Fulton County, Illinois - Chapter 4: Geology., 1879

Fulton county contains a superficial area of about twenty-four townsliips, or about 864 square miles. It is triangular in sh«pe, and is bounded on the north by Knox and Peoria eoiinties, on the east by Peoria county and the Illinois river, on the south by Schuyfer county, and on the west by Schuyler, McDonough and Warren counties. The principal streams in the county are the Illinois river, forming its main boundary on the east and southeast for a distance of about thirty miles ; Spoon river and its tributaries, which traverse nearly the whole extent of the county from north to south ; and CV)pperas creek, which drains a considerable area in the northeastern portion of the county. These streams drain the whole area of the county, and are from 150 to !:^:)0 feet below the general level of the highlands.

Originally the surface was nearly equally divided into prairie and timbered lands, the former occupying the most elevated positions of the county, as well as a part of the Illinois-river bottoms, while the timber belts are restricted to the more broken lands skirting the water-courses. INIucli of the original timber, however, has been cleared away in developing the agricultural resources of the county, and splendid farms now occupy a large portion of the area which but a few years since. was covered with a dense forest. Much of the upland was originally timbered with a dense growth of sugarmaple, black-walnut, linden, hackberry, elm, honey-locust and wild cherry, indicating a very rich and productive soil. This growth of timber usually prevails where the Loess overlies the drift clays on a moderately level surface, and these lands iii their productive qualities are second to none in the State. Where the surface is broken into sharp ridges, along the borders of the smaller streams, black and white oak and hickory are the prevailing.timber, and the soil is a thin, chocolate-colored, or In'OAvn clay loam, well adapted to the growth of small grain, clover or fruit.

The prairies generally have a rolling surface, though in the region about Fairview there are some quite flat prairies that require draining in wet season^. The soil on the })rairies is a dark-ln-own or black mold, varying from one to three feet in thitikuess, Mitka sub- soil of brown clay loam. The bottom lands on the western bank of the Illinois river are from one to fonr miles in width, and are mostly covered with timber, thongh there is some bottom })rairie near the month of Spoon river. A good deal of this bottom land is too low and marshy for cnltivation, bnt where it is sufficiently elevated the soil is of a rich, sandy loam, and 'very productive.

The bluffs generally range from 125 to 150 feet in height, and are usually cut into sharp ridges by the valleys of the small streams that drain the adjacent country. The lower parts of these bluffs, to the height of 75 to 100 feet, consist of the stratified rocks of the Coal Measures into which the original valley was excavated, and their elevation has l)ecn subsequently increased by the accumulation (»f Drift clays and lacustrine deposits u})on them. The valley of Spoon river seldom exceeds a mile in w idth, and is excavated into the Lower Carboniferous limestone on that part of its course extending from Bernadotte. The depth of this valley is about the same as that of the Illinois river, but the lower rocks are reached here, in consequence of the easterly dip of the strata, wliich brings the limestone nearer to the surface in the western portion of the county.

Surface GeoIo</i/. - The surface deposits of Fulton county consist of Drift clays and gravel, with the subsequent lacustrine and alluvial accumulations. The Drift pro])er ranges in thickness from 30 to 00 feet or more, and is usuqlly composed of thrown and bluish-colored clays with gravel, and boulders of metamorphic and igneous rocks, varying in size from a ])ebble to masses of several tons' weight. Usually the brown clays constitute the u])])er ])ortion of the deposit, and the blue clays the lower. In the vicinity of Utica a bed of ferruginous conglomerate, about two feet in thickness, underlies the Drift clays, and similar beds in local outliers have been met with in tlie same ])osition, at several localities in the State. This conglomerate exactly resembles the bed at Metropolis in Massic county, on the Ohio river, which has been usually referred to the Tertiary period, and may be of the same age.

On the west side of Big-creek bridge, near Canton, in grading the track for the T., P. & W. railroad, a band of black mold or soil, containing leaves and fragments of wood, was found below the Drift clays, which is no doubt a part of the ancient soil covering the surface anterior to the Drift epoch. A similar bed has been found in sinking shafts and wells in various parts of the State, and indeed in hundreds of places in Fulton county alone, indicating the prevalence of dry land over a considerable portion of the present area of the State during the Post-Tertiary period. Mr. John Wolf, of Canton, reports a similar bed of black, peaty soil, four feet in thickness, underlying the town of Fairview, at the depth of eleven feet. The heaviest deposits of Drift occur along the Illinois-river bluffs and in the vicinity of Lewistown, where the beds range from 40 to 60 feet in thickness.

for three or four miles with a constantly diminishino; thickness. This deposit consists of buif or light-brown, loamy sand, imperfectly stratified, and locallv contains abundance of land and fresh-water shells.

Okkr Geological Formations. - The stratified rocks belong mainly to the Coal Measures, with a limited exposure of the St. Louis limestone in the valley of Spoon river. Nearly all of the uplands in the county are underlaid by coal, and Prof Worthen says that he has found the most comi)lete exposure of the productive Coal Measure in this county that he has met with in the State. He has, therefore, considered the section constructed in Fulton as a typical one, and has used it for the co-ordination of the coal strata throughout the central and western portion of the State. There were seven consecutive seams found here, and all exposed by their natural outcrop ; and all except the upper one have been worked to a greater or less extent. The aggregate thickness of these coal seams is about 25 feet, and' their individual range is from twenty inches to six feet in thickness. The three lower seams outcrop in the southern and western portions of the county, especially along the bluifs of Spoon river; and as the general dip of the strata is to the eastward, they pass below the level of the Illinois river, and are therefore not seen on the eastern borders of the county. The upper seams underlie nearly all of the central and eastern portions of the county, and one of them. No. 4, is found south of Spoon river, underlying the highlands in the vicinity of Astoria.

These coal seams are numbered from the bottom upward. The onlv point in the county where No. 1 is sufliciently developed to be profitably worked is in the vicinity of Seville. The seam is worked here at two localities, one above the railroad bridge and the other below. At these mines the coal averages about three feet in thickness.

In the vicinity of Avon a seam of cannel coal occurs at about the same horizon as No. 1. This seam is only about 14 to 20 inches in thickness. It w^as extensively worked in 1859, for the distillation of coal oil. Ten retorts were then in operation at this locality, and the product was said to be 30 gallons from a ton of coal. However, the development of the oil wells of Pennsylvania shortly afterwards put a stop to the manufacture of oil from cannel coal in this State, and the mines were abandoned. This seam is underlaid here by about five feet of excellent fire-clay.

Coal No. 2 is one of the most regular seams in the whole series, and usually ranges from two to three feet in thickness. It will be found everywhere in the bluffs of Spoon river, where the strata are well exposed, and its stmtigraj^hical position is about 40 or 50 feet above the horizon of No. 1, although at Seville the distance intervening between them is about 70 feet. The roof is almost invariably a blue clay shale, and in tunneling it requires to be thoroughly cribbed to prevent the falling of the roof In the south part of the coimtv this seam outcrops on Otter creek, about a mile and a half west of Vermont, where it has been worked since the earliest settlement of the county. It ranges in thickness from two and a half to three feet. A boring for oil was made in the valley of this creek bv Moses Matthewson. The boring extended to the depth of about 800 feet, but no journal was kept of the diiferent strata passed through. In the bluif^ of Spoon river south of Lcwistown, as well as on some of the small tributaries of that stream in the same vicinitv, Xo. 2 is worked at many points, and also about half a mile west of that city. Half a mile east of Lewistowu this seam has been opened by a shaft 40 feet in depth on the lands of Mr. Hunter. "Two miles and a half southeast of liCwistown," Prof. AVorthen says, " we found a mine opened in this seam on the lands of Mr. AVm. AVinterbottom, on our first visit to the county in 1859, and at the same time it had been opened a mile nearer the town by Mr. Butler. In the vicinity of Beruadotte this coal is found at an elevation of about 80 feet above the river level, and the coal was mined bv Mr. Parks one mile and a half southwest of the village, in 1859." Xo. 2 usually affords coal of an excellent quality, freer from the bi-sulphuret of iron than the average of Illinois coals, and one that cokes well and contains more than an average of fixed carbon.

Coal Xo. 4 is a very persistent seam in its development, and was found at every locality in this county that Avas examined by the State Geologist. On the south side of Spoon river it underlies the highlands about Astoria, and it was opened here as early as 1859. The seam is here from four and a half to five feet in thickness, and is overlaid by about two feet oi black sliale that forms a good roof This seam is very extensively worked near Astoria, and at St. David and Canton. At Breed's Station a tunnel has been opened in this seam. The coal averages about five feet in thickness here. It is worked near Cuba, and northwest of Fairview it is Avorked at several points on the breaks of Coal creek. This may be considered the most valuable of all the coals outcropping in this county, from its Avide extent and the average quality of the coal Avhich it affords.

Coal Xo. r is quite local in its deA'elopment, and is not worked to any extent except in the vicinity of Cuba, Avhere it ranges from four to fiA'e feet in thickness.

Coal Xo. 6 is the highest coal in the series that has been Avorked to any extent in this county, and it affords an excellent coking coal, and also a better smiths' coal than is usually obtained from any of the lower seams. It Agarics in thickness from four to fi\'e feet. Prof. W. says of this seam: "On our first A'isit to this county in 1859, we found this seam opened at Piper's place, tAvo miles north of Canton ; at Barton's place, two and a half miles north of Farmingtou ; and it was also worked by Mr. Burbridge at that time, about three miles w^est of Farminerton, (in Little creek. More recently it has been opened by Mr. Johnson on land adjoining Piper's." Six miles northeast of Canton, on a branch of Copperas creek, this coal has been worked by tunnelling. It was worked at Powell's, near Norris. Burbridge & Co.'s shaft, one mile w^est of Farmington, reaches coal No. 6 at a depth of feet. This seam lies about Ui) feet below the leyel of the town of Farmington. It is also mined two miles northeast of Fairyiew. This seam prol)ably underlies some three or four townships north and east of Canton, and may be reached anywhere in that region at a depth yarying from 25 to 100 feet.

Coal No. 7 is the highest coal stratum seen in this county, and l)eing usually only from IG to 20 inches in thickness no attempt has been made to mine it in competition witli thicker seams.

Bititiidiious Coal. - The oreat mineral wealth of Fulton county, as must be apparent, consists in its almost inexhaustible beds of coal, which are so distril)ute(l as to be easily accessible to eyery portion of the county. The three lower seams outcroj) on all the principal streams in the southern and western ])ortions of the county, while coals 4, 5 !Uk1 6, the thickest and most yahiable seams known in the northern jKirtion of the State, underlie the ceiitral and northeastern })ortions of the county. These coals underlie nearly or (|uite seyen townships, with an nggregate thickness of about 11 feet; and, throwing out of the calculation entirely No. o, which is more local in its deyclo})- ment than the other two, we still haye an aggregate of from nine to ten feet of coal, equal to 9,000,000 tons of coal to the square mile as the product of these two seams, from tlie central and northeastern portions of the county alone, and within loO feet of the surface at the general leyel of the j)rairie region. Taking the seyen townshi[)s, there would be, of these tMM) seams, 2,268,000,000 tons of coal finderlying the sui'face. Who could calcidate the number of tons of all the seyen strata underlying the entire county? Coal-mining is yet in its infancy in this most highly fayorcd region.

(Jannel (hal. - A thin seam of cannel coal occurs in the yicinity of Ayon, and before the discoyery of the yast deposits of oil in Pennsylyania it was mined for the distillation of oil.

FIrr-Claf/. - A good l)ed of tire-clay, from three to fiye feet in thickness, occurs below the cannel coal at Ayon. At Andrews' coal bank, two miles and a half north of Marietta, there are from two to three feet of good iire-clay below the coal, and at many other localities in the county.

Iron Ore. - "Iron ore in ciuisiderable (piantities," says Prof W., " was met with at several localities in the county. In the yicinity ofSeyille there is a bed oi Limomie, from eight to twelye inches thick, immediately aboye the limestone that forms the roof of the lower coal." The same band of ore was seen in the yicinity of

Avon. In the vicinity of Utica there is considerable impure carbonate of iron. Iron ore is ahiiost universally disseminated through the Coal Measures in this State, but usually in too small quantities to be of any great value for the production of metallic iron ; but it is quite probable that the ores of this county may at some future time become valuable for this ])urpose.

BulkUng-Stone. - The Coal Measures seldcjui afford large quantities of limestone of sufficient thickness and of the right quality for good building-stone, and this material has to be sup})lied mainly irom the sandstones, which are usually the })rcvailing rock in the coal regions. There are some beds of limestone, however, in this county that furnish a suitable material for rough walls, though the supply is quite limited.

Limestone for Lime. - The gray concretionary beds of the St. Louis group, which outcroj) in the valley of Spoon river from Seville to Bernadotte, will afford the best material for the manufacture of quick-lime to be found in the county. This rock is usually a nearly pure carbonate of lime, and the beds in the vicinity of Alton, which also belong to this group, aff'ord the purest and whitest of lime made in the State. The limestone above No. 7 coal is generally a purer carbonate of lime than any other of the Coal Measure limestones in this county, and might be extensively used in the vicinity of Farmington for lime-burning.

f^dud (uid Clay for BrU-h. - These materials are abundant on all the u])lands in the county. On the bluff' lands adjacent to the Illinois river the Loess affords an excellent material for this purpose, in wliich the ingredients are often mixed in just the right proportions. The subsoils of the prairies and of the oak ridges furnish an abundance of brown clay, which, mingled with sand that is abundant in the beds of the streams, forms a gocxl uiaterial for this ])urpose. These materials are so universally distributed that they may be readily found in everv neiy;hborhood, and on almost everv farm in tlie county.

The reason whv timber soil is liy;hter and tiunner than that of the })rairie, is probably the fa(^t that grass outran the trees in takingpossession of the land, the latter coming slowly uj) the water courses and contending against the annual jirairie fires. The trees once upon the hill-sides and high land, shi.ding the ground, the grass and other herbaceous plants were so killed out that the surface easily washed down, rendering it still poorer for the latter while the trees held on l)y their deeper roots.