Coles County, Illinois - The whole text, 1879 (part 5 of 21)

And Its Amendments

To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing, for I'mited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries ;

To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress ;

To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise Uke authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings ; and

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, irom any king, prince, or foreign state.

Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States °, and all such laws shall be subject to tha revision and control of the Congress.

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same term, be elected as follows :

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

[*The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote shall be taken b}^ states, the representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall bethe Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.]

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-Puesident, and the Congressmay by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of them.

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respectiveoffices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses against the United States, ex-cept in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which, shall expire at the end of their next session.

Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress informationof the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary

convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, Avith respect to the time of adjournment, he may .adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the of^cers of the United

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ; between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of different states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shali have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And tlie Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime^ who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdicl'on of the crime.

No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ^ but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states,, or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states, concerned, as well as of. the Congress.

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territor}' or other property belongingto the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this. Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eiq-ht shall in anv manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

^ers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial offi- <;ers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound b}^ oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no_ religious test .«hall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

Geo. Washington And Its Ajviendments

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private .property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from twothirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person having tlie greatest number of votes as Vice- President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a major- ity^ then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice- President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebelhon against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress mav by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Electors Of President And Vice-President

Note. - It is generally assumed that the gross weight of Hogs diininislied by 1-5 or 20 per cent, of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by K or 25 per cent, of itself equals the «;ross weight.

Rule. - Multiply (by short method) the nnmber of cubic feet by 6308, and point off one decimal place - the result will be the correct answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel.

Note. - Ill estliiiatiiiK corn in tlie car, the quaUty and the time it lias been cribbed must he taken Into consideration, since corn will shrink considerahly during the Winter and Spring. This rule generally holds good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is sound andcleau.

Rule. - Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (ali m feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off ONE decimal place - the result will be the contents in barrels of 31-i gallons.

Rule. - Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length, (all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under thetens ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point, off one decimal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons.

Rule. - Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and divide the product by 12 - the result will be the contents in square feet.

Rule. - Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together (the width and thickness in inches, and the length in feet), and dividethe product by 12 - the result will be square feet.

Rule. - Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide theproduct by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal places if there is ar remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths.

Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches thick ; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar, but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space.

Miscellaneous Information

To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the width of the building by .56 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6 (tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths) ; at one-half pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be taken into consideration.

Note. - By Jf or J4 pitch is meant tliat the apex or comb of the roof is to be K or M the widtli of the -building higher than the walls or base of the rafters.

Rule. - Level the grain ; ascertain the space it occupies in cubic feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to the left.

If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of eai (Corn to make 1 of shelled corn.

In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any plot in square j^ards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the number of rods and acres.

The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now, «,n ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes.

To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line -straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walking, keep these objects constantly in line.

Farmers and others by adopting the following simple and ingenious contrivance., may always carry with them the scale to construct a correct yard

Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of the left hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink.

To find hoiv many rods in length will make an acre., the width being given. Rule. - Divide 160 by the width, and the quotient will be the answer.

Rule. - Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference Id inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by 144. Deduct 1-10 to 1-15 according to the thickness of the bark.

Rule. - The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point one place to the left ; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three places to the left.

Note. - The reciprocal of the rate isfouiul by inverting t lie rate ; thus 3 per cent, per month, inverted, becomes >i of a month, or 10 days.

U. S. Government Land Measure

A quarter section, half a mile square - 160 acres. An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter of a mile wide - 80 acres.

The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The description of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of the south-west quarter of section 1 in township 24, north of range 7 west, or as the case might be; and sometimes will fall short and sometimes overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.

Surveyors' Measure

A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said to be a league.

How To Keep Accounts

Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business, should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic manner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of acquiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easil}' comprehended, unci well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics and laborers.

A. H. Jackson Cassa Mason

Length op iimk. MultiDlvtlie prirtcipdl (amount of money at uitcrest) by the time reduced to days; then divide this proditct bythequoflarolKedhydividinK360(the numl.er of days in the interest year) by the p.r cent, ot .nterest. a,nd the quotient thus obtained will lie the required interest.

Miscellaneous Table

Virginia. - The oldest of the States, was so called in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made his first attempt to colonize that region.

Florida. - Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter Sunday, and called the country in commemoration of the day, which was the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or " Feast of Flowers."

Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States.

Pleasant Grove Ip

HISTORY is the camera througli which we view the events of countries and people. It records the noble deeds of the soldier and the statesman, and stands the proud monument of a country's greatness. It is history, sacred though it be, that tells us of the glory of Eden, and the purity and happiness of the first pair in its Elysian fields, and likewise of their transgression and fall. And through the sixty centuries that have passed since the world's dawn, it is history that presents to us, whether in types, in hieroglyphics or in tradition, all that we know of men and things past. The events which constitute the annals of a country are matters of at least some local interest, and be that country ever so "beautiless, barren and bleak," it contains something of sufficient importance to be engraved upon the pages of history. How much more important, then, that the fertile region of which we propose to treat in these pages should become a matter of record, and form a part of the history of a great State and a great country.

A history of Coles County is a part of the history of America. Every portion of a thing goes to make up and becomes a part of the whole. The population of this county constitutes a part of the forty millions of American citizens who people this country, and their absolute wealth and prosperity make a part of our national wealth and material greatness. The intelligence of its people form a part of our intelligence as a nation. The patriotism and selfsacrificing devotion of its sons, the gallantry and prowess of its soldiers on a hundred battlefields, are no mean part of the pride and glory of this great American nation.

The age of Coles County (as such) is two years less than half a century, but the date of its settlement extends back nearly a decade beyond. its organization as a county. Within that time, the events that have transpired and the scenes that have been enacted upon its soil, will be the subject-matter of these pages. Taking it from the time of its occupancy by the Indians, we will endeavor to trace its progress from that wilderness state to the present period of its wealth and prosperity. Its growth has been rapid and wonderful beyond the wildest dreams of the pioneers who first set foot within its borders.

The present territory of the county was formerly a part of the State of A^irginia, and ceded by her to the United States in 1784, and was called the Northwest Territory. Virginia Avas the home of the " Father of his Country," and prides herself still on being the mother of the nation's best Presidents ; so Coles County comes of no ignoble ancestry. In 1778, Virginia organized what is now Illinois into one county, which, some years later, received the name of St. Clair, from the then Governor of the Northwest Territory. In 1809, Illinois was organized into a separate Territory, and was composed at the time of two counties - St. Clair and Randolph. After this, Madison was set off from St. Clair, and Crawford was afterward set off from Madison. When Illinois was received into the sisterhood of States, in 1818, there were but fifteen counties, of which Crawford was one. This county was named for Hon. William H. Crawford, who was reputed an honest man, and a safe custodian of public money ; for under the administration of Madison and Monroe he was Secretary of the Treasury, and also a candidate for the Presidency in the Adams and Jackson campaign of 1824. During the year 1819, Clark County was set off from Crawford. It then embraced a large extent of territory running up the valley of the Wabash, and far beyond, even to the Canada line, or British possessions. Clark County was named in honor of Gen. George Rogers Clarke, a native of Virginia, and a pioneer warrior of considerable celebrity. In 1779, more than a quarter of a century before the organization of Illinois into a separate Territory, he organized an army in Virginia, and marched it across the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River. A few years later, the world rung with the mighty achievement of Napoleon crossing the Alps with a great army, but to our mind, the deed no more than equaled that of Clarke in crossing the Alleghanies and traversing a wilderness with his little band of soldiers, beset and harassed by hostile savages. He had never seen a steamboat nor heard of a railway-train, but he understood war and the transportation of an army. He built rafts, and on them shipped his soldiers down the Ohio to the spot where Shawneetown now stands, and then by forced marches through swamps and marshes filled with water, often knee-deep to his men, he moved them across the country to Kaskaskia and captured that important post from the British. But all this belongs to State history.

Historical And Descriptive

Coles County was set off from Clark in 1830. It then embraced in its territory what is now Cumberland and Douglas Counties. Upon its organization, it was christened Coles, in honor of Edward Coles, the second Governor of the State, and elected to that position in 1822. As a general rule, it is not safe to name a child or country for any man while he is yet living, though he be a very Solomon, for we know not how soon he may fall. There is no security for a good reputation but in the tomb. This side of that "bourn" the proudest name, the most exalted reputation may totter and fall to pieces. In this respect, however. Coles County's namesake died with a name untarnished. Edward Coles was a man eminently fit to give a name to any country. He was a native of Virginia, rich, and a large slave-owner, and when he emigrated to Illinois he brought his slaves with him. A man who loved liberty, its fires lighted up his soul, and its benign influence dictated his action and inspired him with pure purposes and prompted him to noble deeds. Of all other men, he demanded respect for his rights, and to the rights and personal liberty of all other men he accorded the same profound respect. On reaching Illinois and becoming a citizen of the State, he set his slaves all free, and, in addition, gave each head of a family among them 160 acres of land. Such was the laAv at that time, that a man setting a slave free in Illinois, must give a bond that it should never become a public charge. To this very unsavory requirement of the law. Coles failed to yield obedience, for which little delinquency his case was adjudicated by the courts, and he was fined |2,000. This fine he was never required to pay, and the cause which gave rise to it will never give rise to another of a similar character in Illinois, in the civilized ages to come.

Coles County, at the time of its organization, was some twenty-eight miles east and west, and about fifty miles north and south, but at that time, as already noted, it included Douglas and Cumberland Counties. At present, it is bounded on the north by Douglas County, on the west by Shelby and Moultrie Counties, on the south by Cumberland, and on the east by Clark and Edgar Counties. It embraces twenty-four sections of Township eleven north, and all of Townships 12 and 13, and eighteen sections of Township 14 north, in Ranges 7, 8, 0, 10 and 11 east, and a part of Range 14 west. Range 11 east in this county is fractional, being only three-fourths of a mile wide. In the southeast part of the county there is a "jog " in the east line of three sections wide east and west, in Range 14 west, and seven sections long north and and south, in Townships 11 and 12 north. When Coles County was set off from Clark, the latter was unwilling to give up that portion of its territory and inhabitants to a new county. The reason of this is found in the fact that it embraced the best portion of that county, and a settlement of energetic and intelligent people. In the north line of the county, there is also a "jog" of two miles north, in Ranges 11 east and 14 west. This was made to retain the village of Oakland in this county, when Douglas County was created. That village was then regarded as having great room for outgrowth and development. This county was unwilling to give up that portion of its territory, and the people of that village were unwilling to be given over to a new county organization. Coles County is situated in latitude 40 north and in longitude 11 west from Washington, and embraces about five hundred square miles. Its general surface is undulating ; not so level as to be regarded flat, nor so broken as to be considered mountainous or even hilly. It forms a beautiful plateau or table-land, and is about eight hundred feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico. It is largely prairie, and constitutes a part of what is known as the Grand Prairie. This prairie is perhaps as large in extent, as rich in soil and as magnificent, originally, in nature's waving fields as anv in the Mississippi Valley.

In the topography of the county, the prairies form rather a notable feature. The oriofin of these great plains has been a source of much speculation. One theory is that the soil resulted from the decomposition of vegetable matter under water, and that the attending conditions were incompatible with the growth of timber. According to this view, prairies are at present in process of forming along the shores of lakes and rivers. During river freshets, the heaviest particles settle nearest the channel, and here, by repeated deposits, the banks first became elevated above the floods. These natural levees becoming sufiiciently high, are overgrown with timber, and inclose large areas of bottom lands back from the river, by which they are frequently inundated. The waters on these flats, when the flood subsides, are cut ofl" from the river and form sloughs, frequently of great extent. Their shallow and stagnant Avaters are first invaded bv mosses and other aquatic plants which grow under the surface and contain in their tissues lime, alumina and silica, the constituents of clay. They also subsist immense numbers of small moll usks and other diminutive creatures, and the constant decomposition of both vegetables and animals forms a stratum of clay corresponding Avith that which underlies the finished prairies. As the marshy bottoms are, by this means, built up to the surface of the water, the mosses are then intermixed with coarse grasses, which become more and more abundant as the depth diminishes. These reedy plants, now rising above the surfiice, absorb and decompose the carbonic-acid gas of the atmosphere, and convert it into woody matter, Avhich at first forms a clayey mold, and afterward the black mold of the prairie."*

As we have said, the prairies form a notable feature in the topography oi the county, the soil in them being invariably deep, rich and productive. The original prairie grass grew very rank, often higher than a man's head. As a rule, the prairies occupy the high land and the timber the low land, though there are some exceptions to this. Timber abounds in the county, but is mostly confined to the valleys of the water-courses. The varieties consist of all the kinds of oak, hickory, Avalnut, elm, maple or sugar tree, cottonwood, hackberry and perhaps some others. There are still some very fine sugar orchards in the valley of the Embarrass River. Speaking of these sugar orchards and the excellent timber of the county calls to mind a stanza from the compositions of a local poet of Northern Illinois on a similar subject :

As fine poetical thought, the above effusion is of rather limited merit, but as descriptive of this country fifty yeai's ago, the picture it presents is a very true one. jNIany years ago, in the settling-up of this part of the country, timber was regarded as quite an object. Every land-owner Avas^f the opinion he must have a piece of timber-land. It was believed that the settlement and improvement of the country would render it eventually scarce. At one time, timber-land sold more readily, and for a higher price than prairie. Such, however, is not now the case, and a hulf-century of experience finds still an abundance of timber for all practical purposes..

Beautiful lakes, high mountains and large rivers, are not characteristic of Coles County. But two streams entitled to the name of river, enter its borders, viz., tlie Embarrass and the Kaskaskia. The latter is better known in this section of the country as Okaw, but nearer its mouth it is called Kaskaskia altogether. The Embarrass, or Ambraw, as it is almost universally pi'onounced, is a beautiful stream. It rises in Champaign County, flows through Douglas and this county from north to south, and makes a tributary of the Wabash. It is the dividing line between Morgan and Oakland Townships, Charleston and Ashraore, and Pleasant Grove and Hutton Townships. Before the days of railways and lightning news-carriers, this river was navigable, for an early statute of Illinois so declared it to be. During the time the law was in force, numerous vessels were built on this river, at a point near what is noAv known as Blakeman's Mill, and Avhich went by the high-sounding name of the " boatyard." Some of these vessels Avent doAvn and out of the Embarrass, and down the Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, and others foundered in the " Dark Bend," a spot Avhere the sun never shines, except at high noon. These vessels were called flatboats, and were usually loaded with the surplus products of the country, consisting of such articles as would be of small loss if they never reached a market. This stream abounds in fine varieties of fish, viz., bass, cat, buffalo, pike and many others. The Okaw meanders through the township of Okaw, in the northwest part of the county. It is a dull, sluggish, running stream. The water is muddy, has not sufficient action to clear and purify itself of " wiggle-tails," and other such " vermin." Under the law, it, too, was a navigable river for shallow water-craft, and is a tributary of the " Father of Waters." There are two other streams Avhicli have their source in this county, both of which are too small to be called rivers, and rather large to be styled creeks. Tlieyare the little Wabash and the Kickapoo, and each takes its name from powerful tribes of Indians once dwelling in this region of country. They begin or "head" in the immediate neighborhood of each other, but the Wabash runs to the southwest and the Kickapoo to the cast. There is also a small stream in Morgan Township, rejoicing in the oily appellation of Greasy Creek, which possesses some notoriety, by reason of the peculiar manner it acquired its name. In the pioneer days, hogs were "mast" fatted altogether, and in that neighborhood many hogs were stolen and butchered. It was the custom of the people, before turning their hogs on the "mast," to give them certain ear-marks, by which each man was enabled to identify his own hogs. To destroy the evidence of ownership, the thieves would cut off the heads of the hogs stolen, and throWpthem into this creek. The decomposition made the water greasy, hence the name Greasy Water or Greasy Creek. On one occasion, these pioneer pork-packers were overtaken in a deep ravine in the woods killing hogs. When discovered, they were in the act of " scalding" a lot, but their heads hud been cut off as usual. When asked why they took the heads off at so early a stage of the proceedings, they answered that they " never could get a good scald on a hog while his head Avas on." In Ashmore Township is a creek that bearing the perfumed name of Pole Cat, so called from the great numbers of popular feline pet, to be found in an early day, in its immediate vicinity. This classic stream, like Greasy Creek, also has its legend. The following story is told in connection with the origin of its name : A new-comer to the neighborhood, encountered one of these little monsters on the banks of this stream. In the combat that ensued, he learned through practical demonstration the startling power of " this kind of a cat " to defend itself when assailed by an enemy. The new-comer was so overwhelmed with the success of the animal's defense, that he buried his clothes on the battle-ground, and returned home in the costume of the Georgia Major, minus the spurs and the paper collar, and thereupon christened the stream by the name of Pole Cat. In the township of Hutton there are two small streams called respectively Whetstone and Hurricane ; in Pleasant Grove are also two little streams, Indian and Clear Creeks, and in East Oakland, Brush Creek.

In the county are numerous groves, or small bodies of timber, isolated from the main timber. What circumstances gave rise to their growth, or how long they have been growing, is not within the knowledge of those now living. Dodge Grove is in Mattoon Township, about two miles northwest of the city, and takes its name from this circumstance : In the early days, there lived a family near it, of the name of Whitley, and they owned a race-mare, known as the " Dodge Filly." On a notable occasion they took her to Springfield to the races. These races took place twice a year, called the spring and fall meetings. They staked the filly on a race, and lost. Being loath to give her up, they run her off and concealed her in this grove for three weeks. The party winning the mare came in search of her, and had the officers of the law to scour the country, but they failed to find her. Thus the filly dodged capture, and the grove captured the name of Dodge. Dead Man's Grove is in La Fayette Township, on the north branch of Kickapoo Creek, and was formly called Island Grove. It took its present name from the fact that a man Avas found dead in the grove in March, 1826, supposed to have frozen to death. There was snow on the ground at the time, and, when found, the corpse was *' sitting at the root of a tree with a bridle thrown over the shoulders." The man's name was Coffman, and he lived in the Sand Creek settlement. He was carried by

Samuel Kellogg on horse-back, without coffin or escort, to the Parker settlement, on the Embarrass, for inquest and burial. Seven miles north and west of Charleston, in Hickory Township, standing out in the open prairie, are what is called the Seven Hickories. They acquired that name because formerly there were just seven hickory trees constituting all there was of the grove, and what seems somewhat singular is, that hickory is a species of timber that never grows in the prairies. The original trees have paid the debt of nature, but a numerous progeny still survive. In Humbolt Township near the village of the same name, on a little stream called Flat Branch, is the Blue-Grass Grove. It was formerly a camping-place of the Indians, and their ponies ate out the wild grass, when the blue-grass, as it invariably does in this country, sprang up spontaneously in its place. It thus became the first blue-grass " patch " in the county, and hence the name of Blue-Grass Grove. The Dry Grove and Buck Grove are near neighbors, and are about four miles south of Mattoon. The great number of deer, of the antlered sex, killed by the pioneer sportsmen gave rise to the name of the Buck Grove. Dry Grove has borne that name from time immemorial. It is supposed to have been named by the "first man," and that, too, in a dry time, otherwise its name would have been diff'erent, and more appropriate. In the south part of the county, in the town of Pleasant Grove, is a prairie called Goose-Nest Prairie. The inhabitants have always been proud of the title, but the rest of the world seem amused at the novelty of the name, and the people's peculiar pride of it. About the year 1827, a pioneer, named Josiah Marshall, was looking at the country, and coming into this prairie from the summit of a knoll in its midst, observing on one hand trees literally dripping with wild honey, and on the other, nature's waving meadows, and beneath him a soil, deep, rich and productive, and probably having in his mind's eye the peculiar richness of a goose egg, in an ecstacy of delight exclaimed in an uplifted voice, " this is the very goose-nest." It has since borne the name. Just west of this prairie, in the the same township, is a point of timber known as "Muddy Point," but has no significance in history, save the peculiar appropriateness of the name. In the east part of the county is a portion of a prairie called Parker's Prairie, so-called from George Parker, its original settler.

Prior to 1824, what is now Coles County was a wilderness waste, uninhabited by civilized man. If any pale-face before that time had ever come within its borders as an actual settler, it is not known whence he came, who he was or whither he went. The red man of the forest held high carnival over the land, his camp-fires were seen in the distance, and it was his war-whoop and his death-song that broke the stillness, while his wigwam was the only specimen of a habitation made with human hands. Old Bruin reigned king of the wild beasts ; the panther screamed, the wolf howled, and the gray-eyed owl hooted without the presence of civilized man to " molest or make them afraid."

The forest was undisturbed except by the bhizc of the tomahawk, and the soil untrodden, save by the wild beast and the savage and his pony. A half-century or more, Avhite people have witnessed the grand march of civilization over this land, and to-day scarce a trace is left of the former presence of the aborigines of the country. In 1824, the first settlement was made in Coles County, by men whom God made white, and blessed with the light of civilization. Of the first emigrants, but few remain. Most of them have paid nature's last great debt, and the memories of those remaining are so impaired by age that but few facts can be obtained. The first settlers came from Crawford County on the Wabash River, where they had lived many years, building and dwelling in forts, and skirmishing with the Indians. As pioneers, they possessed an extensive experience. They were John Parker and his sons, among whom were Daniel, Benjamin, Silas, George and James Parker and families, and Samuel Kellogg and his Avife Mary, in all fourteen souls, the latter of whom alone is livino-. The Parker's were formerly from Tennessee, and were good old-fashioned people. They dressed plain, lived rough and seemed to love the hardships and to delight in the adventures incident to the settlement of a new country. The soldier who leaves his home, sunders the ties of affection and bids adieu to loved ones, to do battle (or his country, deserves well of its people. So, too, the pioneer, who goes out from the home of his childhood, leaving behind him the hallowed associations of youthful days, and the cherished objects of love and aifection, hewing his way into the wilderness, and there settles down to build up a new country, and open a highway for civilization, is also worthy of credit among his fellow-countrymen.

Benjamin Parker built the first log cabin, and thus became the first actual settler in Coles County, fifty-five years ago. That cabin was built on the east bank of the Embarrass River, just opposite the place where Blakeman's mill was afterward erected, and was in what is now Hutton Township. It was a rude affair, and a fair sample of pioneer strength and awkwardness, but nevertheless turned the rain, broke the force of the sun's burning rays, resisted the chilling blasts of winter, and kept out the cold, damp air of night. It also answered the purpose of a dwelling-house, and consisted of parlor, dining-room, kitchen and bed-rooms enough to sleep fourteen persons. The walls were of unhewn logs, and floor of puncheons, neither hewn nor " planed." It was covered with clapboards, weighed down with poles in lieu of being nailed ; the chimney was made of sticks and clay, and the " back walls " and "jambs " of the same material, except the quantity of clay was increased. The liolp to "raise" this cabin came from Crawford County, a distance of sixty miles. In those days, a house-raising was regarded as a " big thing " and were usually accompanied with a quilting, wool-picking or sewing " bee," to furnish an excuse for the women to come together for a little quiet gossip, though not perhaps, as at the present day, to talk of Mrs. Jones' new bonnet, or Mrs. Smith's old dress made over, or the way Mrs. Brown had her back-kiiir " fixed last Sunday."

Those little gatherings were occasions for much good eating and drinking, the latter, however, being indulged in by the men only. And the best wrestler, the furthest jumper, and the swiftest runner Avere the heroes, and the best fighter wore oft' the belt, for at that early period fighting was always included in the popular amusements of the day.

John Parker, familiarly known as " High Johnny " Parker, and the progenitor of all the Parkers (of this early settlement) was a soldier of the Revotionary War - one of the heroes of that long and doubtful struggle that finally resulted in the independence of the " greatest country the sun shines on." Samuel Kellogg, mentioned as one of this little colony, was a soldier in the Black Hawk campaign of 1832, and has since died, but, as already stated, his widow is still living, and at present a resident of Charleston. But of the pioneers of this early settlement further particulars will be given in the township histories.

In the fall of 1824, Seth Bates and his sons, David and^John Bates, and his stepsons, Levi and Samuel Doty, came to the county, and in the summer of 1825 made a settlement on Kickapoo Creek, in the present town of La Fayette, These were the first inhabitants in that region, and the settlement was made on what is now the Doctor Monroe farm. John Bobbins and William Wagner came in a year or two later. The former put up a mill in the neighborhood, and the latter started a tan-yard. Samuel Frost came the next year after Robbins and Wagner, and was one of the first merchants in this settlement, as noted elsewhere, and also carried the first mail through from Paris to Vandalia. In 1826, Van Eastin settled in this neighborhood; in 1828, his brother John M. Eastin came, and their father, Charles Eastin, in 1830. The following story is told of the Eastins, as illustrative of the proverb that " fine feathers make fine birds," or at least are supposed to do so. John Eastin, just prior to coming to this county, had married Miss Jennie Reed. The first Sunday they spent in the wilderness of Coles County, they attended church rigged out in their " wedding toggery," and their " new store clothes " created quite a sensation in this then backwoods settlement, and elicited remarks from everybody. The next morning before breakfast, six men came to see him to borrow money for the purpose of buying land, supposing from his extravagant style of dress, that he must be rich and have money to loan, when he really had but $6 to his name- In 1828, James Phipps settled in this neighborhood. As early as 1828 or 1829, James Ashmore, William Ewing and William Williams came in and settled on the south side of Kickapoo.

A settlement was made in the present township of Ashmore as early as 1825. The first white people in this section were the Dudleys and Laban Burr, all bachelors, thus forming a kind of second Eden, as Eden was before its quiet was disturbed by Mother Eve. To trace the genealogy of the Dudleys, it would be necessary to go back to Dudley Castle, Staffordshire, England, and begin with Earl Dudley, in the fourteenth century, following it doAvn through a long line of nobles, of whom one of the most powerful was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and figured conspicuously during the reign of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England. Their published genealogy is authentic, giving the descent of the Dudleys here mentioned from this noble family. The first one in the United States was Thomas Dudley, Governor of " Massachusetts Bay Colony." Many of his descendants held important positions in colonial times, and are to be found in almost every State of the Union at the present day. Many of them figured prominently in our struggle for independence, and their survivors and descendants are leading citizens of the country. The original settlers in this section were James and Guilford Dudley, and there are still sons of these pioneers living in the township of Ashmorc, and are more particularly mentioned in that chapter. James Wells, Christopher Sousely, Joseph Henry, John Mitchell, William Austin, H. J. Ashmore and John Carter were also early settlers in this section. From them have descended some of the solid and substantial men of the county.

The first settlement was made on " Goose-Nest" Prairie in 1829. Rev. Daniel Barham and sons John and Nathan, and Thomas Barker, put up the first cabin in this little paradise, in the spring of the year mentioned above. This settlement Avas in what is now Pleasant Grove Township, and embraced as fine a body of land as may be found in Coles County. Michael Taylor and his son Elijah, John and Patrick Gordon, and Dow Goodman, came in the same year, and found shelter in the same nest. Zeno Campbell, the Balahes and others, also came during this year and entered claims on "Goose-Nest" Prairie, or adjacent thereto. In the fall of 1830, John J. Adams, Mark Baker and William Wayne settled in the neighborhood. The Muddy Point settlement was likewise in Pleasant Grove Township. The first squatters here were Isaac Francher and Buck Houchin, who pitched their tents in this locality in 1827. Jack Price came in 1828 ; Joseph Glenn, Daniel Edson (not the inventor of the phonograph), Daniel Beals and his sons, in 1829, and William Dryden and Alfred Balch in the same year. In the fall of 1830, William Gammill and sons, his sons-in-law, A. Balch and Isaac Odell and Abner Johnston, came in and settled in this neighborhood.

A settlement was made on the west side of the Embarrass River, south of Greasy Creek, in the territory now embraced in Morgan Township, in 1829-30. Daniel McAllister, Benjamin Clark and William Shattun were the pioneers of this settlement. They were men of strong arms and brave hearts, well calculated to brave the dangers of a wilderness. They went to Big Creek (Edgar County) to mill, and sent their children four miles to school, and were thankful for even such conveniences as those." The widow of Benjamin Clark was the last survivor of these pioneers and three years ago (we do not know whether she is still living) was a hearty and hale old lady for her time of life. She spent eight weeks among the wolves and panthers during the winter of 1830, with six small children, while her husband had gone back to the settlements for provisions. There are few ladies of the present day but would shrink from such an undertaking, and it is with no disparagement to the sex that we make the observation. Our women are as true and noble, and capable of as great sacrifices when necessity demands them, as at any other age of the world, even that heroic period when they severed from their heads their "golden tresses" and wove them into bow-strings for their fathers, brothers and husbands to defend their hearths and homes. But think of living in a wilderness for two long, weary months alone with half a dozen helpless children, beyond the reach of help. The bravest woman might well shrink from it.

The territory now embraced in Oakland Township contained settlements as early as 1829. In this year Samuel Ashmore settled in this region. Soon after his settlement, his sons H. J. and W. C. Ashmore came to the neighborhood. Samuel Hogue and James Black, sons-in-law of Samuel Ashmore, settled here also about the same time as those above mentioned. Where Oakland village now stands, settlements were made by Enoch Sears, Eli Sargent, Asa Redden and others. David Winkler and the Hoskinses settled on Brushy Fork. At the time of these settlements, the aborigines of the country were in possession of it, and had a village or trading-post in this vicinity. They were friendly, however, and lived with their pale-face neighbors in peace and harmony. In 1831, Stanton Pemberton and his sons came to the Ashmore settlement. A mill was built here at an early day by a man named Stevens, and a few years later another was built by Redden.

The first settlement made in what is now Charleston Township was in 1826. In that year, Enoch Glassco and sons, and J. Y. Brown, came to the county and settled about a mile north of the present city of Charleston. In 1827, the Parkers came from the Embarrass River Settlement and located on what is now Anderson's Addition to Charleston. About the same time, Hiram Steepleton and Isaac Lewis were added to the settlement. In 1829, Michael Cossell, Jr., came to the place, and the next year his father, and brothers Isaac and Solomon Cossell came in and made settlements. In the same year, Charles Morton and family settled in the little community. He was an energetic and enterprising man. He settled on what is now the Decker farm, and built a horse-mill, upon which many a pioneer ground the meal for his " corndodgers." Mr. Morton is mentioned in another chapter of this work as the first merchant, and one of the prominent business men of the county. Jesse Veach also settled in the present town of Charleston. He came first to Illinois in 1824, and to Coles County in 1825. After this, he returned to Crawford County, where he " took unto himself a wife," and, in 1831,. came back to Coles County, where he still lives, enjoying the fruits of a well-spent life.

John Hutton came to Illinois in 1816, and, in 1824-25, settled in what is now Hutton Township. Says Capt. Adams, in his Centennial Address, he "made a hand building the first cabin, heard the first prayer made and the first sermon preached, and mourned at the first funeral in the present territory of the county." In 1826, a settlement was made by the Parkers on what was known as Parker's Prairie, and which lies partly in liutton Township. George Parker and his sons Joseph, Daniel and Jephthah were the first in this immediate neighborhood, and from them this beautiful prairie received its name. Joseph Parker killed a large bear, in 1828, near Buyess Berkley's, and many other members of the Bruin ftimily were slaughtered in an early day by the pioneers. Tn the fall of 1826, there was a settlement made at a place called '* Dog Town," which was also in the present town of Hutton. James Nees was the first settler in this section, but was very soon joined by Charles Miller and William Cook. Joshua Painter, Hugh Doyle, James Ashby and John C. Davis soon after made settlements in the same neighborhood. Anthony Cox, William Waldruff and Joel Connelly settled, also, in what is now Hutton, in 1828, and Daniel Evinger soon after. The latter put up a carding-machine on what was known as the John Flenner farm.

About 1826, a settlement was made at Wabash Point, in the present township of Paradise. The first white settler was Daniel Drake. In 1827, Thomas Hart and his sons settled in this neighborhood, and in July, 1828, Silas and Adam Hart and others of the same name came to the settlement, so that if there was any part of the country that had a heart, it was this Wabash Point settlement. These people were a law unto themselves, and tolerated no lawlessness in their midst. When one committed a misdemeanor, Judge Lynch came to the front and gave to the culprit but a short shrift. In illustration of his peremptory manner in disposing of the cases upon his docket, the following instance is given : On a certain occasion, a man living in the settlement was caught in the act of appropriating to himself another's cowhide and potatoes. A court was at once organized, with Thomas Hart, Jr., as Judge. Silas Hart was appointed attorney for the defendant, and William Higgins and others, jurors. The trial resulted in a verdict of guilty, and the punishment fixed at twenty -nine lashes and banishment from the settlement. After the lashes had been administered, the defendant was shown a star, in the direction of his " Old Kentucky Home," and bade to follow it, as did the Avise men of the East. He waited not for the advice to be repeated, nor stood upon the order of his going ; he went.

In 1826, Charles Sawyer made a settlement in the southern part of what is now Mattoon Township. His family came on the next spring ; but a short time previous to their arrival, a man named Nash came to the settlement and occupied Sawyer's house. He injured himself one day, "carrying a log, to make a bee-gum," from the efiects of which he died. This was the first death in the Wabash Settlement, which Avas principally in what is now Paradise ToAvnship, as already stated, but extended into Mattoon Township. John Sawyer was another of the pioneers of this settlement. These are said to have been without bread in their families as much as three weeks at a time. They went five miles beyond Springfield to mill, and blazed the trees on the route, in order to find their way back home, and swam the Okaw River into the bargain.

About 1833, a settlement was made in the present town of Okaw. John Whitney and four sons, William Bridgman and Jesse Fuller were the first squatters in this section. Henry and Hawkins Fuller and Nathaniel Dixon came in 1835. The year previous, however, the settlement was increased by the arrival of P. M. Ellis, the Elders and Fred. Price, these people used to splice teams and go a day's journey to a horse-mill. In wet weather, they would go to Sangamon River, near Decatur, or to Parker's Mill, on the Embarrass River.

Early Facts And Features

Thus we have taken a brief glance at a few of the first permanent settlements made in Coles County. We have passed over the settling of the county in thi« brief manner, in order to avoid, as much as possible, repetition. In the township histories, which follow, the settlement of each will be taken up and considered separately, and everything of interest will be fully and faithfully given, while in this chapter, matters pertaining more particularly to the county at large will be noticed.

The pioneers of a country are always subjected to many inconveniences, and live a hard and rough life. When immigrating to a new country, one leaves behind all the comforts and luxuries of civilization, to endure hunger and cold, and most of all, to brave the dangers of a wilderness. At the time of settling this country, it was inhabited by wild beasts, and wild men but little less savage than the wild beasts themselves. They came here poor, and for years the struggle with poverty was a hard one. Think of a family without bread for three weeks, and living on wild meat, potatoes and parched corn ! As we look around us to-day, at the waving fields of "golden grain, ripening for the harvest," the droves of cattle grazing on the rich pastures, and the almost innumerable car-loads of grain and stock shi})ped to distant points, it is hard to realize what it was fifty years ago, and what the pioneers of that day underwent to produce this grand transformation. In the Centennial Address of Capt. Adams, already referred to, he says : " The early settlers were generally poor, and livsd on Congress land. Considerable improvements were often made on land before it was entered. The custom not to enter each other out was the local law of the neighborhood. It sometimes occurred that entries were made of lands by others than the actual occupants. This invariably stirred up the righteous indignation of the settlement, and a meeting would be called, resolutions adopted and a plan of operation laid out. They at once went to work, tore down the house on the land and hauled it ofi", filled up the well, gathered the crop, pulled up the fruit-trees and garden stuff", and removed the fences and other improvements. And then, if the party entering another out made a fuss about it h'? had lo climb a jack-oak or ride a rail."

Not only were the people hard run to live, to " keep soul and body together," but when we consider the tools and implements they had to work with, we wonder in our minds how they managed to live at all. The old "bar share" and "Gary" plows would be objects of great curiosity to the present generation, in this age of magnificent plows - plows that will almost turn the soil, if put in the field, without team or driver. An old farmer told us the other day, that for years after he settled in the neighborhood, there was but one wagon in the settlement, and one grindstone "and upon the latter," said he, "we used to grind our Gary plows when they become too dull to plow well." And yet we complain of hard times I Why, we don't know the meaning of the word, as compared to these early settlers, who broke down the barriers between the wilderness and civilization. Again, quoting from Capt. Adams, " They hauled hay eight miles in winter on hand-sleds, sold their horse-collars to buy bread for their children ; rocked their babies in sugar-troughs, and stood guard over them to keep the wolves off, and fed them on venison and wild

Nor is the credit all due to the "lords of creation," in the privations endured in these early days. Noble women lent their presence to " gild the gloom" of wilderness life, and cheerfully shared the toils and cares met with in their new homes. Figuratively they put their hands to the plow, and, in cases of emergency, did not hesitate to do so literally. They drove oxen, assisted in planting, cultivating and harvesting the crops, besides attending to their household duties ; and these last were much more onerous than at the present day. Then they included the spinning and weaving into cloth, flax, cotton, and wool. The wool was carded into rolls at the carding mill or machine, spun into yarn on the "big wheel " by the wives and daughters, woven into cloth and manufactured into garments by the same busy hands, for the family wear. If a lady was so fortunate as to possess a calico dress, she was the envy of her "set," just as the "lady of the period," who robes in satin and a "love of a bonnet," is the envy of her less fortunate sisters at the present day. But the half-century that has passed has made many changes, and brought us many improvements. We have grown much older in many respects, if not wiser, and become more extravagant in our desires and more luxurious in our tastes. We cannot think of living on what our fathers lived on fifty years ago. Our very appetites have changed. The "corn-dodgers" and fried bacon our parents were glad to get, if set before us at the present day, would cause us to elevate our "Grecian noses" to an angle of ninety degress. But this is as it should be. We live in an age of improvement, and it is but just that all should move ou together. It is not in a spirit of grumbling or dissatisfaction that we have fallen into a moralizing mood, but by way of contrasting the past and present, and of showing the grand march of improvement for the past fifty years. When we look back over the years that are gone, at the changes and improvements wrought in the land, we are almost ready to attribute it to the power of Aladdin's won-

"The old log cabin with its puncheon floor - - The old log cabin with its clapboard door ! Shall we ever forget its moss-grown roof, The old rattling loom with its warp and woof? The old stick chimney of ' cat and clay,' The old hearthstone where we used to pray ? No! we'll not forget the old wool-wheel. Nor the hank on the old count-reel ; We'll not forget how we used to eat The sweet honey-comb with the fat deer-meat ; We'll not forget how we used to bake, That best of bread, the old Johnny-cake! "

Indian History

When the first white people came to Coles County, there were plenty of Indians in this portion of Illinois. They were the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos and Winnebagoes. From Davidson and Stuve's History of Illinois, which contains the most complete history of the aborigines inhabiting this country, that we have ever read, we make a few extracts with reference to the tribes that once occupied this section of the State : " The early traditions of the Winnebagoes fixes their ancient seat on the west shore of Lake Michigan, north of Green Bay. They believed that their ancestors Avere created by the Great Spirit, on the lands constituting their ancient territory, and that their title of it was a gift from their Creator. The Algonquins named them after the bay on which they lived, Ween-ni-ba-gogs, which subsequently became anglicized in the form of Winnebagoes. They were persons of good stature, manly bearing, had the characteristic black circular hair of their race, and were generally more uncouth in their habits than the surrounding tribes. Their language was a deep guttural, difficult to learn, and shows that they belonged to the great Dacotah stock of the West. Anciently, they were divided into clans distinguished by the bird, bear, fish and other family totems. How long they resided at Green Bay is not known. * * * * Coming down to the era of authentic history. Carver, in 1766, found them on the Fox River, evidently wandering from their ancient place of habitation, and approaching Southern Wisconsin and the northern part of Illinois and Iowa, where portions of the tribe subsequently settled, while others wandered further south. * * assisted in the defeat of Col. Croghan, at Mackinaw, Col. Dudley at the rapids of the Maumee, and Gen. Winchester, at the River Raisin. In the Winnebago war of 1827, they defiantly placed themselves in antagonism to the authority of the General Government, by assaulting a steamboat on the Mississippi, engaged in furnishing supplies to the military post on the St. Peters.

" The Kickapoos, in 1763, occupied the country southwest of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. They subsequently moved southward, and at a more recent date, dwelt in portions of the tcnitory on the ^Mackinaw and Sangamon Rivers, and had a village on Kickapoo Creek, and at Elkhart Grove. They Avere more civilized, industrious, energetic and cleanly than the neighboring tribes, and, it may also be added, more implacable in their hatred of the Americans. They were among the first to commence battle, and the last to submit and enter into treaties. Unappeasable enmity led them into the field against Gens. Harmer, St. Clair and Wayne, and they were first in all the bloody charges at Tippecanoe. They were prominent among the Northern nations, wdiich, for more than a century, waged an exterminating war against the Illinois Confederacy. * * * * When removed from Illinois, they still retained their old animosities against the Americans, and went to Texas, then a province of Mexico, to get beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. They claimed relationship with the Pottawatomies, and perhaps with the Sacs and Foxes, and Shawn ees.

'- The Pottawatomies are represented on early French maps as inhabiting the country east of tlie southern extremity of Lake Michigan. At the mouth of the St. Joseph, falling into this part of the lake, the Jesuits had a missionary station, which, according to Marest, was in a flourishing condition as early as 1712. Here, an unmeasured distance from civilization, for more than half a century, the devoted missionaries labored for their spiritual weltare. These years of toil and self-denial were, however, little appreciated ; for, in Pontiac's war, th^y proved themselves to be among the most vindictive of his adherents. Disguising their object under the mask of friendship, they approached the small military post located on the same river, and, having obtained ingress, in a few minutes butchered the whole of the garrison except three men. From this locality, a portion of the tribe passed around the southern extremity of the lake into Northeastern Illinois. Time and a change of residence seem not to have modified their ferocious character. Partly as the result of British intrigue, and partly to gratify their thirst for blood, they perpetrated, in 1812, at Chicao"0, the most atrocious massacre in the annals of the Northwest. After their removal from Illinois, they found their way to the Indian Territory, and, in 1850, numbered 1,500 souls."

The foregoing extracts give a pretty authentic history of the tribes that claimed this county fifty years ago as a part of their hunting-grounds. There is much in the nature of the Indian to loathe and abhor, and there is, too, much to pity and deplore. They claimed this great country, originally, by right of possession, if not of discovery, and it was no more than human nature that they should maintain their right to it to the last extremity. From a lack of civilization, they committed acts of barbarity shocking in the extreme, but, to a certain extent, excusable througli ignorance of the "higher law" of humanity ; and even their deeds of cruelty, barbarians though they were, were often equaled by their more civilized but little less barbarous white neighbors. In an early day, we are told, they had a trading-post near where the village of

Charleston

Camargo now stands. In was established by two French Canadians, we believe, named Vesor and Bullbery. They also had a cemetery, or burying-ground in this vicinity, and, once a year, a grand powwow was held within its precincts. They were friendly toward the whites then sparsely scattered through the country, and, in their limited and ignorant Avay, religious. Says Capt. Adams in the address several times referred to in these pages : " Their ideas of heaven and hell they represented on dressed deerskins. On one side was painted a huge fire, and toward it some Indians going with bottles in their hands. This was a representation of hell, or the bad hunting-ground. On the other side were painted beautiful woods, abounding with deer, looking pleasant, and Indians going that way, dressed finely and seemingly happy. This was heaven, or good hunting-ground." The following legend belonged to the Pottawatomies, and formed the basis of their theology and origin : "They believe in two Great Spirits - Kitchemenedo, the good or benevolent spirit, and Matchemonedo, the evil spirit. Some have doubts which is the most powerful ; but the great part believe that the first is - that he made the world and called all things into being, and that the other ought to be despised. When Kitchemonedo first made the world, he peopled it with a class of beings who only looked like men; but they were perverse, ungrateful, wicked dogs, who never raised their eyes from the ground to thank him for anything. Seeing this, the Great Spirit plunged them, with the world itself, into a great lake and drowned them. He then withdrew it from the water and made a single man, a very handsome young man, who, as he was lonesome, appeared sad. Kitchemenedo took pity on him and sent a sister to cheer him in his loneliness. After many years, the young man had a dream which he told to his sister. ' Five young men,' said he, ' will come to your lodge-door to-night to visit you. The Great Spirit f )rbids you to answer or even to look up and smile at the first four ; but when the fifth comes, you may speak and laugh and show that you are pleased.' She acted accordingly. The first of the five strangers that called was Usama, or tobacco, and, having been repulsed, he fell down and died; the second, Wapako, or a pumpkin, shared the same fate; the third, Eshkossimin, or melon, and the fourth, Kokees, or the bean, met the same fate; but when Tamin, or Montamin, which is maize, presented himself, she opened the skin tapestry door of her lodge, laughed very heartily, and gave him a friendly reception. They were immediately married, and from this union the Indians sprang. Tamin forthwith buried the four unsuccessful suitors, and from their graves there grew tobacco, melons of all sorts, and beans ; and in this manner the Great Spirit provided that the race which he had made should have something to offer him as a gift in their feasts and ceremonies, and also something to put in their akeeks, or kettles, along with their meat." *

Davidson, in his history of Illinois, speaking of the psychology of the Indians, says : " Prominent among these was the idea that every natural phenomenon was the special manifestation of the Great Spirit. In the rautterings of the thunder-cloud, in the angry roar of the cataract, or the sound of the billows which beat upon the shores of his lake-girt forests, he heard the voice of the Great Spirit. The lightning's flash, the mystic radiance of the stars, were to him familiar displays of a spirit-essence which upheld and governed all things, even the minute destinies of men ; while the Indian attributed these to the Great Spirit, an antagonistical deity Avas created in his theology, whom he regarded as the potent power of malignancy. By this dualty of deities, he was careful to guard his good and merciful God from all imputations of evil by attributing all the bad intentions and acts which afflict the human family to the Great Bad Spirit." '

The Indians, it is said, never killed a wolf. Old pioneers say that they held that the wolf, like the Indian, made its living by hunting, and, therefore, it would be wrong and cowardly to kill it. Even their dogs would not molest a wolf, and the ravenous little savages would follow a band of Indians for hours to pick up any dead or wounded game left by them along their route. Mr. Brown, of Ashmore, relates a circumstance that occurred near his father's, of an Indian who, in a frenzy of religious excitement, shot and killed a warrior. He was, by the tribe, considered crazy, and taken to a grove near by and tied to a tree (rather a novel insane asylum, and as it proved an ineffectual one), from which the Indian succeeded in making his escape. The incident is more particularly referred to in the history of Ashmore Township.

Coles County claims its Indian battle-grounds. Though she can make no pretensions to any such memorable battles as Tippecanoe or the River Raisin, there is a tradition (but somewhat dim and misty) of two battles with the Indians fought on the " sacred soil" of Coles County, at or very near the same place. As the story goes, the first occurred in 1815, between a corps of Government surveyors, protected by a sufficient guard of armed men, and a large band of Indians. The whites were encamped on the Embarrass Hills, a little distance west of Blakeman's Mill, and, in addition to being well armed, were protected with artillery. The Indians, in their usual style of battle-array, attacked them upon the flank, and with blood-curdling war-whoops threw the engineers and their guard (for a time) into confusion. They soon rallied, however, and ascertaining the enemy's position, formed their line of battle and opened upon them with their artillery. A general engagement followed, which continued some time with great severity, finally resulting in the defeat of the Indians, with considerable slaughter. This is the prevailing tradition, but how much of it is true, we are unable to say.

The other battle referred to occurred in 1818, between the "Illinois Rangers," under command of Gen. Whiteside, a pioneer Indian fighter, who figured conspicuously in his day in the Indian wars of Illinois, and a large band of Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, and Winnebagoes. The Indians had collected in force in the Upper Embarrass country, and proceeding to the Kas- kaskia settlement, committed many depredations among the scattered settlers. Among other things, they stole and drove off a large number of horses and cattle. Gen. Whiteside, then in command of the Illinois Kangers, as they were called, followed their trail to the site of the Blakeman Mill, where it crossed the Embarrass River. Near this point, the Rangers came up with the Indians, and at once prepared to give them battle. Skirmishers were thrown out, and a line of battle formed. A charge was ordered, and a shout from the Rangers was answered by one from the savages, and the neio-hboring hills soon echoed with the roar of battle. For some time the fight raged fiercely, but the Indians were defeated and the captured property retaken. How many were engaged on both sides, and the losses sustained by each, are not known. Like the account given of the battle with the Government surveyors, it is traditional. The trees in the neighborhood, however, show signs of war, we have been told, and the scars made upon them with fire-arms have been seen by many living witnesses. But these little " scrimmages " between the white and red races on the soil of Illmois are long past, and in a few years more there will be none left who remember the red man's wigwam within the borders of the State.

It has been said by a late writer that " the native American mind tends as naturally to self-government as the duck takes to the water." The organization of new counties into corporate bodies with legal existence, while yet there are but a few hundred voters within their limits, is proof positive of the trite remark. In 1830, the population of this part of the country had increased to such an extent (for a wilderness) that the people began to think of forming a new county. What is now Coles County was then a part of Clark, as we have already stated, and Darwin, the county seat, was remote from the settlements of this region. In the year above mentioned (1830), a petition to the Legislature to have Coles set off from Clark County, was circulated by Joseph Henry, George Hanson and Andrew Caldwell. During the session of 1830-31 the act was passed by the Legislature creating the new county, which embraced in its limits, as mentioned in the beginning of this history, the present counties of Coles, Cumberland and Douglas. The following is the act of organization :

Section 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 bounds, to wit : Beginnino' at the northeast corner of Section Four, in Township Sixteen north, in Range Fourteen west of the second principal meridian; thence west on the line dividing Townships Sixteen and Seventeen, to the eastern boundary of Range Six, east of the third principal meridian ; thence south on said line the line dividing Ranges Six and Seven, the eastern boundaries of Macon and Shelby Counties, to the southwest corner of Clark County, Township Nine north, Rano-e Six ; thence east on the line dividing Townships Eight and Nine, to the southeast corner of Section Thirtyone, the east boundary of fractional Range Eleven east; thence north on said line, which is the division between fractional Range Eleven and Range Fourteen, to the northeast corner of Section

Nineteen, in said Range Eleven, in Township Twelve north ; thence to the northeast corner of Section Twenty-one, in said Township Twelve, and Range F'ourteen ; thence north on sectional lines, the center of said range, to the place of beginning, shall form a new county, to be called Coles.

Sec. 2. For the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of said county, the follow" ing persons are appointed Commissioners, viz.: William Bowen, of Vermilion County, Jesse Essarey, of Clark County, and Joshua Barber, of Crawford County; which Commissioners, or fl majority of them, shall meet at the house of Charles Eastin, in said county, on the fourth Mondrty in January next, or within five days thereafter, and being duly sworn before some Justice of the Peace of the State, faithfully and impartially to take into view the convenience of the people, the situation of the present settlement, with a strict view to the population and settlements which will hereafter be made and the eligibility of the place; shall proceed to explore and carefully examine the country, determine on and designate the place for the permanent seat of justice of the same : provided, the proprietor or proprietors of the land shall give and convey by deed of general warranty, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a quantity of land, in a square form, or not more than twice as long as wide, not less than twenty acres. But should the proprietor or proprietors of the land refuse or neglect to make the donation aforesaid, then and in that case the said Commissioners shall fix said county seat (having in view the interest of the county) upon the land of some person who will make the donation aforesaid. If the Commissioners shall be of the opinion and decide that the proper place for said seat of justice is or ought to be on land belonging to Government, they shall so report, and the County Commissioners shall purchase one-half quarter-section, the tract set forth, in their name, for the use of the county. The Commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice shall, so soon as they decide on the place, make a clear report to the Commissioners' Court of the county, and the same shall be recorded at length in their record-book. The land donated or purchased shall be laid out into lots, and sold by the Commissioners of the county to the best advantage, and the proceeds applied to the erection of public buildings, and such other purposes as the Commissioners shall direct; and good and sufficient deeds shall be made for the lots sold.