Effingham County, Illinois - Chapter 4, 1883

rilAKACTER OF THE PIONEERS - GREAT MEN - CUMBERLAND ROAD - TOLL BRIDGE - THE FIRST CENSUS - HARD LIFE - HOW BROCKETT PLAYED BULL CALF - PIONEER WOMENWILD HONEY - COFFEE AS BEAN SOUP - DR. BISHOP'S MILLS - THK KILLING OF HILL - ROD JENKINS AND WHISKY - BOLEYJACK, ETC., ETC.

cessity, not drawn by those who personall}- knew the originals. It is best this should be so, for, then, there is most apt to be no prejudices, either for or against the subjects that constitute the picture, and false colors are not so liable to slip in. There is less incentive (there should be none) to suppress here and overdraw there; in short, less of prejudice, and consequenth* more of truth. But men who write are affected b}' much tlie same prejudices or color of vision in viewing transactions of which they formed a part as other men, and for this reason history is written by strangers, or rather the sons and daughters of strangers, who live in the long years and ages after the actors and their immediate descendants have passed awaj.

It requires a remarkable state of society to produce a remarkable individual. The individual thus becomes the index to the surroundings that created him. For, mark you, the great man, the extraordinar}- - the marked man - is not a special providence for a special providential purpose, any more than is an extraordinary prize pumpkin. One is as much the result of surroundings that preceded his or its coming as the other. You look upon the huge pumpkin in huge amazement, and while you may not openly confess it, 3'ou in j-our heart believe that the god of pumpkin-pie has here made a strong, a long, and a pull altogether. And so wlien you look upon that crowned monarch of all mankind - Shakespeare. The one is no more a miracle than the other. They are both the results of those laws that never change -

IN the preceding chapters we have attempted to give some account of the coming of the earliest settlers here, who they were, and in what order they came, with some sketches that were intended to serve as illustrations that would give the reader the best idea that we possessed of what manner of men they were. These pen sketches are all that can be given of a people that have passed awaj', and of whom the artist and painter had preserved no recorded signs. Of necessity, such sketches are drawn by those who never saw the originals, and wlio can know of them only by much talking and communications with those who did know them long and well, while the}- were here and playing their part in life. To pick out tlie representative people of all the different classes of a communitj', and draw a true representation of them - so true that any reader can gather an actual, personal acquaintance with those who were perhaps dead before he was l)orn - is no easy task, yet one, if done well and truly, will give him a just and correct idea of those about whom he is studying history for the purpose of learning. For a certain quality of society will produce a certain kind of men, or a certain kind of character - a leading character with strong marks and signs that arrests attention, and fixes upon him the duty of furnishing posteritj' the key to the whole mass of his fellow-men, who were his neighbors and contemporaries.

where like causes produce like results always. If the statistics of a people, together with the.se ciiaracter sketclies that are the statistics of that inner life of men, that is a part, and parcel of tlie first named, are both truly given, they constitute the true history of that people. Because a histor}- of a people is only a just account of so much of the human mind, its influence upon itself - the influence upon it of the -surroundings.

In the preceding chapters we have, as nearly as we could, followed events, and even the individuals, in their chronological order. We found that on the 15th of February, 1831, here was formed a new county, with a pioneer population of about three hundred people, and aearlj- as many more people here who constituted the forces at work upon the National road, that was then in process of construction through this county.

This road was originally called the Cumberland road, after the old stage road from Washington City to Cumberland, Md., where had been the resting place for Clay, Jaclison, Harrison, Randolph, and many other notables, as they journeyed to and fro from the seat of government. Tliis road was a national work. It had been provided for in the reservation of five per cent of the sale of public lands in Illinois and other .-States, and biennial appropriations were its dependence for a continuation to completion. When Congress made any appropriations for this road, it required that " said sums of monei|; shall be replaced out of any funds reserved for laying out and making roads, under the directions of Congress, by the several acts passed for the admission of the States of Ohio, tudiana, Illinois and Missouri into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States."

The heaviest force of these workmen was at the crossing of the Little Wabash, and here was erected shanties and a little supply store in 1830.

The county lines now are identical with those designated by the Legislature in the act of Feliraarj', 1831, although in 18i5 the Legislature, in order probabl}- to better fit the county seats of Shelby and Effingham Counties to their geographical centers, passed an act to take from Shelb}- Count}- the north half of Towns 9, i, 5 and 6, and make them a part of Effingham Counlj'; provided, the people of those half townsliips mentioned should, by a majority vote, so elect. This proposition was voted down, and the act became null and void. The bridge over the Little Wabash at Ewington was a toll bridge. By act of the Legislature of 1817, it was made a free bridge after a specified time.

In 1835, Col. Sam Huston was designated by the County Commissioners' Court to take a census of the county. There then had gathered here al)out one thousand people, two stores, about two hundred improvements called farms, but little clearings, that would not average over two or three acres each, and stump mills, for pounding corn into meal, were about as numerous as the cabins in the county. Every family was theij own miller, practically, until a man named Witherspoon started a mill in Shelby ^Count}-, about twelve miles north of Ewington. This was a horse mill, and here the people would gather, await their turn to put their horses in the mill, and grind out tbeir grist. Like all new settlers, they labored under not only the disadvantage of being poor in all the comforts of life - the plainest necessities even - as well as a complete absence of those things, such as mechanics, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, etc., that are essential, in the procuring every aid they were compelled to have. There was little or nothing to be bought, and they had even less to purchase with had it been there. In 1829, there were \ only two or three farms in the couutj' where j land enough was tilled to use an old " Carey I plow," and one of these pioneer farmers tells how lie footed it from the south Hue of this county to Shelb^'ville, canning his plow to have it sharpeued. Man}- started their " deadnin " in the tiinl)er, and dug holes here and there, planted corn and potatoes and perhaps a few beans, and thus raised their little trucl^- patehes, that gave them food or broad at least; their meat they could procure in great abundance by their rifles. Frequently there would be but one wagon to a whole neighborhood, and then for ordinary uses the old '- lizzard " sled was the universal substitute. This was made by cutting the forks of a tree, the two limbs making the runners, and the short end above the forks with a hole in it to hitch to. A yoke of scrawny bull calves, a big boy and all the family of little ones and a dog or two were the forces that " snaked up " water sometimes, and wood sometimes, and other things were thus transported short distances. The calves had to be put to work j'oung ; they were naturally of a big horned, sharp rumped breed, and not the best cared for in the world at that. In fact, John I. Brockett vows and declares that when he was a good sized lout of a boy, their extremity in the line of bull calves was so great that he conceived the happy expedient of yoking himself up with the onlj- one his family possessed. The idea was no sooner conceived than it was executed, with a j-ounger brother to drive. But John made such a sorry-looking calf that his mate refused to pull, and wheeled his rump around and turned the yoke, and thus the_y stood with their iieads in opposite directions. This would not do. John had heard of tying oxen's tails together to keep them from turning tlie yoke. So he got a cob and gathered it up in the seat of his leather breeches, and tied the rope fast below the knot formed by the cob, and this was securely- tied to the calf's tail, and the difficulty was overcome and the team re-hitched to the " lizzard." The calf again tried to twist himself around and turn the yoke. He pulled till

John's suspenders " popped," and his leather breeches stretched out until they were as long and slim as the calf's tail, when John ordered his brother to give them the gad. The bull looked at John, its mate, and bellowed and plunged and pulled its tail nearly off, and finally, iu agony and fright, it ran off at full speed, John doing his best to keep up, or check the calf, or keep his neck from being broken. Over the brush, the briers, logs and everything pell-mell, the frightened calf bellowing, and the now worse frightened John roaring at his mother, as the runaways approached the house. " Here we come, d - n our fool souls ! stop us I stop us ! we're running away ! "

The single wagon to a neighborhood was generally kept busy; when not employed by the owner's work it was hired to the neighbors the established price for wagon, team and driver was five bushels of corn a day. This corn was worth from 8 to 12 cents a bushel.

As a general thing, the evidences are that the women of the pioneers were more industrious than the men. The majority of them had to raise the flax, or assist at it, and then when it was " broke " and " scutched " and '-' hackled,' it fell to their lot to spin and weave and make it into wearing apparel and household goods. They worked often in the truck patches; they carried the water at a distance often from springs, and here they would take their clothes on wash-day, often they picked up the firewood and carried it in their arms to the house. They dressed the skins frequently, and these were made into wearing apparel. They made their own soap and year in and year out in nearly every cabin stood the " dye-kettle " and after "dyeing" pretty much all the time, it was no surprise when they went to church to be called " poor dying sisters." The " dyekettle " was always at the fire-side. A rough cover made it a convenient seat and many of our now old people can tell you about : when they sat upon the dear old kettle and courted grandmother. Tliis reminds us of a current stor}' of one of the very bashful young fellows, who called to " spark " his girl, and when he took his seat on the kettle to commence the long, delightful evening's work, and his girl, no other seat being handy, seated herself in his lap. His delirious first joy passed away after some time, but the girl talked and giggled and laughed and continued to talk. He grew silent as she grew talkative; after awhile he blubbered out crying at a terrible rate. The poor girl inquired the matter - ^petted, and soothed him and clung the closer to him. Finallj-, the household was raised and when compelled to tell what was the matter, he whined and sobbed out" The - kittle - cuts me!" The edge of the kettle had stopped blood circulation in his limbs, and the dear girl on his lap had increased its circulation in his heart; the pain from the kettle was agony; holding the girl was a delightful ecstasy. He could not push her off, nor could he endure the suffering any longer. In his helplessness he cried. Who blames him?

The first school reports of the doings of the County School Commissioners are preserved from being dry, monotonous and sleep-producing by their brevity and wholesome originalit}', as well as the regular Chinese puzzles that some words make by the way thej- are spelled. For instance the line :

'- Hieronomous Faithout Scagule SIO." This would look to any ordinarj' stupid reader as something amounting to $10 had been paid to one " Scagule," but the eagleej-ed historian had posted himself about everj' man and woman in the county, all the children, many of the dogs, stump mills, Indians, greenheads, pioneer pills, and other luxuries of those good old honest times - times when a counterfeit half-dollar commanded a premium, because it was not onlj' the best but the onl3- money within reach - we say the historian knew in a moment that Mr. " Scagule ' had neither taught school nor done anything else to earn antl get the enormous amount of $10. He rubl)ed his sleepy eyes and took another look when lo, and behold! tlie line was plain :

In 1830, the first bushel of wheat ever planted in the county was by Judge Broom. It made a generous yield, and from here came the seed that in the after years made much of the wheat bread of our people. It was sown in what is now Mason Township. The same man planted the first orchard here in 1829. He had brought the young trees with him from Tennessee; were all grafted trees, and several have told us that, in the year 1839, they remember getting off this orchard some excellent fruit. When it is remembered that up to this year there were yet but eighteen families in JIason Township, it evidences that these people were b}' Broom's care and foresight, afforded a verj' early opportunity of sitting down and enjoying their own vines and apple trees. Until this orchard came on, the people tasted no other fruit, except that which grew wild in the woods. These were crab-apples, plums, grapes and wild cherry and the variety of nuts found here.

The first really profitable industry here was the gathering honey. The alternating of timber and prairie - prairies jeweled with garden flowers - were favored places for the wild bees, and, therefore, nearly every tree was the hive where they lived and gathered their sweet treasures from the blossoms of the prairie. The honey was gathered and the wax strained and both became the really money-producing products of the country. Honey, beeswax, ginseng, venison, turkeys, pelts and furs were the only things possible to send to market to exchange for such articles as the people wanted.

And of all these, honey and coon-skins were the leading ones. These early comers had to have powder, tobacco and whiskj'. For everything else thej' could kill game. The first season usuallj- they had to buj* corn for bread, but the emergencies were frequent when this could not be got, then they used the lean of the meat for bread and tlie fat for meat.

In man}- families, coffee was unknown. One instance is related where a man was quite sick. In his .young days, he had used coffee, and when he lay sick he imagined that would bring him health. Judge Broom went on foot to Shelby ville and got a pound. When he returned to the sick man's house he gave it to the daughters (grown girls) and told them to make some for their father. They took it out and examined it for some time, when they went to the old people and inquired if you made it " likeother bean soup."

All families did not live this way. There was then, as now, great difference in the forethought and thrift of the people. Many, even when here before the county was organized, lived in generous plenty of such as the land afforded then anywhere in the gi'eat West. Meat of a superior quality and in varieties that we now cannot get were within the easy reach of all, but in everything else to eat or wear they were far behind us now, but so was the whole country-. But what was possible for men to do then is well illustrated in the sketch that we give below tiiat comprises the facts of what the subject did do. In this connection we may say that we prefer to give the facts than to try to give the results and let them tell tlieir own stor^-.

" Dr. Jacob Bishop was born in Hard}- County, Va., in 1812, and spent his years to maturity on his father's farm. W^hen of age, he emigrated to Licking Count}', Ohio, where he was soon after married to Sarah Hooks. His father died in 1836, when he was called to his old home, where he remained until he administered upon the estate, which duty he performed to the utmost satisfaction of all interested. He then returned to his home in Licking County, where he remained a little more than a }'ear, and then moved to Etiingham County, arriving October 11, 1841, and fixed his home at Blue Point. This was simply going into camp, as for some time his wagon was his house. With his own hand and alone he cut and carried, with the help of Met Kelly, the logs and poles and built his cabin. He commenced opening a farm. His ax and auger were about all the mechanical aids he possessed. Until his first crop matured, his table, made by his own hands from the first convenient tree, did not do any of that proverbial groaning under the other ijroverbial loads of rich and delicate viands gathered from the four quarters o£ the wide and beautiful earth ; for even 6-cent corn, wliich had to be purchased and direct from the cob, manufactured at home from the old stump-mill, w.as earning bread by the sweat of the brow. True, there were then four old, rickety liorse-mills in the couuty, but they were so little an improvement on the home stump and pestle that they were of doubtful advantage.

'-The moment a little leisure from his primitive farming operations was found, he looked about him and determined to make such improvements as his fertile brain suggested and his hard necessities demanded. He procured a couple of bowlders, ' nigger heads,' as they are commonly called, that are found so frequently all over the county, and from these he manufactured a couple of mill-stones, the bedstone being fixed in a .sycamore gum. This gum was a common article of utility in the early day. It was made by sawing off a hollow tree any required length, and when set upright was a fine substitute for barrel or hogshead. This was firmly fixed in the ground, the upright lever attachment was attached to the upper stone, and the mill was complete. The motive power to this was his own strong arms, and in this way, a big improvement, remember, on the old way, he secured for a long time the bread for his family, consisting of a wife and six children. But his active nature did not permit him to stop content with this ; he sought out other schemes and quickly put them into practice. He had bj' this time become the happ\' possessor of a yoke of oxen and an old, patched-up wagon, and with these he inaugurated the business of going among tlie people and gathering their beeswax, pelts, venison or an^-thing else they desired to send to market that was transportable, and with a load of these, going to St. Louis. These products the neighbors thus pooled and sent to market were sold to the best advantage by this trusty commission merchant, and with the proceeds he would purchase and bring back the quantitj' and kind of merchandise ordered 153- each, which would be carefully delivered to the widespread neighbors. To thus patiently gather up the load to take awaj', then return to each the articles ordered ; to be from three to five weeks on the road to the city and return, and that, too, when in wet weather the roads and bridges were simph" horrible, and in dry weather it was, if anything, even worse, as the cattle were in danger of perishing, and in still thore danger of running away, overturning the wagon, plunging down a bluff, or hopelessly bogging wagon and all in the mud and water - a not uncommon occurrence when the suffering brutes would suddenly smell the water as they would pass near it along the road ; to all this add the exposure to wind, storms, snow and freezingj and to heat and dust ; to these include the time and hard labor of this slow, small kind of business ; to do all this, and tell it to the people of this day and age, is to excite tlieir incredulity and tax them with a load of doubts. But Bishop did all this, and, slow and small as it looks, he soon so prospered that he accumulated sufficient to commence a regular business of buying what the people had to sell and selling it on his own account. He bought their pelts, beeswax and produce, and purchased the goods which he sold to them for their products.

In 1844 or 184."), he moved into Freemaiiton, then but a mere hamlet on the National road, \and commenced regularj' to merchandise, but -continuing to make his regular trips to St. Louis and exchanging products for goods and returning again and exchanging goods for products. A part of his trade was to bring flour to the people. This trade at that time compared to the flour trade of to-da}- is a curious instance of the changes that occur. Now we ship out of the county flour by the car-load, and that often in daily shipments; at that time, it was brought here and retailed outonlj- in cases of sickness, in three and five-pound packages onh', the five pounds being the maximum that a single family would purchase at a time. It was a very poor, black article at that - one that the well now would elevate their offended noses at, but it was food and medicine to the poor sick sufferers of that daj-.

Bishop's business in Freemanton was so prosperous that he soon felt able to commence the erection of a wool carding machine. For those da3-s, this was a daring enterprise. The motive power was a tread-wheel moved bj' three oxen, and here was furnished the people a new iudustr}', as well as a home market for their wool. It must have been a great boon to the poor women of the country, as it tended much to lighten their work in preparing the clothes for tlieir families. He soon found that his machine was a complete success, and that his motive power was capable of doing additional work, and so he added regular millstones that would make corn-meal and even grind wheat which could be and was bolted " by hand." And thus Bishop's carding- machine and grist-mill soon became the center of much business and traffic.

In 1850, the countrj- had outgrown the capacities and its tread-wheel power, and so he responded tp the public wants and purchased an engine and boiler. With this great improvement and added power, he purchased a circular saw, and made this an addition to his establishment. He was then read}- and enabled to card the wool, grind the meal and flour and saw the lumber as the public need required. This was the first saw and grist steam mill ever started in the count}-. For many miles around the people came in crowds to look upon and admire this wonderful thing. On Saturdaj-s, particularly, thej' would gather in numbers and spend the day in athletic and other sports about the mill, and in many wa3-s manifest their wonder and jo}' over the grand improvement.

We could not give the history of the rise and progress of the mill in our county without at the same time giving much of the early history of Dr. Bishop, so closely are the two identified. It is but just to the memory of a good man, a valuable citizen and a kind-hearted, true gentleman, to brieflj- conclude this paragraph with a few further words of the Doctor :

In early life he had secured a small but. select medical librar}-; not with a view of ever practicing medicine, but to improve himself - to educate himself - to secure knowledge; he mastered these books, and to this information his strong, closely observing mind had gathered knowledge from every available opportunity or experiment that presented itself Ho found himself often and often surrounded by sick , neighbors, when there was no physician to be had ; in such emergencies he was the Good Samaritan. And so valuable did he prove as nurse and adviser that he soon was wanted both far and near, and almost from compulsion he was thus drifted into the practice of medicine. From the very first he had shown himself to be so skillful in the handling of that dreadful disease, typhoid fever, that his reputation and practice extended, not onlj- over his own but all adjoining counties. To this large, but not lucrative practice - not lucrative because the people were poor and his charity was wide - he gave his time almost exclusively to the time of his last sickness. For some j-ears before his death he suffered from rheumatism, of which he died on the 8th of Noveml)er, 1870, in the fifty-ninth year of his age.

His widow, Sarah Bishop, died March 11, 1872. Three sons and three daughters were left surviving; of these, one son and one daughter have since died.

Dr. Bishop's life is a fair illustration of the fact that a man who is a born gentleman will always be one despite surroundings. It is a common saying of some men that if so-and-so had only had different training and surroundings in his youth, instead of being a mere vulgar lout, he would be a gentleman. There is little truth in such moralizings. It is doubtful if there is an}-. There is infinitely more truth in the opposite aphorism that "blood will tell." There is such a thing as pure and gentle blood, and surroundings can no more change or hide it in the possessor than they can the muley's ears or the leopard's spots.

It is the testimony of all who knew Dr. Bishop, that his presence in the sick room was like a genial, bright ray of sunshine. Under no circumstances did he forget to he a true and perfect gentleman. All testify to this, and the memory of his strong integrity and strict honesty, when added to what he has done for the improvement of the people of the county, are his imperishable and fit monument.

In conclusion, upon the sulijeet of mills, it may be here stated that for a long time the only mode of getting sawed lumber was by the "whip-saw." This was run by two men, with saw made for this purpose, one man standing on the log and the other under it, and in this hard and tedious way much lumber was got out before the horse-mill of T. J. Gillenwater's was put up, and a circular saw put to work. This

In the early day some ingenious pioneer put lip a curious water-mill on the Wabash. It was so contrived, being two largo troughs hung upon a pivoted cross-beam, with a heav}- stone at one end of the beam and the trough at the other, so rigged that when the trough filled with water, it would raise the stone and the water would then spill out of the trough and let the stoue drop heavily in the other trough where the grain was. It was automatic and worked continuallj', needing only an attendent to take out the meal and put in fresh grain.

The population of Effingham County in 1840 was 1,675. The census for the year reports 451 engaged in agriculture; in manufactures and trade, 16; in commerce, 9; learned professions, 4. The county had two insane persons. They were a private charge. There is no record of the number of persons that could not read and write. Under the head of universities, colleges, students, grammar schools and mining all are blanks.

The Killing of Hill. - At high noon, on the 15th da3' of April, 1842, in the town of Freenianton, Dick Hill, as he sat upon his horse, conversing with Jesse Newman, was shot dead. Hill was in the road and the man he was conversing with stood inside the yard, and near a blacksmith shop. The report of the gun was probably heard b}- all in the little village, j'et to this day it has never been proven who fired the shot. His head, shoulder and body were riddled with buck-shot, and his death must have been instantaneous, as he rolled off his horse and fell limp and dead in the road, where he lay just as he had fallen. Some of the scattering shot had slightl}' wounded the horse's shoulder, and the frightened, riderless animal running past the few village houses at full speed, toward his home and along the road his master had ridden a short time before. This added to the report of the gun told the tragic story unmistakably to all. When the horse dashed up to his master's door, the empty saddle and the yet warm blood told the frightful story to 3Irs. Hill. It was a short half-mile from the scene of the tragedy to Hill's house. The screams of the woman could be plainly heard, as she rushed out of her door, caught the horse, bounded into the saddle and at full speed started to the village. With mingled screams, sobs and execrations upon the murderers, and waving her hands and arms above her head, she came to where her dead husband lay. The horse stopped when she flung herself to the ground, fell upon the corpse, pushed one haud under the head, and in doing so covered the hand and part of her arm in the dark mud made by the blood, as it mingled with the dust of the road; she raised the head until the face of the living and tiie dead were nearly along side each other, when the maniac wife and dead husband presented a picture that will never fade from the memory of the few who looked upon it.

A brief half-hour before the tragedj^, Kichard John Hill, in the prime of lusty life, splendid physical .organization, and above the average of much of his surroundings in intellect and culture, had left his wife as she stood in the door admiringlj' watching him as he rode away upon his spirited and gaily caparisoned horse, toward the village. He rode up to the village post office, kept by Mrs. Flack, now >Irs. Joshua Bradley, had called for his mail, which was carried out to him \>y Mr. Brown, and after chatting gaily a moment, he turned his horse and rode toward the blacksmith shop and to his terrible death.

The excitement over this daylight, yet mjsterious tragedj', was great, indeed, among all people. The consequences flowing therefrom, lasting as they did for nearly- a generation were unparalleled in the history of the State. Nearly all questions of social life and the politics of the count}' were pivoted upon this sub- ject. And to this da}-, if you talk to one yet left of the few men of that time, who were prominent in the affiiirs of the county, you may easily detect that the subject might re-kiudle the fires that raged within them more than forty years ago.

Richard John Hill had lived for some years in the county; had been County Superintendent of Schools, and was Count}- Collector when he was killed. But with many of the best people he had earned a bad reputation. Apparently he wished to be considered a reckless, desperate and dangerous man. He openly defied public moral sentiments. It was said that he was a gambler. Many believed he was not only a counterfeiter, but worse, and stories were told of him, which, if true, made him amenable to punishment for the violation of nearly every crime in the decalogue. His delight was to be regarded as a terror generally, and his practices and followers, and henchmen were such that he could and did over-ride and cow many, and secure the dread or hate of nearly all.

Not long after Hill's death, the dead body of a man was found at or near Deadman's Grove (the place gets its name from the circumstance). All indications were that the body had lain for a long time in the water. No one at the inquest recognized the unfortunate. The fiicts were published and Mrs. Sweeney, of Springfield, came here, and from the clothes, the false teeth and the peculiar blue color of one of his partially decayed teeth, identified the body as being that of W. S. Sweeney,' her husband. Hill's enemies asserted and believed that he and his brother Ed had killed and robbed Sweeney and thrown his body into the creek. They told all the circumstantial details - the fiict that Hill was in debt to Sweeney and had written to him to meet him in Shelby ville, that they did meet there, gambled and carouued for two or three days, and then Sweeney and Dick and Ed Hill started for Freemanton, Sweeney in a buggy and the other two on horseback.

In this way they were seen at points along the road to near Deadman's Grove. One or two parties in this county met them north of the Grove and these were the last traces of Sweeney alive. Dick and Ed Hill were seen continuing their way south of the Grove, but without Sweeney, and it was said that Ed was in a buggy, leading a horse behind and Dick in company on horseback. Near Freemanton, at the north side of Mr.s. Flack's farm, they were seen to separate, Dick going toward his home and Ed going west on the National road. He is reported to have been seen at Vandalia still driving the buggy and leading a horse. This was the last ever seen or heard of Ed Hill.

In the foregoing mention of the social and political divisions among the people, it must not be supposed that it was divided upon the line of the friends of the man on one side and his enemies on the other. This was not the line of contention at all. Tiiere were probably ver}' few who regretted the taking off of Hill. It was the manner in which it was done and a desire to ferret out the murderers, and at least attempt to punish them aad vindicate the majesty of the law that constituted the one side, while the others were so rejoiced at his death that they not only justified the manner of it, but they were ready to go any length to shield and protect the perpetrators.

It was due to this state of affairs that it was impossible to ever produce in a court the truth that some absolutely knew, and all iiad well grounded suspicions. Every witness who saw the most material parts of the tragedy, were those who hated Hill and were warm friends of the suspected, and they discreetly closed their mouths upon the subject and kept them so until long after the principal actors were all dead and the county feud had passed away by the election of Joiin Trapp as County Clerk in 1860.

elections were won and lost, the question not being are you a Democrat or Whig, but are you a Trapp-man or an anti-Trapp. Or as one side sometimes taunted the other as " horse thieves," and in return they were designated as " murderers." These terrible epithets were not common, but during the long feud they could at times be heard. It is much to say of the people of those days, that during the twenty j'ears of bickering and bitterness, other and better lives than Dick Hill's were not yielded up as sacrifices upon the alters of hot passion and bitter prejudices.

The evils arising in this unfortunate turn in the public and private affairs of the people were great and manifold. Their effects are not yet wholly obliterated. Important questions in social life, education and finance were dwarfed and forgotten, while detraction and hate ruled the hour. This unfortunate state of affairs would probably never have existed had any other man than John Trapp been suspected of being the chief actor in the bloody* story. There were few people who doubted very strongl}' at anv time as to who it was that killed Hill. Trapp himself, it is said, never denied it point blank.

Trapp and Mike Brockett were seen, just after Hill was shot, to emerge from the empty building that stood near the blacksmith shop .in front of which the killing occurred. They each carried a gun; they quietly walked up and after looking a few minutes at the dead, Trapp remarked to some one standing b}', -' He is dead, isn't he?" and the two men turned and walked off.

In some respects, John Trapp was an extraordinary man. He was quiet, unobtrusive, kind and gentle of disposition - big-souled and warmly generous to all; of natural sound, strong sense and liberal views; he sedulouslj' avoided dirticulties and all troubles. He was affectionate and warm-hearted, and he loved his friends and never abused or threatened even his worst enemies. He believed he had been deeplj' wronged by Hill. Those who knew the circumstances expected he would kill him. Hence, when the sharp report of the gun rang out in the quiet village of Freemauton, it is said the same exclamation came from all who heard the gun, " There, I expect Hill is shot!" But if Trapp had deep griefs - wrongs that impelled him to avenge them illl blood, he gave no sign or outward token; tie confided them to no human being that ever betrayed his confidence or gave up his secret. He was as the still waters that are deep. Not hast}- to act, not swift to revenge. He made no threats - no warning, but he deliberately executed his deliberate purposes even to the death. His friends never deserted him - his enemies had ceased to persecute him, and there is no question but that he died in the sincere and honest conviction that he had only done his duty.

The following is the substance of an act of the Illinois Legislature, and is the final chapter in the official life of Richard John Hill, of date February 3, 1845 :

" Whereas, Richard J. Hill was appointed Collector of the Countj- of Effingham for the taxes for the year 1841, and was charged with the collection of the taxes of that j^ear, amounting to the sum of $227.1(1, and died without having completed the collection of the same and it appearing by the books of said Hill, as. returned to the County Commissioners' Court of said county, by William J. Hankins, administrator of said Hill, and that there remains uncollected the sum of $182.47. Therefore

Section 1. Be it enacted, eic. That Samuel B. Parks, Charles Gilky and Presley Funkhouser be released from a judgment obtained in the Sangamon Circuit Court against them as securities of said Richard J. Hill, as collector as aforesaid, on payment of the sum of $44.G9 with interests, costs of suit, that being the amount that appears to have been collected

A tj'pe of a class of men developed by the times were the fighting, roj-stering, drinking, devil-may-care fellows of whom "chief among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely" was Rod Jenkins. He had boon companions, many imitators, but no equals. He stood alone " like some grand ancient tower " except when he had to steady himself by leaning on some one not so tired as he was. There was nothing small about Rod; he " longed" for the spiritual in this life, and, like the old woman when telling how she liked corn bread, he " honed " for liquid joys. In the language of the hard-shell funeral sermon, " he had bosses and he run 'em - had dogs and he " fit " 'em - had cocks and always bet his bottom dollar on the high-combed cock.

To hunt a little, frolic much, go to town often and never miss a general election daj', and get " glorious " earl3- and fight all da}' for fun, was the pleasure and delight of his life.

We mean no offense to the readers of the prizering literature of to-day by informing them that even in the early times there were men here nearly as big fools as they aie. Their intelligence, like these, had a strong admixture of the bulldog and hyena. Their real worship was an image of the bullet-head and thick-necked tribe of bruisers. It is this base-born admiration of the thug that makes such characters possible among civilized men. The bull}' is the companion piece of the religio- militant dogmatic preacher. Thev are admirabl}' mated in igno- | ranee, but in all else the blood-tub is the best of the two. It has been said that of all disgusting sights for gods or men, the worst is that of a prize-ring with two human brutes turned loose, like Spanish bulls, to batter and bruise i each other to the point of death. But, in truth, i a 3-et worse sight is an ignorant dogmatic ass in the pulpit, sacrilegiousl}- proclaiming his Godly authority to damn mankind, and rudely invading the sacred confines of that border land of the finite and infinite, where each one is unto himself a secret and a covenant with his God alone; where no carthh" power should ever attempt or does attempt to go, but where the long-eared dogmatist would forever " bray " j'ou in the gnashing teeth, the sobs and wails of a superheated hell and brimstone.

There were redeeming traits often about the fighting bully in those olden times. He was the foundation upon which the present thugs may place their first start in the world, and from the good that was in him his successors have wholly departed, until they now present an instance of perpetual degeneration and total depravity.

Rod had many redeeming qualities. At home he was sober, industrious and honest. His .fault was he wanted to go to town too often. He only wanted to quarrel with those who had, like himself, a passion for such discussions, and here was a small class of men who found their fun and enjoyment in thus expending the pentup vital forces that were in their large and splendidl}' developed physical organizations.

Among barbarous people, to drink and get drunk are not grievous crimes, and generally from the highest to the lowest the rule is to indulge to excess upon every opportunity. There was a time when anywhere in Illinois whisky was to be found in every house; it was a common- beverage for men, women and children, and common hospitality commanded it to be offered to every guest upon nearly all occasions. It was cheap, in common use, fresh from the still and fiery, but neither adulterated nor poisoned. It made men drunk and foolish and beastly, but probably did not so fearfully craze them then as now.

Rod was not whoU}' vile nor evil-looking, morally or physically. In fact, a kindly-faced, good old grandmother who knew Rod when she was a fair-haired Lass, has often described him to the writer as she saw him with her young eyes in his early manhood. She insists he was not her sweetheart, yet she pronounces him, at one time, " the prettiest man in the county." But he was never vain of his beautj', however much he may have been of his prowess. Even if he had been proud of his manly beauty of face, he met with an accident that changed all this just as effectually as did the mule cure the boy that attempted to climb his tail. This accident gave him the name of '- Old Snip Nose," and came about as follows:

On one occasion, in a nice, friendl}' fight, he bit off a portion of his friend's nose. When he sobered up, he no doubt regretted the accident so much that he would have replaced the missing link if he could. But seeing he could not do this, he gave himself no further concern. His victim did not relish the very practical joke, but nursed his wrath to keep it warm, and as patiently as he could, bided his time. It was not a great while before he saw Rod start home from Ewiugton so ver^' drunk that before he had gone verj' far beyond the city limits he fell off his wagon, the fall not disturbing his sound sleep. His enemj' improved the opportunity, rushed upon him, and cut off his nose. Whisky had been the Delilah that caressed Rod in her lap until he shorn thus cruell3'. From that day he had about the poorest excuse for a nose in the whole county. At all events he missed it so sadly that he eventuallj- took an old shoe-vamp, soaked it well, and made a leather nose, which was fastened to its place by a string around his Lead above the ears.

One morning he rode into Ewington to spend the day, as usual, and as he came into the crowd, Dan Williams (Blue Dan) saluted him cheerfully with, " How are j'ou, old Snip Nose? "

He paid little or no attention at the time to this salutation, but during the day Rod and Dan got into a fight, when Rod bit off Dan's nose, and then pushed him awaj', sa3-ing with a leer, "How are you, Brother Snip?" The whole county enjoyed the joke finely', at least as well nearly as did Blue Dan, and from this time forth the two were better friends than ever. They often met in the village and spent the day in admirable harmonj- together, never after meeting with more serious mishaps than sometimes loosing their leather noses, and then they would go arm in arm roaring through the village, sending the women and children, and some of the men too, flying in terror to their homes and hiding places.

Rod and Dan were admirable types of a class that were here from the first, and that will be here yet for maj'hap a long time. It is not insisted on that their abnormall}' developed bumps for fights and whisky were either essential to the early pioneer or models to be hung up in the schoolroom. But there is little doubt but that they had other essential traits, such as reckless bravery, strong resolution and endurance for the sore trials of their times that made them valuable factors in the struggles of the fathers.

Boleyjach. - Another and a different character entirelj- from an}' we have attempted to portray in the preceding chapters was Bole3Jack, sometimes styled the parched corn, summer preacher. He was a magnificent specimen of the coou skin pioneer exhorter in many respects. He lived hard, preached brimstone sermons and was paid his ministerial salar}- in old clothes, and at rare intervals, a full feed on -' hog and hominy " at a brother's or neighbor's. From his early days - the years intervening between his childhood gambols and his backwoods preaching - little or nothing is known. He was here - as to how, whence or why he came no one asked, perhaps no one cared. He was naturally- pious and dirty, in fact, the prince of dirt if not a paragon of piety. His laziness was onl}' equaled by his tatters and rags. He despised all manual labor, and dreaded soap and water with an intensity that kept him preserved always in his ancient sweetness and purity. He was the great unwashed salvation shrieker, j-et there was within him the smoldering fires of a rough eloquence that when once in his pulpit and wanned to his work, were soon fanned into fierce flames as he drew frightful pictures of an angry God, or the horrors of a hell of literal fire and brimstone. He preached the Gospel pure and simple, as he understood it; not for pelf, but solely for the good of mankind, and because he was too lazy to do an^-thing else. Man}-, who have seen him hundreds of times, have attempted over and over again to describe him - to draw in words a picture so strong and clear that his true likeness would stand out upon the canvas strong and distinct. It is feared they failed to that extent that it will be impossible for us to place him in his deserved niche of immortality. In appearance he is described as a man of medium size, angular, uncouth and very ungainl}- ; swarthj- complexion, large mouth, heavy lips, long black, coarse unkempt hair, stooped shouldered, sluggish of movement, and listless, careless air. His whole features were heavy and stolid ; a large under jaw and a thickness of neck that indicated the preponderance of the animal, the eye being the only feature that bespoke talent of any kind. He was a summer preacher mostlj', and his dress was not of royal ermine or purple silk and fine linen. It was coarse, home-made tow linen, and consisted of shirt and " breeches, " the breeches foxed with buckskin in front and rear, and a coon-skin cap, and as a rule barefoot, but on great occasions he wore a shocking pair of shoes - no socks. His shoes never fit, and he stuck his toes into the vamp while his heels braved the wind and weather. The shoe and foot were kept together by hickory bark strings. There was a mile of shin between the " breeches " and shoes exposed to the elements. This exposure bad given them much the appearance of a young shell-bark hickory. To make up for the shortness at the bottom of his " breeches," they were drawn up nearly to the neck by a single hickory bark " gallus ' which

Such was Boleyjack, and, such as he was, he never seemed to tire of proclaiming to the world that he was not "ashamed to own his Lord and Master." ^Yhether this compliment was returned or not is not material to this inquiry. Boleyjack was no sunshine, band-box dandy. He was not a Beecher, a Talmage, a mountebank nor a monkey'. He was a humble, sincere, great pioneer preacher, with fists like a maul and a voice like the fabled bull of Banshe, and thus arrayed and equipped he went meekly forth upon his mission, and waked the echoes of the primeval forests, made reprobates tremble, women to cry and shout aloud, and many a tough old sinner to fall upon his kness and plead with Heaven in agonizing groans and sobs. In squalor and poverty in his floorless log cabin he dreamed out his indolent existence, tasting in a vague way, perhaps, .some of the pangs of endless punishment. Yet there is no doubt he found surcease of sorrows in his vivid imaginings, which brought him sweet foretaste of the eternal Sundays in that city not built with hands, and whose streets are paved with gold, and whose rivers flow perennially with milk and honey. Bole^'jack's wife and iielpmeet was an instance of remarkable adaptation to a remarkable husband. She was not too much civilized ; was coarse, rough, of great phj-sical strength and endurance. Her unadorned beauties had been materiallj- aggravated by a savage hook in one ej-e, bj- a furious ; cow, which, while it had not " put out " the eye, had sadly " rucked " it up, and for the balance of its life it dissolved partnership with its mate and seemed to set up business on its own hook. A circumstance or two will tell much of her history. Not a great while before her death, a railroad train killed her cow. The old lady witnessed it all from her cabin door. She rushed out, took her position on the track and demanded pay for her cow before the train could move. It was only after much trouble and some force that she could be gotten out of the wa}- and the train allowed to pursue its voj-age. It is said that she regularh- soaped the track until an agent was sent down, and a good round price paid the old lady for her cow. Not a great while after this, she was walking along the track of the railroad when a train came along. The engineer whistled and whistled, and slowed up and whistled and barked and coughed but all in vain. She gave it no heed, never once turned her head. Finally, when almost upon her, it was stopped, the conductor and brakeman rushed forward, believing they had barely saved the life of a poor deaf mute, and seized her by the arms and forced her to one side. '- Oli !" says she, " you may hoot and toot, and keep a hooten and a tooten.

but you can't skeer me, if you did kill my cow !" When the good woman died there were strange whispers went abroad, some of them, in short, charging absolutely that Boleyjack had starved her to death. He was eventually taken to task upon this charge, and asked to explain it. He repelled the vile slander, and confused his accusers by the crushing reply : " It is false, for there was at least a half-pint of parched corn at her bedside when she died." Bolej-jack soon followed his companion to that happy land, it is to be hoped, where soap and water are an unknown necessity, and where parched corn and hickory bark " galluses " are not the essential stays of life. In their humble way and in their hard lives they found their places and filled them to the best of their abilitv. Let them sleep in peace.

LEGAL LIFE OP THE COUNTY-LLST OF OFFICERS-BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS-THEIR OFFICIAL DUTIES-FARMING AND STOCK RAISING-AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES, THEIR MEETINGS AND OFFICERS - THE GOOD ACCOMPLISHED, ETC., ETC.

1833 - T. W. Short, Isaac Fancher and William J. Hankins were the first elected County Commissioners' Court ; Joseph H. Gillespie, County Clerk ; John C. Sprigg, Circuit Clerk ; Henry P. Bailey, Sherifl' ; John Ley, County Treasurer ; William J. Hankins, County Surveyor ; William J. Hankins, Probate Judge. Isaac Fancher only served as Commissioner a few months, and was succeeded in office by James Turner.

1838- Tiiomas M. Loy, Probate Judge; John Loy, Treasurer; T. J. Gilleuwaters, Presley Funkhouser and Isaac Slover elected County Judges. They drew lots, when Gilleuwaters drew the three-year term, Funkhouser two years, and Slover one year. December, 1838, a vacancy occurred in the County Clerk's office. To fill the vacancy, W. H. Blakeley, John C. Gilleuwaters, and Newton E. Tarrant were applicants. The court by vote appointed Newton E. Tarrant.

appoint two Assessors and a Collector for the county. Joseph C. Wheeler and Harrison Higgs were appointed Assessors, Joseph C Wheeler, Collector.

1842 - John 0. Scott, School Superintendent, and James Devore succeeded Tarrant as Commissioner. At August term of this year, Thomas M. Loy resigned County Clerkship and William J. Hankins appointed to his place.

1844 - Elisha W. Parkhurst, Probate Judge; Daniel Rinebart, Count}- Treasurer; Jaines Devore, Isaac Slover and William Dunham, County Commissioners. Brick court house in Ewingtpn built this j^ear.

1861 - Robinson McCann, School Superintendent. Never served out his term. Went to the war, and court declared bond insufficient and appointed Calvin Kitchell to fill the vacancy.

If to these names he added the various ones of the numerous boards of Supervisors of the county that have assembled from time to time to guard the people's interests and carry on the business of the county, then you will have a complete list of the names which bear the honors, whatever they may be, of the legal life and doings of the county, as well as the names of those on whose shoulders must perpetually rest the foolish, unwise, and positively injurious public acts, if there have been any, in the county's history to date.

To the day of the adoption of township organization in the county, thei-e is but little, if any, doubt that many errors slipped into the administration of county affairs, but, at worst, they were venial and the inflictions that followed them were temporarj-, and the county's financial affairs never verged upon the borders of criminal extravagance. In manj- things they would now be termed old fogyish probably, and they would deserve the mild reproach, but they were always rigidly conservative and economical in handling the people's money, and but precious little of the public " blood money " (not a bad name for all taxes) found its way, under any pretext, into any official's pocket.

Let justice be rendered these plain, unpretentious men in this respect. Their sterling official honesty is now beautiful to behold, and it is well to constantly revive its cherished memory. True, temptations were not scattered along their pathway, but it should be borne in mind that those officials who handle and manage the public funds, usually have the making and creating of their own temptations,

It is the misfortune of the Board of Supervisors that it came intq existence in the county when all the country was in the first throes of the civil war. Communities had gone daft, and madness and folly ruled everywhere, and pretty much all the few remnants of sanity left in the few individuals were either ostracized or hung by mobs. The bloody carnival had commenced, the end of the evils of which will not come in our day or generation, or in the day and generation of our immediate children's children. When a great people have been completely demoralized, it is not yet a fact demonstrated by either ancient or modern history, that the plague can ever be cleansed from the blood, and real health restored. National demoralization, when it honeycombs the body politic and penetrates every hamlet and home in the land is leprosj' - incurable and loathsome.

The call for $17,000 this year will all be collected, so that this may be put down as the true expense for the year 1882 of the county. This is the county's money, for couuty purposes, county expenses.

Schools, roads and bridges, townships, railroads. State and about every other of the innumerable taxes piled on our people, are excluded from this $17,000 the couuty wants and will get. The Poor Farm and the pay of the county officers are, so far as the public may see, the only places where this money is destined to go. A part of this money may be used necessarily in the matter of the county's tax sale latelj', where the county bid off the land, and holds the certificates of purchase. Other portions, judging by the past, may be appropriated b}' the board to aid in the building of certain much needed bridges in the county, and thus all this sum of money may be both justly and judiciouslj- expended, and the people have, not only no cause to complain, but much to commend most heartily.

In the way the county's book-keeping is done it is very difficult, next to impossible, for a tax payer to go there and tell how much of the money has been used for county purposes, and how much for count}' expenses in the discharge of the county's business. In this the board gives the people just ground for some of the complaints against it.

The county has, at one time or another, employed experts to in\'estigate nearly ever}' officer in the county, except the Board of Supervisors. There is a fine vein of irony running through all tliis employment of experts (the qualification necessary being the ability to keep a set of books) to come in on every emergency and explain to the board its own business. It is on a par with the appointment of Postmasters that cannot read and write.

A generation ago the County Commissioners built bridges that were very regularly washed away, and this heroic work is patiently going on in the same wa}- to-day. It was once said that somebod}- never learned and never forgot anything. That probable somebody has come to Effingham to superintend the public works across the streams of the count}-.

It is said that one direct, and, which ought to be fatal, evil flowing out of this township law as it has heretofore worked, has been this: Whenever a man was elected Supervisor, he at once became a candidate for some county office, and commenced to form his ring in the board to help him carr}' out his purpose. If this was ever done, that instant the man and his associates in the infamy were fullblown scoundrels; and it is using mild terms. to call him a scoundrel.

If the Legislature would onlj- pass a law that no Supervisor could for at least two years after going out of office, be elected to a county office, it would not harm the people; it would not deprive them of the only chance they might have of getting good, competent and honest men.

All democratic governments are menaced by things that are equally dangerous, and equally certain to be an indiginoas and spontaneous production, to wit, demagogues and over-legislation.

The fool in his heart has said that much voting is much liberty and greatness. The cunning demagogue has educated his long-eared constituents into the knowledge that many , laws make much freedom.

And when the school convention meets it has never yet whispered a word of war upon this wide-spread and criminal ignorance upon which the public is fattening .and battening from year to year.

The legislative acts of the county and its self government are no more the creation of the public idea that prevails as to what is a good Government, than are the schools the founders and progenitors of the enlightment and civilization we have.

The public officials, the good or bad we have evolved from our self-government are the reflex picture, as are the schools, public morals, and about everything else we have, the result of that pul)lie that breathes the breath of life into them all. They are all the effects of causes, of which they have had no lot or parcel in forming or directing.

Agricultural Societies. - Following naturally upon the official life of the county, comes the acts and official doings of the different and successive agricultural societies, that had their rise in Ewington May 5, 1865, in a public meeting of the leading men of the county, called together for the purpose of organizing a county agricultural society. The book is thus formally dedicated on the title page.

" This book is to contain the constitution and hy-la;vvsof this society; the names of members belonging thereto, also a true and faithful record of all the official business and proceedings of the same."

Then follows a constitution and by-laws elaborate and ponderous enough for the ship of State to ride upon in safety. This constitution and by-laws are better explained by the very full minutes of a meeting that is given in full on the next page, " held by the citizens of Effingham County, at Ewington, on 5th day of May, 1856." Meeting organized by electing Dr. J. H. Robinson, Chairman, and Greenbury Wright, Secretary. Constitution and by-laws read and unanimously adopted on motion of P. Funkhouser.

J. H. Robinson was elected President of the Agricultural Society, Presley Funkhauser, Vice President, Greenbury Wright, Secretary, and J. M. Long, Treasurer.

On motion, P. Funkhauser, the Secretary, was " ordered to furnish each officer of the society with a certificate of his election, accompanied by a synopsis of his duty.'

George Wright, S. F. Hankins and J. J. Funkhouser were elected Executive Committee in Town 8, Range 5 ; Elijah Henry, I. L. Leith and Morgan Wright, Town 6, Range 5 ; J. B. Carpenter, J. W. Parkhurst and A. H. Wood, Town 7, Range 5 ; John F. Waschfort, Town 8, Range 6 ; John Billingsly, Town 7, Range

G. W. Holmes, S. D. Lorton, Jackson Gillmore, Isaac Mahon, G. AV. Nelson, H. Cronk, R. Mc- Cann, M. B. Reed, J. F. Meyer, A. Johnston and R. Dust were added to the Executive Committee.

On the 21st of October, 1857, the Effingham County Agricultural Society met again at Ewington, where Isaac L. Leith was elected President, Daniel Rinehart, Vice President. John S. Kelly, Secretary, Presley Funkhouser, Treasurer.

It was resolved that each member desiring to continue his membership should pay 50 cents to the Treasurer. Fifty-seven names were then enrolled as the membership of the society.

At the county fair, October, 1857, premiums were offered to the amount of $40. Including best stallion, $3 ; best bulls, $2.50 ; best yoke of oxen, $2 ; best span of mules, $1.50 ; best brood mare, $2 ; best butter, 25 cents ; best cheese, $1.

The new Executive Committee elected was David Leith, W. H. Blakely, Hamilton Boggs, John W. Parkhurst, I. B. Humes, G. C. Van Mien, J. B. Carpenter, John Frazey, Robert McCann, D. Rinehart, A. B. Kagay and John J. Funkhouser. This meeting, by motion, ordered its proceedings published in the Effingham Pioneer.

Dr. William Mathews then delivered an address to the meeting (supposed to have been on the subject of agriculture). On the 21st and 22d of October, 1859, the second county fair was held at Ewington. The societj' had Bnlarged and fenced its grounds, and from the long list of premiums awarded and paid it is evident this meeting was a great success in every respect. Ninety-three dollars and fifty cents were paid in premiums, including S2 paid IMiss Elizabeth Fleming, best lady equestrian, and $1 paid Mary Fleming, 2d best ditto.

In March, 18G1, new officers of the society were elected as follows : R. H. McCann, President ; D. Rinehart, Vice President ; Sam Moffitt, Secretary ; J.J. Funkhouser, Treasurer.

At the annual fair, 10th, 11th and 12th of October, 1861, SS-t were distributed in premiums. March, 1862, new officers were elected as follows: W. H. Blakely, President; R. H. McCann, Vice President ; Sam Moffitt, Secretary, and D. Rinehart, Treasurer.

In 1862, a new list of members is recorded, and it gives 115 names. This was the largest list the society had ever obtained, and, one would think it betokened prosperity and long life. But, in fact, it was the vigor of dying spasms. The energj- and judgment of the men at the head of the movement had been commendably seconded bj' the people, and some most encouraging fairs had been held, but, in

1862, Ewington began the song of the dying swan; and the roar of the battle throughout the land, and the " smell of the draft " from afar put other thoughts in the heads of the war-like men of the county than that of the peaceful pumpkin. The admirable Secretary, Sam Moffitt, wrote out the new list of membership, folded the records and put up his pen to rust, when, with about everj' other able-bodied young man on the list, he went to the front, where bayonets, not pens, were writing in blood the country's history. It was well for the mild-eyed, fair-faced society of agriculture to hide awaj' and sleep in peace, while war and his wrinkled front held sway. In fact, the first Effingham County Agricultural Society ceased to e.xist after its annual fair in 1861.

After the lapse of eleven years, and on the 24th day of August, 1872, there was a meeting in the city of Effingham for the purpose of organizing the Effingham County Agricultural, Horticultural and iNIechanical Society.

This starts out with regular articles of association, preamble and constitution and by-laws, and is incorporated under the general incorporation laws of the State, and J. J. Worman, Circuit Clerk, certifies the instrument was filed and recorded in his office on the 28th day of August, 1872.

These articles of association are signed by 102 names, including nearly every leading farmer and business man in the county, each subscriber taking shares of stock, and paying In cash a certain proportion thereof at the time of subscribing.

The organization was completed by the election of William Gillmore, President ; T. L. Sexton, Vice President ; E. H. Bishop, Secretary, and the following Board of Directors : M. V. Parks, Eli Kelly, William C. Wright, I. L. Leith and W. H. Blakely.

Lumber was purchased, the grounds elegantly inclosed, an amphitheater and numerous halls, sheds, and stock pens put up and the preparations for a great county fair rapidly pushed forward.

December 10, 1872, in order to comply with the act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, the name of the society was changed to the " EtBngham County Agricultural Board."

A fair was ordered to be held commencing September 30 and October 1, 2 and 3, 1873, and Thomas H. Dobbs was put in charge of the fair grounds.

The Secretary's books only incidentall3' mention the fact that any fair was held at all. It appears there was one in 1872 and in 1873, and the following entries tell better what success attended each than anything we can say :

The books show that the land cost $2,160. Including this item, thesocietj' paid out for the two years of 1872 and 1873, the sum of $6,379.20, leaving a balance unpaid of $2,- 262.23.

In 1873, the officers were S. Hardin, President; Eli Kelly, Jake Khodes, E. Avery and Samuel Campbell, Directors. A fair was ordered to be held October 6, 7, 8 and 9, 1874.

The records now .show a determination to draw or " bust," as there is a recorded resolution authorizing the President to close the bargain for a walking exhibition by E. P. Weston (he didn't walk), but the fair must have

This was the heyday and acme of the glory of our count}' fairs. It began to decline after 1874, and although most energetic efforts were made by the officers - all good and competent men, too, j'et there was and has been to date a continuous diminution of interest in the county fairs. The new board of 1874 appointed Albert Gravenhorst Superintendent of Grounds.

In 1875, a fair was held on the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th of October. This board commenced the struggle to pay off the debts of the society, and by this time the whole countr)' was suffering from the general stagnation and depression of the panic of 1873-78.

Total receipts 1875, including $100 received from State, $779.90, Paid out for this year $577.60. Balance in treasury $202.30. This was deposited in Habiug's bank, and when the bank suspended this was all lost.

The association liad purchased the ground and given a mortgage upon the same for the balance due thereon. This mortgage was foreclosed in 1874, and the ground sold to pay the the debt, and this was the final act in the second fiiiluro to have an agricultural societj' in Effingham.

Finally in ISSO, another meeting of the citizens resulted in a new County Agricultural society. They leased the ground the society had once owned, for five j'ears, at a rental of 860 per j-ear. And a fair was held that season, E. H. Bishop, President; G. M. Lecrone, Secretary, J. J. Funkhouser, Superintendent and A. Gravenhorst, Treasurer; T. H. Dobbs, Marshal. About $500 was the receipts for this year's exhibition, including the $100 from the State. There had been about $500 subscribed by citizens, and this was expended in repairs upon the grounds and new accommodations for stock. In 1881, another fair, and a moderate success attended it. This year (1882) much ellbrt and elaborate preparations were made, and $1,000 were expended, and $916 receipts were taken in at the gate and for other privileges. The attendance was ver}' flattering - there being over $500 received as gate money. This year W. C. Wright was President.

The friends of this county institution now feel assured that it is placed pormanentlj- upon its feet and that it may continue with us for many jears to benefit and improve the county as it will do if properly carried on, is the prayer and wish of all our people.