock and made efforts to secure the right of way. It seemed as if the road were built at all it would terminate at Bath. It was then that the Cass County people mentioned abore took hold of the matter and assisted in securing the right of way through the northern part of Cass County to Virginia, and also ob- tained additional subscriptions for the stock. It was not until September, 1857, that they were ready to formally organize. In that month the interested parties met at Chandlerville and organized a company by electing Judge William Thomas, of Morgan County, R. S. Thomas of Cass County, J. M. Ruggles and Francis Low of Mason County, and Joshua Wagonseller of Tazewell County, directors. The directors met immediately and completed the organization by electing Hon. Richard S. Thomas, president; Dr. M. H. L. Schooley, secretary; and Thomas Plasters, treasurer; all of Cass County.

First Railroad In 1859

The road was finished and opened from Pekin to Virginia in 1859, thus giving the products of Cass County a new market at Peoria, and a direct connection from that point on to Chicago and the East. The new railroad magnates of Virginia and Cass County did not enjoy their distinction for any great length of time. The road had been mortgaged for rolling stock and material, and for other expenses attendant upon its completion, as its charter provided it might be, but when the notes began to fall due there was nO money in the treasury with which to meet the indebtedness. As a consequence, in October, 1863, the mortgage was foreclosed and the Illinois River Railroad Company, one of the few roads to be built out of the great number chartered, was a thing of the past.

The Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad

In 1864 the road went into the hands of a new company, called the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad and the rural wits immediately dubbed it the "Push, Pull & Jerk" road. In 1869 the road was extended to Jacksonville. A proposition had been submitted to the people of township 17 north, range 10 west, in Cass County, to vote a tax for $15,000 of bonds to assist in securing the right of way through the remainder of Cass County, but the voters would not consent to the tax, and the measure was defeated. This offended the railroad people, and they blamed the citizens of Virginia especially for the result, so when they completed the road, they deflected the right of way from the line over which it was originally intended to pass through the town of Virginia, and turned it straight down the section line, thus missing the town by a quarter of a mile or so, and placed their depot far out beyond the corporate limits to the northeast. It is told that a traveling man once asked a Virginia boy why they put the depot away out there. The boy declared : "So it would be near a railroad." The traveler mored on and it is not known whether the boy later got into the legislature or a reform school. The city has spread out in that direction since then and the depot does not now appear So inconveniently remote. The freight track which extends to the Savage elevator, was the original main track, in fact was all the track for a long period. There was not even a "Y" to turn the engine, and it was run backward to Bath, until the inconvenience was relieved by the building of a turntable which was located on what is now Duncan avenue, a little south of the right of way of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad. The writer, with other boys, many times enjoyed the novel experience of assisting to turn the table that reversed the great, big, wonderful engine. The depot was a yery small frame box of an affair, and located south of where the eleyrator now stands, but on the west side of the track. There was but one train on the road for a long time, which made a daily round trip from Pekin. In 1865 its schedule time to arrive was about 11:00 A. M. It had a habit, however, of coming in whenever it saw fit, a habit which the passenger train due to arrive about that time, still adheres to. There was no other carrier of passengers or mail into or through Virginia at that time except the two stage lines from Jacksonville and Springfield to Beardstown. They usually arrived about the same time as the railroad train.

The Springfield Stage Brings Sad News

On the morning of Saturday, April 15, 1865, the stage from Springfield reached the old Dunaway Hotel, which it made its stopping place, a little earlier than usual. The manner in which the driver cracked his whip over the four horses and urged them with all speed up the hill from the Clear Creek bridge east of town, indicated that he had something more than ordinary in the way of passengers or news. He proved to be the bearer of the horrible tidings of the assassination of President Lincoln. The word spread rapidly and great excitement prevailed, but the boys who had gathered to go out "to see the train come in" and ride on the turntable, were not so deeply impressed with the seriousness of the situation until they saw the train coming up to the little old station, with the engine heavily draped in black and white, in mourning for the dead president. Everyone, passengers and employes, seemed sorrowful and depressed, and were either silent or spoke in low tones as though the body of the president was aboard the train and they feared to disturb his repose. President Lincoln was well known personally by every employe and officer of the railroad. The great man, the old neighbor and friend of these people, had breathed his last at 7:22 A. M., in the city of Washington, and this public manifestation of mourning by draping the engine with the insignia of death within a few hours of Mr. Lincoln's death, was but the beginning of a pageantry of mourning from the Atlantic to the Pacific. the like of which had never been seen or heard of in the history of this country. It was continuous from that day until the fourth day of May, when he was laid to rest in the beautiful Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield. The sight of the engine draped as it was. was an awe-inspiring one to the boys, and only a few of the older ones approached the engine on the turn table to help to reverse it that morning.

Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad

The road continued under the management and name of the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad until 1879, when another mortgage foreclosure turned it into the hands of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad. In a few years this road also defaulted and a receiver was appointed. In 1SS7 the road was reorganized under the name of the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad, which name, with a great struggle, it has borne ever since. From 1890 until about 1896, there were two through passenger trains daily each way between St. Louis and Chicago, and trains from Peoria to Jacksonville each way. <A number of freight trains were also run and passenger and shipping facilities were excellent. There are but two local trains each way now from Jacksonville to Havana, where they connect with the main line for Peoria and Springfield. .

Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad

1867, as the Pana, Springfield & Northwestern, but before the work was done west of Springfield it was consolidated with the Illinois & Southeastern Railroad, under the name of the Springfield & Illinois Southeastern Railroad. The road was built and opened for traffic in Mareh, 1871, extending from Beardstown to Shawneetown. In 1873 it went into the hands of a receiver, the fate of most railroads in those days, and in 1874 was sold under foreclosure proceedings, and March 1, 1875, passed into the hands of the Ohio & Mississippi, which had been incorporated in 1851. In 1893 it was consolidated with the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad, and has been under that name and management ever since. The people of Cass County for eighteen years had known and done business with the road under the name of the Ohio & Mississippi, and it was difficult for them to get used to the change in name. The road has now three passenger trains daily each way from Beardstown to the eastern terminus, with direct connections with the Baltimore & Ohio, being under the same management, for Washington and New York. Very excellent service, both passenger and freight, is rendered the public by this road. Jesse Neer, the division passenger agent of the line, now residing at Springfield, I1l., was for a number of years a most efficient and accommodating local agent and resided at Virginia. The road has little more than twenty-five and three-quarter miles of main track and six and eight-tenths miles of side track in the county. It starts from Beardstown in section 14, township 18, range 12. west, and runs southeasterly through the following villages and cities in which it has stations: Bluff Springs, Cass, Virginia, Burlingame, Philadelphia, Gurney and Ashland, passing out of the county from the southeast quarter of section 2S, township 17 north, range 8 west, into Sangamon County.

Other Projected Railroads

The same session of the legislature that granted the charter for the Illinois River Railroad, gave two other charters to companies including some Cass County residents. On February 11, 18538, a charter for the Beardstown & Petersburg Railroad was granted to Amos Dick, Dr. Charles Sprague, Dr. V. A. Turpin, E. R. Sanders and Dr. Charles Chandler, and others from other counties. The road was to be built from Beardstown, down the Sangamon river bottom, and then across to Petersburg, taking in Chandlerville. This would have been a splendid route for a railroad, and very beneficial to the farmers along the Sangamon valley, but it Was never constructed, not even any stock being subscribed, as far as known. Another charter was also granted to some Cass County people and others, incorporating the Upper & Lower Mississippi River Railroad. Among these incorporators were Dr. Charles Sprague and Dr. y. A. Turpin, enterprising physicians, who were residents of Beardstown. The road was to be constructed from Jacksonville to Rock Island, by way of Beardstown, Rushville, McComb and Monmouth. Nothing was done with this proposed line, and it remained for the next incorporation running a line through Cass, to at least inake a beginning, though the subscribers to the stock would rather, a little later on, that this road had gone the way of the previous one. But Drs. Sprague and Turpin were not content with battling, quite successfully, with the greenhead flies and the miasma of the Illinois river bottom, but sought something which promised more remuneration for their labors, and relief from the dreary, monotonous round with pillbox and lancet. Their next venture in the railroad line was the incorporation of the Rock Island & Alton Railroad. A charter was granted by the legislature February 15, 1855. Among others from Cass were: John Webb, Horace Billings, David Burlington and 8S. D. Skillings. The road was authorized to be laid out and constructed from Rock Island to MiecComb, thence to Rushville, thence to Beardstown, thence to Winchester, and from there to Whitehall in Greene County. The capital stock was to be $3,000,000, and might be increased to $5,000,000. A great amount of stock was subscribed for this road by people of Cass County, and there was a provision that counties through which the road might pass might become subscribers for stock and issue bonds to pay for the same. Subscriptions were made to this enterprise, and also to other railroad schemes, by the county and by private persons, amounting to over $150,000.

In 1886 grading was begun through the town of Beardstown and through the county south of Arenzville, and up the hill beyond Arenzville into Morgan County. One of the chief engineers was Ira Merchant, well known and well remembered as a resident of Beardstown, a brotherin-law of Thomas Finney, so long circuit clerk of Cass County. It is worthy of note that the line of survey which his engineering skill selected for the grade up the big hill beyond Arenzville, is the same line subsequently adopted by the road which ultimately became the property of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The line through the town was west from the present road; it crossed the river at the foot of Jackson street, and ran on Jackson to block 138, and then turned south. Some of the early settlers say it was on Beard street, which is one block further west, but a subsequent lease to the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis Railroad, including Jackson street, would indicate that to be the original line. Whichever was the correct line, grading was done and ties were brought by river and unloaded and hauled out over that part of town in great quantities, but were never laid on the grade, nor was ever a rail laid on the proposed road. The project was soon abandoned and the stockholders suffered great financial loss. The prospect of a railroad for Beardstown seemed almost hopeless. Dr. Sprague and other promoters were blamed, but this did not bring back the hard-earned cash that had been invested, nor build a railroad.

Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis

By act of February 16, 1865, the Rockford, Nock Island & St. Louis Railroad Company was incorporated. but no Cass County person's name appears among the list of incorporators. This railroad company secured from Beardstown a lease. on April 1, 18G9, for the right to lay a track from the southeastern limits of the town over Morgan and Jackson streets to the Illinois River. and to lay a track along the north ends of all streets from Morgan to Jackson street. Pursuant to the authority granted, work was commenced that year and pushed rapidly forward. Thomas Doyle, now chief of police of the city of Beardstown, had charge of a long section of the road, and employed many men, and it is needless to say the work under ''Tom" Doyle would not be delayed. After the road bed was graded to a certain extent, it was deemed advisable to have a construction or work train to assist, so arrangements were made to get an engine and some flat cars. One bright morning in the summer of 1869, the sound of a boat whistle was heard up by Muscouteen Bay, and a large and interested crowd of Beardstown people rushed to the river to "see the train come in," and the first train, or at least the engine, came in on a boat from Peoria, was promptly unloaded and placed on an improvised track, and in a day or two was at work, with Louis Rodgers as engineer. <A track laid along the river front, had enabled the train to gather the material from along the bank, but the first or second trip resulted in a disaster from the road bed having slipped and the rails spreading, precipitating the engine into the river. It was a problem how to extricate it, but the genius and muscle of those hardy constructionists soon conquered, and the rails were raised and a track built under them. As soon as the damage was repaired, work was resumed. The engineer, Louis Rodgers, is still living, residing at some point in Colorado, being at Denver when last heard from by Cass County people. George T. Saunders, the present police magistrate of Beardstown, was also an employe of the road, and recalls many interesting incidents connected with its early history. The first train out of Beardstown was in the summer of 1870, and was an excursion one to Arenzville. Flat cars were provided with seats and they and the engine well decorated with willow boughs and branches from shrubbery. It was a gala occasion and brought joy to the people who had worked so faithfully and spent such large sums of money to secure a railroad. A bridge had been built across the Illinois River the rear previous and this road has always been a success, although it has changed hands several times, and is now a part of the vast and magnificent system of the Chicago. Burlington &© Quincy Railroad Company.

St. Louis, Rock Island And Chicago Division

Beardstown was destined from the first to be a division point. and has continued as such to this day. The first shops were small and seemingly insignificant, but it must be remembered that all railroads and their equipment were for many years entirely different from those of today. The first roundhouse had but six stalls. The work shop was also a small affair, housed in a frame building. and from 15 to 20 men were able to do all the work. Since then as high as 1.000 to 1.200 ren have been employed who make their homes at Beardstown. On a day, some six years ago, the pay roll for the company amounted to over $72.000. It now amounts to over. $50,000 per month. In the panic of 1893, when cash was difficult of attainment, and the banks of Beardstown, which had been able to handle the business usually without trouble, found themselves in a very tight quarter. Pay was held back for a day, and then the merchants and other business men of Beardstown came to the rescue and offered to carry the pay checks, and together with the banks, tided over the crisis. No people in the state or else- Where in the country, have been more loyal to their local enterprises than have the people of Beardstown. This road is now known as the St. Louis, Rock Island and Chicago division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and has of the first main track 57,307 feet, and of the second main track 43,982 feet, and of side track 130,099 in Cass County. It enters the county from Schuyler County by crossing the Illinois River at the foot of Morgan street, and runs southerly through Arenzville and out into Morgan County at the south side of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 31, township 17 north, range 11 west. It has a station named Hagener, on section 13 of the same township and range. Its passenger service is excellent, south to St. Louis, and north to Chicago, St. Paul and the great northwest. Its freight business is enormous. Thus good faith, excellent judgment and energy have made Beardstown in the railroad line what it is in other business matters, one of the most progressive of the smaller cities in Illinois.

Chicago & Alton Railroad

The only other railroad in the county is the Chicago & Alton. It was incorporated in 1851 under the name of the St. Louis, Jaeksonville & Chicago Railroad. It was opened for business in January, 1858, but in 1868S it was sold to the Chicago & Alton line, and in 1884 became a part of the main line of that road. The first corporation secured the right of way with all improvements of the old Tonica & Petersburg road. The Chicago & Alton Railroad was the first railroad in the world to put on Pullman sleepers and dining cars, and the first to use free reclining chair cars. It runs through only a small portion of Cass County, entering the county from the south half of section 32, township 17, range 8, and passing through the village of Ashland, exits into Menard County from the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 28. same township and range. It was the advent of this road into the county which induced the laying out of Ashland. The road has of main track in the county 12,808 feet, and of side track 5,114 feet. The road has no other station in the county except Ashland, which is regarded as an excellent shipping point for all the east end of Cass County, as well as for a large territory in Sangamon and Menard counties which lie contiguous to Ashland.

Public Highways

Before the railroads came into the county, the only mode of transportation for either passengers or freight were the stage coach and freight wagon, running along the public highways. The main highways were from the southeast part of the county through the present site of Ashland, to Beardstown, covering nearly the same route as the present highways from and between those points. The earliest road from the vicinity of Ashland ran nearly west to Walnut Grove, then north to Archibald Job's farm. The state legislature provided for the laying out of the public highways and seyeral acts are on the statute books concerning the State Road from Springfield to Beardstown. The one passed in 1837 provides that after the road reaches the Archibald Job farm it shall run in a direct angle until it strikes the east end of Springfield street in Virginia. Another principal highway was from Beardstown along Sangamon Bottom to Petersburg, with a branch east of Panther Creek through the timber and bluffs to Springfield. The first road from the south was the one starting from St. Louis and running through Jacksonville to Fort Clark. It struck what is now Cass County at old Princeton, in the southeast quarter of section 36, township 17, range 10 west, and ran on northerly past Allendale and the Cunningham tan yard. A part of that road is still in use in Cass County.

Another main road from the south came from Jacksonville, northerly to New Lexington and from there into Cass at about the place where the present road enters the county in section 33, township 17, range 10 west, and continued on north to Virginia, with a branch turning west about the Morgan County line and rupning westerly to the west side of the Rexroat place, or what was in an early day the Peter Conover land, and there turning north to the Jefferson Crum farm, in early days owned by George H. Bristow, who died there and who is buried in the old abandoned graveyard nearby, and from that point on northward towards Monroe, a little hamlet platted in 1833, passing by the old tavern or inn built in 1838 by John Savage, which house is still standing in excellent condition, on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 14, township 17, range 11 west. This house was made a stopping place for the stage line from Jacksonville to Beardstown, and known as the "Halfway House" between Jacksonville and Beardstown. After the road reached Monroe it ran over the line marked out by a special committee of the early settlers of that neighborhood who desired a way to get to the market at Beardstown. They had no such outlet until this committee, consisting of Joshua Crow, James Davis and Benjamin Mathews, opened the way northwesterly to intersect with the State Road from Springfield to Beardstown. Other lines of road were now rapidly opened and in looking over the records it appears that Beardstown was like ancient Rone in one respect at least, for all roads led to it. About 1855 some enterprising Beardstown people built a plank toll-road across the sand ridges east towards Virginia. One early settler told the writer that when he was a boy he well remembers that plank road, especially upon one occasion, when he had helped to thresh out a couple of wagon loads of oats. by driving horses in a circle on the ground threshing floor, and then fanned out the chaff with a primitive fan-mill. After that the grain was loaded and he drove one of the teams to Beardstown, over the plank road. He says the boards on the road were mostly cottonwood and the sun had curled up the ends and edges and it was truly a hard road to travel, although it was possible to haul a heavier load over it than could have been hauled over the sand. His troubles were not at an end when he reached Beardstown, for there he found a long string of loaded wagons waiting turn to get into the great warehouse, and he had to sit in the broiling sun for two hours. :

Many thousands of dollars in actual money, and many more thousands of dollars in labor value have been spent on the public highways of Cass County, but until within a very few years there have not been any very good roads for any considerable portion of the year. More scientific grading and the system of dragging recently introduced, have given us roads that are some better at least. A few hard roads have been made in the county, the first being under the state experimental road law, and extended easterly from Beardstown one mile on the highway commonly known as the State Road, to Virginia, and was laid in 1909. The next year a mile of hard road was laid easterly from Beardstown on the Sangamon Bottom road, and about the same time a half mile of concrete road was laid westerly from Chandlerville. The last of the hard roads to be constructed was the mile of State Aid road, under the road law of 1913, commonly known as the "Tice" law. Some pessinistic and cynical people say that if such progress is continued, Cass County will have, within twenty-seven years, a hard road from one side to the other.

Stage Missed After Forty Years

Of the old stage line that ran from Springfield to Beardstown or from Jacksonville to Virginia and Beardstown, very little can be learned. No advertisements appear m any of the copies of the early newspapers so far as investigation discloses, except in the newspaper of Francis Arenz, published in 1833, in which a Mr. Ixineer says he has established a large barn at the tavern opposite Beardstown, across the I[llinois, where he has good horses, new carriages and hacks which he will use as public conyveyances, or let out at private hire, and that his line will be an extension of the Smith & Sanders stage line from Springfield to Beardstown, on into the Military Tract. From that alone is learned who owned the stage line running through the county at that time. It, is said upon pretty good authority that the celebrated Frink & Walker stage line at one time had all the branch lines through Cass County. Jacob Dunaway of Virginia was a driver for the stage line in 1849, from Jacksonville to Virginia and from Virginia to Beardstown, but abandoned that exalted position in 1852 for a mercantile business, and in 1854 purchased the stage line from his former employers and conducted it until the railroads put him out of business. The stage made its last trip from Jacksonville to Virginia in the summer of 1869, and the people along the old stage road who had been accustomed to see it make its regular trips day after day for forty years, felt they had been moved away back from Civilization when it ceased to travel, and New Lexington of early days, which had become old Arcadia, saw its finish. In look- ing over old records of highways especially, it is seen that the name of New Lexington often appears as a starting point, or place through which the road mentioned should run. No one of the present generation could recall where such a town had been, but a look through the private laws of 1853 disclosed the fact that citizens of that embryo city had applied to the legislature and that on the anniversary of Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1853, changed the name from New Lexington to Arcadia.

Bridges And Telegraph And Telephone Lines

Beardstown from 1826 had only one way of getting the denizens of Schuyler County across the river, and that was by the ferry of Thomas Beard. That mode of transfer became obsolete, and in 1888, by money advanced by liberal residents, the city council caused a wooden tollbridge to be constructed across the river from the foot of State street to the Schuyler bank opposite. Subsequently, with money obtained in the same manner, this body caused a gravel road to be constructed from the bridge landing in Schuyler County to Frederick. By tolls collected up to 1898, the total cost of the bridge and road had been paid with the exception of $6,500, but the wooden bridge by that time was so worn that it was beyond repair. A new bridge was necessary and to meet the emergency the Beardstown Bridge Company was formed and a new steel bridge was built at a cost of $26,911.60. The city council provided by ordinance for taking over the bridge from the new company, and consummated the plan and have paid for the steel bridge, which is still in excellent condition and making money for the city. The mayor and aldermen who were in office at that time and had charge of the plan were: John J. Beatty, mayor; and J. H. Swope, Sylvester Wildes, Z. H. Sexton, Daniel Draser, James G. Neeley, Theodore Schaar, John Madine and George Lukemeyer, aldermen. The attorney who prepared the plans and engineered the legal part of the transaction, was the late Hon. Milton McClure.

The old bridges of wood and iron on the highways throughout the county are fast being replaced with concrete structures, which are much more substantial and durable. It is hoped that Cass County will soon get into the procession demanding good roads, and then construct them.

The first telegraph line in the county ran along the highway from Jacksonville through Mouroe neighborhvod to Beardstown. The first telephone line through the county was erected in 1896, the right of way being granted by the county board July 20, 1896, to the Central Union Telephone Company. On March 21, 189S, the county board granted a right of way also to the Illinois Telephone Company. These companies changed hands several times. The Bell Company now has a through line, and the

Cass County Telephone Company has a line of connections through most of the county, as well as exchanges, and there are several private lines. so that now Cass County has a complete system of telephone lines and connections reaching to almost every point in the entire county.

Champa Rings The Press

FIRST NEWSPAPER - BEARDSTOWN CHRONICLE AND ILLINOIS BOUNTY LAND ADVERTISER - NEUTRAL IN POLITICS - ONE ISSUE OF MORMON PAPER AT NAUVOO - GAZETTE FOUNDED IN 1845 AT BEARDSTOW N - BIOGRAPHY OF SYLVESTER EMMONS - SUBSEQUENT CHANGES - BEARDSTOWN AND PETERSBURG GAZETTE - THE WHIG CENTRAL ILLINOISAN - THE DEMOCRAT, THE FIRST DEMOCRATIC PAPER AT BEARDSTOWN - THE GAZETTE (REPUBLICAN ) - THE CENTRAL ILLINOISAN (REPUBLICAN ) - BIOGRAPHY OF LOGAN URIAH REAVIS - MERGING OF NEWSPAPERS - THE ILLINOISAN-DEMOCRAT - THE ILLINOISAN-STAR - THE WEEKLY ENTERPRISE - THE DAILY ILLINOISAN-STAR - THE HERALD - THE CHAMPION - THE CASS COUNTY MESSENGER - THE CASS COUNTY DEMOCRAT - THE BEOBACHTER AM FLUSS - THE WOCHENBLATTI - NEWSPAPERS AT VIRGINIA - THE OBSERVER - THE OWL - CASS COUNTY TIMES - CASS COUNTY INDEPENDENT - CASS COUNTY UNION - CASS COUNTY DEMOCRAT - EVOLVING OF THE GAZETTE - PROMINENT NAMES CONNECTED WITH ITS HISTORY - CASS COUNTY COURIER - VIRGINIA COURIER - THE ENQUIRER - OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE COUNTY - THE JEFFERSONIAN - TEMPERANCE BUGLE - NEWSPAPERS AT OTHER POINTS - WEEKLY EAGLE AT ASHLAND - THE ASHLAND NEWS - THE SENTINEL -

To Local History And Biography

THE NEW ERA AT CHANDLERVILLE - CASS COUNTY JOURNAL - THE INDEPENDENT - THE SANGAMON VALLEY TIMES - THE ARENZVILLE INDEPENDENT - FEW FILES AVAILABLE - OTHER PUBLICATIONS - BIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH HENRY SHAW- - HIS RELIABLE HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CASS COUNTY - PROSE AND POETRY - VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO LOCAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

First Newspaper

The products of the press of Cass County have been limited almost exclusively to the isstiance of newspapers. In that particular line of the printing industry, the county has certainly been very prolific. Only a few books haye been written and published by citizens of this county, and some literary work has been done which found a place of publication elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is interesting to marshal the list of newspapers printed and published in the county, even though the limits of this work necessarily require the mention of each to be exceedingly brief.

While Cass County was vet a part of Morgan County, there came to Beardstown an enterprising man, frequently mentioned in the pages of this history, Francis A, Arenz. who established the first newspaper plant founded in any part of the state north of Jacksonville. and south of Chicago. It was named the Beardstown Chronicle and Illinois Bounty Land Advertiser. A brother of Francis A. Arenz. Judge John A. Arenz, now deceased, in writing of his brother, and mentioning the newspaper, said: "He established the paper as one of the several enterprises he engaged in for developing the new country and incidentally promoting his own business interests." There are but few of the copies of the paper now in existence. one being in the State Historical Library at Springfield. It is interesting to note in looking over the columns, the advertisements appearing therein. Its first issue was June 18, 1833, and it was continued until the fall of 1854. when the plant was sold and moved to Rushville. The paper had a wide circulation; it carried advertisements from Mc- Donough, Schuyler, Knox. Fulton, Warren. Adams, Hancock. Morgan, Calhoun and Henry counties. Mr. Arenz was a Whig in polities, but the paper was neutral, and was under the management of John B. Fulks. a long time resident of Beardstown.

Gazette Founded At Beardstown

There was no other paper in Cass County until 1845, when Sylvester Emmons of Beardstown established the Gazette. The first issue was August 15, 1845. My. Emmons was a lawyer of Beardstown, but had been induced by some gentlemen who had started an anti-Mormon paper at Nauvoo, to move to that place to act as editor for them. He succeeded in getting out one issue of the Expositor, as the Nauvoo paper was called, on June 7, 1844. On June 10 the Nauvoo council declared the paper a nuisance and directed the mayor to have the establishment removed. Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader, was the mayor, and the order of the council was immediately carried into execution. After the destruction of the press, the mayor and sixteen others were arrested for riot. This brought on the Mormon war. Mr. Emmons hastily returned to Beardstown where he resumed the practice of law until the following year, when he issued his Gazette. He was born in Hunterdon County, N. J., February 28, 1808, and studied law at Philadelphia, Pa., coming to Hancock County. Ill., later on, and there he was admitted to the bar. in May, 1848. He moved to Beardstown as before stated, prior to going to Nauvoo. After founding the Gazette, he conducted it until 1852, during which time it was a Whig in policy. The paper during the Cass and Taylor campaign of 1848, was very ably edited, and made a strenuous and locally successful campaign for the Whig party. As a result of his efforts, Mr. Emmons was appointed postmaster of Beardstown in 1849. Ile was mayor of Beardstown for two terms, was masterin-chancery for the county, and in 1852 was elected circuit clerk of the county. AY Ge Emmons was a bighly respected citizen, and a very able man, whose death occurred Novelber 15, 1881.

When Mr. Emmons was elected circuit clerk, he sold his paper to J. L. Dickerson, who retained it less than eight months, and then sold it to J. L. Sherman, who changed the name to the Beardstown and Petersburg Gazette, and issued it under that name from December 9, 1852, to about 1854, when, the exact date is not known, it was sold to B. C. Drake, who changed the name to the Central Illinoisan. Mr. Drake continued to conduct the paper as an exponent of the Whig doctrines until the organization of the Republican party, in 1856, when he joined that party. During the Lincoln-Douglas debate he issued a daily. It is said he continued the daily until the opening of the Civil war, but this cannot be fully verified. He did, however, continue his weekly until 1861, when he closed the office and enlisted as a soldier. A weekly paper named the Denocrat was established at Beardstown, March 12, 1858, by W. D. Shurtliff. This was the first Democratic paper to be published at Beardstown, and was edited by Shurtliff and

Charles R. Fisk and wife bought the paper and continued it until the close of the Civil war. In 1860 a man by the name of Mitchell started a Republican paper, naming it the Gazette; conducted it until the fall of that year, when it was taken over by a number of Republicans as a stock company, and they changed the name to that of the Central Illinoisan.

Logan Uriah Reavis

The paper was managed and edited by Logan Uriah Reavis for several years, then by the - office foreman until March, 1867, when John S. Nicholson took charge. Logan Uriah Reavis Was an unique character, but an able editor and a mnan of strong convictions. He was born on a farm in the Sangamon bottom, March 26, 1831, and worked on a farm and early attained such an education as he could from the limited school facilities of the times, but soon qualified himself for teaching and for five years taught the public school at Hickory in the precinct of that name. From about 1861 he conducted the Central I1linoisan until 1866, when he went to St. Louis. From then on until his death he spent his life agitating the removal of the national capital from Washington to St. Louis, lecturing and writing and issuing pamphlets on the subject. He attracted considerable attention; even the cartoonists took notice and pictured him as going about with the capitol building on his shoulders. Among other volumes, he published a life of Horace Greeley, and his death occurred at St. Louis, April 25, 1889.

Merging Of Newspapers

John S. Nicholson conducted the paper until 1883; when he sold it to James G. Rice, owner of the Cass County Democrat, who merged the two papers under the name of the Illinoisan-

Democrat. In October of the same year the paper was sold to Eugene Clark, who dropped the Democrat and called the journal the Illinoisan, later selling it back to John S. Nicholson. In April, 1884, it was changed into a semiweekly, and in 1899 it was consolidated with the Star of the West, as the Dllinoisan-Star.. H. C. Allard had established the Star in 1888, and made it a daily in 1892. After the union of these two papers, the publishers were Nicholson and Allard until 1902, when Allard retired, and Nicholson and Fulks published the paper for some time, when it became the property of Nicholson and his son, E. E. Nicholson, who edited and published it under that name until the death of John Nicholson, April 19, 1911. From then on it was conducted by the son, the surviving partner, until the spring of 1914, when he sold to Schaeffer and Son, who abandoned the weekly and continued the daily. The plant was consolidated with that of the Enterprise, owned by Schaeffer and Coil. Mr. Coil retired from the firm and the Daily Enterprise was discontinued. The one remaining plant now at Beardstown issues the Weekly Enterprise and the Daily Illinoisan-Star.

In 1872 a paper named the Herald, which was established by Henly Wilkinson and J. W. Lusk as an "out and out' Democratic paper signified a willingness to support Horace Greeley for president as against Grant. Greeley was that year nominated by so-called Independents, and was endorsed by a great portion of the Democratic party. However, the regular nominee of the Democratic party was O'Conor. At the election on November 5, 1872, the Democrats carried the county for Greeley by a plurality of only seven, and a week following the election. an election taken regarding the removal of the county seat, resulted favorably towards Virginia; all of which so discouraged the proprietors and editors of the ''out and out' paper that by the next spring they were "down and out," and the paper was taken over by D. G. Swan, who changed its polities to that of liberal Republican, but this sugar-coated application did not revive its circulation, and it was soon removed to Bushnell, Il.

A paper called the Champion was started September 25, 1875. by George Dann as editor, and George Dann, Jr., and George W. Thompson, as associate editors. It was independent in politics, and suspended in the summer of 1876. Then George Dann, Sr., began the publication of the Cass County Messenger as a Democratic paper. In the latter part of that year, Forest H. Mitchell became associate editor, but in August, 1877, withdrew and was succeeded by W. B. Bennett. In 1879 Mr. Dann sold to J. P. Sailer, who changed the name to the Cass County Democrat. Mr. Sailer conducted the paper until 1882, when J. S. Fulks and George W. Martin became associated with him, and a daily was issued for about a year, but it was not a successful venture, so it was sold to Darb. McAuley, who sold to James G. Rice. this being the paper formerly mentioned as owned by Mr. Rice when he purchased the Central [llinoisan in 1883 and consolidated the two. <A large portion of the population of Beardstown and the surrounding country was German and it was thought that a paper published in the German language would be readily subscribed for and financially sustained. Acting upon that belief, Rev. A. Schaberhorn established the Beobachter Am Fluss, in the year 1877. He did not retain control of it long. but in the fall of 1878 sold to Theodore Wilkins. who changed the name to the Wochenhlatt. and continued its publication until his death in 1881, when the plant was sold to Ross and Son, who removed it from the city.

Newspapers At Virginia

In the meantime Virginia had been establishing and conducting some newspapers - that is, some of its more enterprising citizens had. The Observer was the first. It was a Democratic paper established by Henry H. Hall, a son of the founder of the town, Dr. Hall. and a few others. and it was said, it was started 'for the advancement of the town." Mark W. Delahay was the editor, and A. S. Tilden, said to have been a relative of Hon. Samuel J. Tilden of New York, was the practical printer. The paper was issued April 12, 1848. and continued until some time in the fall of 1849, when it was bought by A. 8. Tilden and soon thereafter taken to Naples, in Scott County, Ill. The Owl, a society paper, was conducted for a short time in the winter of 1848-9 by a compositor named Dedrich.

The Cass County Times began at Virginia, September 9, 1856, being started by Richard S. Thomas, a neutral in politics, and for the purpose of promoting the interests of the Illinois River Railroad in which Thomas and a number of other Cass County people were interested. Karly in 1858 he sold to John Bradley Thomp- son, who employed Rev. J. S. McDowell to edit, and Robert M. Taggart to publish it. Late in the same year Thompson sold to Taggart, and in the fall of 1859 the paper suspended and reverted to Thomas, who seems to have retained a lien on it. Thomas sold to Hezekiah Naylor, and that sale appears to bave resulted in the establishment of the Cass County Independent, in January, 1860. He took as a partner Lafayette Briggs. The paper was at first neutral, but, Briggs withdrawing, Naylor made it a radical Republican organ, and vigorously supported Abraham Lincoln for president. In 1861 the paper suspended and the plant was removed to Pekin, Ill.

In 1860 a number of radical Democrats, including Jacob Dunaway, Jacob Ward and William Petefish, established the Cass County Union, and secured the services of Lafayette Briggs as editor and manager. In 1863 Briggs quit and Stearns DeWitt Rich became editor and remained with the paper until its demise in 1864. The Cass County Democrat was established May 8, 1866, with M. B. Friend as first editor, and financially supported by several citizens who wished to have a newspaper in the town. After several changes in the editorial staff, the paper fell into the hands of J. G. Fuss and J. N. Gridley, but, owing to some difiiculty with some of the former associate proprietors about the name, Democrat, Fuss and Gridley changed the name to the Cass County Times, and the journal was conducted by them under that name until 1869, when it was sold to Beers and Company, who managed it, with J. K. Vandemark as editor, until 1870, when it went into obscurity as had so many of its predecessors.

Evolving Of The Gazette

The Cass County Courier was established July 25, 1866, by John S. Harper, the veteran "starter" and editor of newspapers. It was Republican in politics, and after a few issues, L. S. Allard became the editor and proprietor. In 1867 he turned it over to Leroy Carpenter, who Was soon succeeded by H. C. Allard, a son of the former proprietor. and in 1870 the name was changed to the Virginia Courier, and was owned and edited by H. C. Allard, who in October, 1871, changed the name back to the Cass County Courier. Allard sold an interest to N. M. Purciance, but soon repurchased it. The paper did not prosper, and Allard sold a half in- terest to Mathew Summers, in 1872, and the paper was continued under the new name of the Gazette, beginning February 23, 1872, and has been continued under that title ever since. On March 14, 1873, Allard sold to Summers, and in August, 1875, the latter sold an interest to Joseph Anderson. These two continued together until late in the winter of 1875, when Mr. Summers died. The paper suspended for a brief period, but resumed on February 26, 1876, with A. M. Brownlee, and H. C, Allard, a former proprietor, as editors and publishers. Allard withdrew in August, 1877, and later the same year Mr. Brownlee sold to Trevanyon L. Mathews and W. H. Thacker. Mr. Mathews was a member of the Thirty-third General Assembly as a Republican from Cass County, elected in the fall of 1882. He was the last Republican representative from the county of Cass. Subsequently he moved to Nebraska, and became a United States marshal. W. H. Thacker was the William H. Thacker whose poem, "The Scene of Frontier Days," appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. Thacker did not remain long with the paper, but soon sold to Mathews, who in turn sold to Allard in 1879. Allard sold to Charles M. Tinney, in April, 1881, and he conducted the Gazette from then until July 19, 1913, when he sold to Henry McDonald, who had been for a number of years his business manager. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Tinney was the owner and editor of a newspaper in Cass County for thirty-two years, a longer period than it has been the lot of very many persons to sit in an editorial chair. It was during all that time a Republican paper in a county that was continuously a Democratic county by overwhelming majorities. Yet Mr. Tinney made his paper a very popular one, and what was of still greater importance, a financial success. He became widely known through his paper, throughout the entire state, and became the president of the Illinois Newspaper Association. He has the unique distinction of having served as private secretary to two governors, Richard Yates and Charles §S. Deneen. Mr. Tinney was born in Marion, Grant County, Ind., November 11, 1850. In 1859 he was taken by his father to Pekin, Ill, where he attended the public schools, and later spent a year in a college in Iowa. He returned home and studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1873. After two years' practice in his home town, he came to Virginia, where he entered into partnership with Cashias M. Whitney, a distinguished lawyer who was at that time the district state's attorney for the district in which Cass County was situated. The county seat fight was on for the last time in Cass, and the firm of Whitney and Tinney was among the number of lawyers engaged in that memorable contest. About 1879 Mr. Whitney moved from Virginia, and the partnership was dissolved, and in 1881 Mr. Tinney purchased the Gazette, as has been stated, and practically abandoned his law practice. Had he seen fit to remain to practice, it is certain he would have become one of the leading lawyers of central Illinois. Myr. Tinney continued his residence at Virginia until he sold the Gazette, when he took up his legal residence at Springfield, where he had in fact been living ever since his entry into the Governor's office as private secretary. After the close of the Deneen administration, Mr. Tinney became secretary of the Business Men's Association of Springfield, which office he still holds.

The Virginia Enquirer was established by Reemsten and Company, the company being John S. Harper, July 3, 1875. After nine weeks the company revealed himself to the public as John S. Harper, publisher and editor. In November of the same year he sold to a syndicate composed of Ignatius Skiles, William Easley, Charles Crandall, Cash. Whitney, Samuel Petefish, and others, who secured Thomas M, Thompson as editor and J. J. Bunce as publisher. In a few weeks the paper was sold to W. T. Dowall. William T. Dowall and Company became publishers in January, 1876, with Forest H. Mitchell as manager. On March 23, 1877, Mr. Dowall sold to John Frank, J. M. Beatty became editor for a short time, and Mr. Frank remained with the paper until September, 18S2, when R. H. Norfolk became the editor, and continued as such until March 29, 1884. Mr. Beatty then became the owner and editor and kept the paper until November 15, 1890, at which time he sold to Charles A. and William Schaeffer. William Schaeffer sold his interest to Charles Schaeffer in April, 1891, and on September 26 of the same year, Mr. Schaeffer sold to Finis E. Downing, who conducted the paper until September 7, 1899, when he was succeeded by his son, Harry F. Downing. H. F. Downing continued as editor and publisher until March, 1904, when Albert Hinners, who had been for six years county superintendent of the public schools, bought a half interest. In 1906 Mr. Hinners resold his interest to his partner, Mr. Downing, but on January 1, 1910, again bought a half interest in the plant, then becoming-the associate editor, and on November 1, 1911, became sole proprietor and editor, and has continued so to the present time. The paper is the official organ of the county by resolution of the county board and is in a flourishing condition and a well conducted and well edited paper.

The Jeffersonian was established at Virginia by John J. Bunce, April 3, 1870, and was duly issued from week to week until it was discontinued, December 26, 1873.

Newspapers At Other Points

At Ashland. John S. Harper, the veteran editor and publisher, who claimed and possibly had the distinction of having started more newspapers in Illinois than any other person, established on March 2, 1876, the Weekly Eagle. After seven issues the weekly was dropped as a part of the title and the paper for four months was conducted as the Eagle, and then sold to A. F, Smith, who removed it to Virginia, and started the Temperance Bugle in July, 1876, continuing this journal until February 27, 1879. A paper named the News was published at Ashland for a few years, being first issued in the summer of 1879. John J. Smith was the editor in 1880, and the matter has been lost track of since, but some time about 1888, A. IE. Mich conducted the Sentinel, although whether he bought the old plant, or secured an entirely new outfit, is not known. In a short time he sold to 8S. Darb. McAuley and Company, who in a short time sold to I. H. Stanley, a lawyer who was the proprietor and editor until about 1896, when the plant was sold to Mann Brothers. They kept it for.a year, and on May 15, 1897, it was sold to P. W. Bast. who has ever since maintained it, and has published an excellent country newspaper, with a large subscription list and a paying job and advertising department.

The village of Chandlerville has had several newspapers. The New Era was established February 7, 1874, by J. J. Bunce and Son. The Cass County Journal was established by Charles A. Pratt, August 5, 1876, and conducted as a Democratic paper until August 3, 1878, when he sold it to John W. and Gilbert Skaggs, who changed the name to the Independent. John W. Skaggs edited the paper only one month, after which time the other brother bought his interest and managed the paper as editor and publisher until December, 1879, when he sold to Ebenezer Spink. In 1881 Mr. Spink resold to Gilbert Skaggs, but after an absence of one year from the editoral sanctum, Mr. Spink again purchased the paper and changed its name to that of the Sangamon Valley Times, and under that pastoral title issued the paper regularly every week until 1887, when he again changed the name, this time to the Chandlerville Times, which it has born to date. E. O. Spink became the business manager in 1904, and in 1908 purchased the plant and continued as both editor and manager until the summer of 1911, when the present editor, Ora Shankland, became the owner. The paper is a well printed, well edited weekly, and is liberally patronized by the people of the village and community. Regular files of this paper are retained in the office.

The Arenzville Independent was established about 1908, with R. J. Hoagland, a practical printer, as proprietor and editor. He continued the paper until his death in 1911, and from that time until the present, his widow, Mrs. Anna 8. Hoagland. has conducted it with the assistance of Lloyd S. Yeck as editor. It is a weekly paper and has a good circulation in the southwestern part of the county, and that part of Morgan County bordering on Cass County on the southwest. It is to be regretted that so few of the publishers kept files of their papers. Newspapers may not seem of great importance at the date of their publication, but as time passes many changes occur in every neighborheod, and especially in the smaller towns and villages, the early settlers die. some remove to other parts of the country, and many things moving picture of the transitory things of life, and ought by all means to be preserved. Very few copies indeed of any of the many newspapers mentioned in the foregoing brief outline of the press of Cass County, can now be found, and could they be had for perusal, they would aid very materially in correcting the many errors that unavoidably creep into historical writings. The Virginia Gazette and the Virginia Enquirer hare files for a number of years back, and there

Other Publications

A wall map of the county, with plates of the towns and villages and some biographical matter, was once published, with an outline of the various precincts as they were constituted at that time, and also some lithograph pictures of business and residence buildings in existence at the time of publication, some of which are still standing and in use. The map has, also, a list of the business interests of the towns and villages, a perusal of which would revive many pleasant and interesting recollections of early days. The date of the publication does not appear on the map, but as Hezekiah Naylor is given as proprietor of the Cass County Independent, and as he held that position only during 1860, it is but natural to infer that this map Was issued some time during '60 or '61. The lithographs are yery good pictures. Henry F. Ixors, for several years circuit clerk of this county, is authority for the statement that the pictures were made from ambrotypes taken by a Dr. J. W. Sherfey, who, at that time, was a teacher in the Beardstown public schools, and, as a side line, conducted a picture gallery. Mr. Ixors further says that he was a boy then and traveled around with the doctor from place to place in a spring wagon; that the parapherhnalia was carried in a large box, which was also used asa "dark room,' and that his job was that of chief bottle washer and plate cleaner.

The next publication of this character was an atlas map of Cass County, published in 1874, which is also illustrated by a number of lithographs, especially of farm residences, and shows a marked improvement and flourishing condition of farm property in the county. <A standard atlas of Cass County was published in 1899. Publications of a purely literary character have been issued from the press of Cass County, and some of the writings of Cass County authors have been published elsewhere.

Hon. Joseph Henry Shaw

Shaw came to Morgan County, Ill., bringing his family with him, and located on a farm. There the son, J. Henry Shaw, which name he has always been known by and called, worked for his father until he was twenty-one years old. He attended such schools as were in existence near him, but gained much of his information and learning from newspapers and periodicals which his father brought home with him from newspaper offices of Jacksonville, where he frequently went to assist the publishers and editors. After arriving at the age of twenty-one years, he was advised by the Hon. Richard Yates, then a prominent man of Jacksonville, to study law, and upon his consent to do so, loaned him law books from his own library. Mr. Shaw made rapid progress in mastering the mysteries of Gould's common law, pleading and other works of the noble science of law, and, although devoting his time also to work on the farm, yet, when he was twenty-five years old, he felt sufficiently adyanced in the knowledge of his chosen profession to present himself for examination that he might acquire a license to practice. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and removed to Beardstown, this county, where he began the practice of his calling, and there lived the balance of his life. He acquired a fine practice and became an influential citizen. He was an excellent speaker, although not an orator in the highest sense; expressed himself well in clear English, and was forceful in arguments before the court and jury. He devoted considerable time to literature, and produced many splendid articles for the newspapers and magazines. He also wrote several poems and was endued with something of the true spirit of the poetic muse. Had he devoted himself exclusively to literature he would, most surely, have attained distinction in that line. His "Legend of Monsoela," a recital in rhyme of an imaginary battle between the Muscoutens and Miamis, Indian tribes formerly occupying and contending for supremacy of the Mound Village on the present site of Beardstown, is interesting and as nearly true to facts as many of the legendary occurrences of Indian history. It appears in full in Perrin's "History of Cass County." In 1876 the Congress of the United States. upon the suggestion of President Grant, passed a resolution requesting every city and county to appoint some suitable person to deliver on the fourth of July of that year, an address which should contain a brief account of the local history, that it might be perpetuated. Mr. Shaw, on account of the fact that he had given some considerable study to the early history of the county, as well as for his well known ability, was appointed to deliver the address for Cass County. Hence, on July 4, 1876, Hon. J. Henry Shaw, of Beardstown, delivered an address which he had prepared, entitled, "Historical Sketch of Cass County,' which was subsequently published in pamphlet form by the Cass County Messenger. It comprises fifty-three pages, and is a very interesting work, and withal quite valuable historically. Mr. Shaw was elected a member of the Thirty-second General Assembly from Cass County, and was again elected a member to the Thirty-fourth Assembly, but his health having failed, April 12, 1885 he died very suddenly at his hotel at Springfield, during attendance on the legislature.

Prose And Poetry

Publications in book form from Cass County include a "History of Cass County," by William H. Perrin, editor, published in 1882, but as some of the chapters on the general history of the county were by Mr. Shaw, the work is familjiarly known as "Shaw's History."

In 1857 Benjamin F. W. Stribling, second son of Benjamin Stribling, one of the very earliest pioneers of Cass County, who located near Virginia, published a small volume of poems of his own composition, on various subjects of quite a wide range. It was published by the Beardstown Illinoisan and contained 238 pages. Just about that time the promoters of the Illinois River Railroad were striving earnestly to convince the people of Cass County of the utility and absolute necessity of building the railroad from Bath to Virginia at least. Mr. Stribling fired a broadside into the ranks of wavering denizens of the woods and prairies, which, if it did not aid materially in gaining subscriptions for the stock of the proposed road, gained some enduring fame for himself. The following is one of the verses:

Frank Stribling will be remembered as a genial, wholesouled man, who loved his books and his fireside. He was also something of a musician. The writer had the pleasure on a number of occasions, to sit in his presence by the old, wide open fireplace, and hear him repeat some of his poems, and also sing them to some ancient tune accompanied upon his violin.

In 1906 there was published in Cass County by Elijah Needham, a book seller and stationer of Virginia, a small volume entitled "Adam W. Snyder in Illinois History." It covers a period of the history of Illinois from 1817 to 1842, and was written by Dr. John Francis Snyder of Virginia, a son of the Adam W. Snyder named in the title page of the book. It is an exceedingly well written review of the formative period of the great state of Illinois, its growth and progress, and blended with it is a biography of the principal character, Hon. Adam W. Snyder, who was one of the earliest pioneers, and served the state as an able representative in the halls of congress, and in the state legislature in both house and senate. It also contains a brief notice of a number of the public men of that day, with many of whom the author, Dr. Snyder, had a personal acquaintance, and with some of whom he was quite intimately associated. This fact, as well as the excellent literary character and style of the work, enhances the charm and interest one has in perusing its pages, and learning, as it seems, almost first hand, of the achievements of the great men of that epoch, who witnessed the birth of our state and helped to lay the foundations of its present greatness and glory. No collection of histories of Llinois is complete without a copy of this splendid though unpretentious volume. In August, 1907, a volume entitled "Historical Sketches," was published by the Virginia Enquirer. It is almost exclusively composed of biographical sketches of early settlers, and those who becamé more or less prominent in the county of Cass, with some descriptions of early conditions of the towns and villages; also that which is extremely interesting and especially worthy of preservation, the early and abandoned graveyards with the list of those who, it can be learned, were interred therein. J. N. Gridley, who for a third of a century or more was a practicing lawyer in this county, and for a great portion of that time was the master-in-chancery, is the author of most of the articles, and the editor of many of the others furnished to him for publication.

Dr. J. F. Snyder also contributed quite a number of sketches, principally of a biographical nature. <All of the articles are well written and graphically portray the scenes of the early times in Cass County, as well as give to this generation an excellent characterization of the founders of the county, and will preserve for all time to come interesting historical facts which might otherwise have been consigned to oblivion.