Grundy County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 2 of those read), 1882 (part 1 of 4)

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 2 of those read)

TX southern Illinois near the Mississip- -'- pi, a hundred miles or more above the mouth of the Ohio, is situated the ancient village of Kaskaskia, supposed to be the oldest permanent European settlement in the valley of the Father of "Waters, "f but while thus attaining an unparalleled eminence in one particular, it must not be supposed that the whole State permanentlj shared in this distinction. Though thus promised with an early dawn of civilization in the latter part of the 17th century, the promise proved illusive before the naarch of greater events, and the bright flush of a hoped-for day paled into the darker obscurity of a more savage barbarism.

In 1700, the settlement of the French and Indians at old Kaskaskia was removed to the spot where the village of that name now stands; two years later followed the abandonment of Fort St. Louis on the Illinois; and in 171S, the erection of Fort Chartres on the Mississippi, sixteen miles above the former village, confirmed the tendency of the white population to concentrate in the southern part of the State. About the fort, rapidly sprang up a village wliich was subsequently called New Chartres ; five miles away the village of Prairie du Rocher became a growing settlement, wliile all along the river between K:iskaskia and the fort a strong chain of settlements was formed within a year after the fort was finished. The erection of Fort Chartres, at this point, however, was dictated by national considerations rather than by fear of the savages. The colonization of Louisiana consequent upon the exploration of the Mississippi and the influx of colonists who found a lionae at Cahokia and Kaskaskia, made this section the key to the French possessions in America, the connecting link between Canada and Louisiana. Here the French settlers, but little disturbed by the forays of the Sacs and Foxes, pushed their improvements up to the Illinois, while lands were granted, though perhaps never occupied, some distance up this stream. The military force found occupation in supporting the friendly Illinois tribes against the Iroquois and Sacs and Foxes, and in unsatisfactory or disastrous campaigns against the Chickasaws. In the meantime this " neck of the woods" was rapidly becoming a spot of national importance. From the southwest the Spaniards were jealously watching the French colonists, while the British gradually pushing west- ward were building forts near the Ohio and Mississippi Kivei-s. The European war of 1741-6, in which France and England were opposed, was eclioed in these Western wilds, and it was found that the fort must be strengthened or abandoned. The former coarse prevailed, and in 1750 the old fortress of wood was transformed into one of stone, and garrisoned by a full regiment of French grenadiers. It was from this point that an important contingent went out to the capture of George Washington and his forces at Fort Necessit}^ July -4, 1754, and thus furnished to George II one of the causes for a declaration of hostilities and a beofinning: of the " Old French War." In the ensuino- war a detachment burned Fort Granville, sixty miles from Philadelphia ; another party routed Major Grant near Fort Duquesne, but compelled to abandon that fortress, set it on fire and floated down the river in the light of its destroying flames ; again a large detachment augmented by a considerable number of friendly Indians, assisted in the vain attempt to raise the British siege of Niagara, leaving dead upon the field, the flower of tiie garrison. The fort was no longer in condition to maintain the oiFensive, and learning that the British were preparing at Pittsburgh to make a hostile descent upon him, the commandant writes to the Governor-General : " I have made all arrangements, according to my strength, to receive tlie iMiemy." Tiie victory on the Plains of Abraham decided the contest, but the little backwoods citadel, knowing but little of the nature of the struggle, dreamed that it might bathe means of regaining, on more successful fields, the possessions tlius lost to the French crown. The news that this fort, with all territory east of the river, had been surrendered without so much as a sight of the enemy, came like a thnnder-clap upon this patriotic colony. Many of the settlers with Laclede, who had just arrived at the head of a new colony, expressed tlieir disgust bv going to the site of St. Louis, which they supposed to be still French ground.

Though transferred by treaty to the English in J 763, the fort was the last place in North America to lower the white ensign of the Bourbon King, and it was not until the latter part ot 1765 that the British formally accepted the surrender of Fort Chartres. Pontiac, the unwavering friend of the French, took upon himself, unaided by his former allies, to hold back the victorious English. ]\[ajor Loftus, Captains Pitman and Morris, Lieutenant Frazer, and George Crogan, some with force, some in disguise, and others with diplomacy, sought to reach the fort to accept its capitulation, but each one was foiled and turned back with his mission unaccomplished, glad to escape the fate of that Englishman for which Pontiac assured them, he kept a " kettle boiling over a large fire." Wearied out with the inactivity of the French, the Indian sought an audience with the commandant, and explained his attitude. "Father," said the chieftain, "I have long wished to see thee, to recall the battles which we fought together against the misguided Indians and the English dogs. I love the French, and I have come here with my warriors to avenge their wrongs." But assured by St. Auge that such service could no longer be accepted, lie gave up the struggle, and the flag of St. George rose in the place of the fair lilies of I'rance.

Tluis another nationality was projected into this restricted arena, a situation wiiich was immediately afterward still further complicated by the secret Franco-Spanish f.reaty, which made the west bank of the Mississippi the boundary of the Spanish possessions. " It is significant of the different races, and the varying sovereignties in that portion of our country," snja a writer, "that a French soldier from the Spanish city of St. Louis should be married to an Englishwoman by a French priest in the British colony of Illinois."

The effect of this political change upon the growth of the Illinois settlements was disastrous. At the first announcement of the treaty, the natural hostility of the people to the English induced large numbers of the colonists to prepare to follow tlie French flag, and a hegira followed which swept out of the colony fully one-third of its three thousand inliabitants. There was still a large number left, forming the largest colony in the west; but there were forces constantly at work which gradually depleted its numbers. Under the British rule an abnormal activity among traders and land speculators was developed. The natives were constantly overreached in trade by unscrupulous persons, protected by the dominant power, and representatives of land purchasing organizations were acquiring vast tracts of country from ignorant savages, who had little comprehension of the meaning or consequences of these transactions. These schemes and practices, though happily brought to naught by the Eevolntion, rendered the Indians, for a time, savagely hostile, and left their blightin* influence long after their remo\al. The lack of proper sympathy between the governing race and the governed, the hostility of the savages in which they were involved with the British, induced many of the Old French colonists to leave their old homes as rapidly as they could make arrangements to do so. Unfortunately there was at this time no emigration to repair this depletion constantly going on; few English or Americans even visited this region, much less settled here.

The British garrison had hitherto occupied the old French Fort Chartres, but one day in 1772, the river having overflowed its banks, and swept away a bastion and the river wall, the occupants fled with precipitate haste to the high ground above Kaskaskia, where they erected a palisade fort. This was the principal achievement of the British forces, up to the beginning of the war with the colonies. In this struggle, removed from the scene of active operations, the commandant, resorting to the favorite means of the British during the entire early history on this continent, furnished supplies and munitions of war to the savages, and thus equipped, incited them to war upon the unprotected frontier settlements in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia. So disastrous in their consequences, and distracting in their influence, were these attacks, that Col. George Rogers Clark early set about procuring tlie means to effectually check them. Recognizing the British post at Kaskaskia as the source of the Indians' supplies and inspiration, he directed his efforts toward the capture of this point, and enlisting tlie interest of Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, securing such help as he could give, Clark was able on June 24, 177S, to start from the falls of the Ohio with one hundred and fifty-three men for lower Illinois. So skillfully did he manage his movements that he cauj^ht the garrison napping, and captured on tiie 5th of July, both force and fort without the spilling of a drop of blood. Cahokia fell in like manner without a blow, and in the following October, the Virginia Assembly erected the whole country secured by Clark's several victories, into the county of Illinois; a territory now divided into five States.

This county thus erected was at once placed under control of civil authority, John Todd representing tlie sovereignty of Virginia as Count}' Lieutenant. His instructions were broad enough to meet the wliole case; he was to conciliate the French and Indians; to inculcate on the people the value of liberty, and to remove the grievances that obstruct the happiness, increase and prosperity of tliat countrj'. These certainly were the great ends to be aciiieved if possible, but in the nature of things their accomplishment was not possible. The French population were easily conciliated, but the education of a life-time, and the hereditary characteristics of the race rendered thetn incapable of appreciating the value of liberty. They had grown up under the enervating influence of the must arbitrary manifestations of nionarchial government, and self-government involved too great a risk for this simple folk. The result was a lack of sympathy with the new order of things, more decided perhaps than under Britisli rule. To this was added a business competition, to which they were unaccustomed; more frequent hostile incursions of the Indians in which the savages gradually forgot the old-time love for the French, and repeated losses by the inundations of the river, made up a sum of discouragement which gradually depleted this country of the French inhabitants. This loss was but imperfectly repaired by the immigration whicli came in from Virginia and Mai'yland. Notwithstanding the fertility of the soil had been widely published, and a considerable number had already found much better advantages here than the older colonies afforded, 3'et the Indian depredations that followed the Revolutionary war, deterred others from following until the general pacitioation at Greenville in 1795.

In 1787, the whole country northwest of the Ohio was erected into the Northwest Territory, and in February, 1789, General Artiiur St. Clair arrived at Kaskaskia as first Territorial Governor. Among the earliest acts of his administration was the erection of the first county, including all of the present State extending north as far as the mouth of Little Mackinaw Creek (now in Tazewell County), and named St. Clair after the governor. May 7, 1800, Ohio was set off and the balance of the territory called Indiana; on February 3, 1809, the Illinois territory was constituted, including the present State with the State of Wisconsin, and on April 18, 181S, the present State of Illinois was admitted into the union. These dates are ajiproximate indications of the advance of settlements in the State. The population in 1809 was estimated at 9,000; in the census of the following year a total population of 12,282 was returned. The frontiers had been steadily advanced by the adventurous pioneers. To the north, the settlement had extended to tiie Wood River country, in the present Madison County; eastward on

Silver Creek and up the Kaskaskia River; south and east from Kaskaskia, some fifteen miles out on the Fort Massac road; a family had also located at the mouth of the 0hio, and at old Massac and Shawneetown were the remains of old colonies. The new settlements were very sparse and all feeble, and from ISIO to the close of the war, four years later, immigration was almost at a standstill.* With the close of hostilities, however, and the cessation of Indian aggressions, stimulated by the passage of the act granting the right of pre-emption to settle upon the public lands, the tide of emigration set in toward this State with unequaled volume.

At the time of the admission of the State, fifteen counties had been organized, embracing about one fourth of the territory of the State. The settled portions were all south of a line drawn from Alton via Carlyle to Palestine, on the Wabash, but within this area were large tracts of unsettled country, several day's journey in extent. At this time there were some iO,000 inhabitants, of whom scarcely a twentieth part were descendants of the old French colonists. Nineteen-twentieths of the balance were Americans from the Southern states, with the exception of some from Pennsylvania. In 1820, the population was returned at 157.447, while the political organization represented fifty-six counties, though some of the northern ones were large and thinly settled. The territory Ij'ing between Galena and Chicago, extending southward to the Kaskaskia, the headwaters of the Yermillion, along the Eock Eiver, and tar down into tlie " Military

Tract," was a trackless waste occupied by various Indian tribes. The results of emigration had been shown in the interior of the southern part of the State, and the country bordering the Embarrass, the Sangamon and their tributaries, where the hitherto unoccupied wilderness had been made to blossom with the harvest of the frontier farmer. The advanced settlements still clunof to the eduje of the timber lands that fringed the streams, an^l along the Illinois to Chicago - which was just then beffinnino to attract attention - were found at this time a few scattered settlements, weak in numbers and situated long distances apart. The tide of emigration which continued to sweep into the State - somewhat changed in character - coming largely from the Eastern States, and comprising a considerable percentage of foreigners, followed the old channels, and gradually spread over the northern part of the State until it met the tide which came latterly by way of the lake region. The rapidly increasing demand for the organization of new counties at this period, gave sure indication of this rapid development of the State.

Up to 1812, St. Clair and Randolph Counties had sufficed, but for the purposes of better representation in the territorial council, three more counties were added at this time. In 1815, two more were added; in 1816, five; in ISIS, three; and in 1821, seven. Of the latter were Sangamon and Pike, the latter including all of the State north and west of the Illinois, and what is now Cook County. Sangamon included the territory east of the river to the boundary of Pike on the north. In 1825, the county of Peoria was formed of the north- ern part of Sangamon, and in 1831, Peoria was divided and La Salle formed, which then included what is now Grundy County, and the larger part of Kendall.

The advancing tide of emigration coming up airing the river made its tirst permanent settlement on the territory of the present county of La Salle, near the present site of South Ottawa, in 1823-4 - 5. As early as 1821, Joel Hodgson came in the interest of several families resident in Clinton County, Ohio, to seek a place suitable for the founding of a colony. Crossing Indiana, he entered the State of Illinois near the present site of Danville, and guided only by his compass and an occasional Indian trail, he reached the Illinois, near the mouth of the Kankakee, and following the larger stream down to the mouth of tlie Fox River, he, for the first time since lie entered the State, recognized his position on the map with which lie was provided. He carefully explored the land along the Illinois and its tributaries in this region, making his way finally to the settlement at Dillon's Grove, where he met the first white men after leaving Danville. It is not a flattering considei-ation to those who now rejoice in pleasant homes and fruitful farms in this section, to recall that this explorer returned to his ])rincipals only to report that tliere was no hind here suitable for the purposes of the proposed colony. But there were not lacking those who could see bej^ond the present forbidding aspect, and who had the courage to dare and do. In 1827, there were some fifteen or eighteen families within the present territory of La Salle, situated some distances apart on both sides of the river. The colony located south of the river, included a considerable part of tliis numbei', and when the news of the Winnebago outbreak reached them, although the scene of action was a long distance off, they realized that they were on the frontier, and at the mercy of a horde of savages whose motives and impulses could not safely be conjectured, and they at once set about building a fort which served as a rallying point for the pioneers in this section. The speck of war, however, soon vanished, and emigration, temporarily stayed, began again to push its way up the Illinois. In 1828, the first settler on the present territory of Grundy County made his appearance in the person of William Marquis. He came untrarameled by contingencies, and upon no uncertain mission ; he came here to stay, and settling on the banks of the Illinois, above the mouth of Mazon Creek, he reared his cabin and was found here by those who reached this country after the Black Hawk War. During these hostilities, the brunt of which fell upon the settlements of La Salle County, Marquis, although a trader and on the best of terms with the natives, found greater security in the protection of the fort at Ottawa than in the friendly disposition of his patrons, and spent the interval at the settlement. He did not return to his place on the Mazon, but settled further north in the county, and later left for the more unsettled parts, where trading with the Indians was more profitable.

The second family in the county was that of AVilliam Hoge, who settled north of the river in what is now Nettle Creek township, in the fall of 1831. Here the lirs; white child of the county, James B. Hoge, was born. May 6, 1S3L In 1833 a iiuml)er of fixmilies came in and settled on both sides of the river; John Beard, Sr., and his son-in-law, James McKeen, settled near the Kankakee north of the river, the latter building the first house in Morris, a log structure, for John P. Chapin, in May, 1S34. Col. Sayers built a cabin in AYauponsee, wliich was occupied in tlie following year by W. A. IloUoway; W. R. Perkins built his cabin in Au Sable; Zachariah Walley settled iu the same township, and A. K. Owen in Mazon. The latter in a published autobiography sa^'s: "At the close of the war (Black Hawk) I sold my claim on Corille Creek to a man by the name of Moore, and in the following spring Edwin Shaw, Dr. S. S. Robbins, Sheldon Bartholomew, John Hogoboom and myself litted out an exploring expedition, and on the second day arrived safe and sound at the celebrated Sulphur Spring on Mazon Creek, and proceeded to make claims as follows, to wit: Dr. Robbins at the Sulphur Spring, John Hogoboom at John Grove, Shaw and Bartholomew at Parers' Groves, and myself on the south branch of the Mazon, one mile below Mazon Town.

"While we were exploring we made headquarters at Johnny Grove, and on leaving we organized a meeting for the purpose of naming the different points selected. Dr. Robbins proposed that from its location, it should be called Center Grove, but I proposed that it should be called John Grove, in honor of John Hogoboom, the wealthy proprietor, and my name was adopted, so the name is John Grove in place of Johnny Grove. AVauponsee - tradition had it that the old chief had, in a drunken fit, taken his butcher knife and killed six wives in one dav, so from this and the tact that he had lived here during the Black Hawk War, we gave the name of Wauponsee Grove. Parer's Grove was christened Spring Grove, in honor of a big spring I found just at the foot of the grove, but as these claimants failed to put in an appearance, it was subsequently claimed by an Englishman by the name of Parer, hence the name. Sulphur Spring was called Robbins' Sulphur Spring, and my claim Owen's Spring, with reference to a spring at the top of the bank and a small point of timber running into the prairie, which I subsequently cleared off. I think this was in the spring of 1833." In the following year Robbins alone moved onto his claim. Early in the same spring also came James McCartj', an old bachelor, who took two or three acres in Wauponsee Grove. He built him a little camp and raised a crop of corn which he put in with a hoe. In the fall he erected a shelter out of the stalks, in which he passed the winter. About this time came also the families of Claypool, Collins, Crydei', Tabler, Chapin, Cragg, Hollands, Kent, Millers, Griggs, Ewing, Adkins, Newport, Taylor, Robbs, Eubauks, Snowhill, Samuel and Isaac Iloge and others. These were the principal families here before the government land sale of June 15, 1835.

The early settlers here found the public lands in a very unsatisfactory sliape. Congress, in 1827, had granted to the State in aid of a proposed canal, the alternate sections found in the space of five miles on each side of the proposed line of its construction. These lands were resurveyed by the State in 1829; the "odd sections" selected, Chicago and Ottawa laid ofi', and in 1830, some lots brought into market. Under this sale, the only property bought in Grundy County, was the purchase of 'Mr. William Iloge on

Nettle Creek. Up to lS34r, the Congress liuuis were subject to pre-eiii])tion, and tliose who came prior to that date found no difficulty in securing the property upon which they had made improvements. The larger number of Grundy County's pioneers, however, came subse(j\icnt to 1833 hoping that the privilege of ])re-emption would be extended. This, the government did not do, but ordered a sale of the lands. In the meanwhile, considerable improvements had been made; each man striving to include all the land that the old preemption law would allow. In February, 1835, tlie lands were advertised to be sold; Ranges 1, 2 and 3 east, and all west of them from tlie southern line of township 13, to the northern boundary of the State, at Galena; and from range 3, to the eastern border of the State, at Chicago. The sale began at Chicago, on June 15, the land being ofi'ered at auction, and sold to the highest bidder above $1.25 per acre. The sale at the latter place was the one in which the settlers of this county were interested, and they soon found their worst fears realized. The town of Chicago was full of land speculators, who were ready to l)id against the settlers for lands npon which they had "squatted " and improved. The sale was made by ranges, and matters went quietly forward until a spirited contest arose over some land at Marseilles, on which Ephraim Sprague had erected a sawmill. That night there was a meeting of settlers and speculators, and finding that the land- holders were bound to assert their prior claim by force if need be, the speculators made a virtue of necessity, and agreed that the actual settlers should have the privilege of purchasing a quartersection without competition. To carr^- out this arrangement, a committee of three from each township was appointed, who should certify to the actual settlers, and appoint a man who should bid off the property. Instead of several persons. Dr. Goddard was chosen to bid off the property in the region covering La Salle County, as then constituted. This arranjjement greatly discouraged the foreign land speculators, and it is said $500,000 left thi town on the followinij morninff. Thus weakened and discouraged, the speculators conceded to the settlers the privilege of peaceably bidding oflf more than a quartersection, provided their improvements covered more land, and on reaching range 8, Salmon Rntherford claimed the right to bid off in this way, all he had money to buy, and this being -conceded, became the rule of the sale. This land auction, which continned for upwards of two weeks, was held for a day or two on the steps of a store which stood where 121 Lake street now is, this spot proving to be too muddy for comfort, the sale was adjourned to Garrett's new auction rooms near South Water street, where the weight of the crowd, breaking down some part of the structure, the sale was finished in a store room on South Water street. On the second of August following, the books were opened for entries and then tlie speculators, having little opposition, bought every available piece of timber in the northeast part of 'rie State. As this section of the country gradually became settled and less dependent upon the older settlements, the county seat at Ottawa was felt to be at too great distance from the northern limits of the count}'. The demands of a frontier farm rendered the loss of several days on the occasion of every necessary visit to the county capital a serious burden, while the tedious character of traveling facilities aggravated the burden by the discomfort of the journey. In addition to this it was felt that those portions of the county which had readier access to the county seat had an undue influence, which acted to the prejudice of the less represented limits. These motives, whatever else may have entered into the movement, were sufficient to create a desire for a division of the county. Jacob Claypool, in settling in Wauponsee, with shrewd forecast, had satisfied his mind tliat tlie distance between Ottawa and Joliet - the latter not then a county seat, but of such growing importance that lie believed it could not be ignored in the formation of a county - left space for another county with its center near the present location of Morris. The natural discontent of this section of the county was therefore first crystallized by the eftbrts of Mr. Claypool and G. "W". Armstrong, who, thougli not so far distant trom Ottawa, became interested in the movement. It was a year or two before the idea secured supporters enough to challenge the serious attention of the lower part of the county, but when it did tliere was considerable opposition manifested. However, the unwieldy size of La Salle was manifest, and the opposition finally addressed itself to the eflTort to confine the surrender to as small a territory as possible. The supporters of the proposition for a new county, while united against those who opposed the division, were by no means united as to the line of division. The friends of the Grundy County plan were surrounded by those who desired a diflerent division with reference to other interests, giving rise to a conflict of interests that afforded scope for diplomatic management and rendered the issue by no means certain. The supporters of the Kendall County division, having " pooled their issues " with those of Grundy, the prospects of success visibly brightened. In the fall of 1840, Wm. E. Armstrong, a man of energy and ability, seeing that the formation of Grundy might be turned to speculative account, interested himself in the project, and securing in addition to others a numerously signod petition for tlie two counties, presented it to the General Assembly in the winter of ISrW^l; by which bills erecting the counties of Kendall and Grundy were passed, the latter being approved by the Governor Feb. 17, 1841, and the Kendall bill two days later.

At this time the public interest was centered in the building of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, the construction of which was being delayed by lack of funds, aud all public measures were made more or less subsidiary to this object. It was therefore required in the act erecting Grundy Count}', that the " Seat of Justice'' should be located " on the line of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, on canal lands," of which territory, not to exceed ten acres, was to be laid off " as a town site, embracing lots, streets, alleys and a public S(piare;" the lots thus formed to be assigned one half to the State aud one half to the county, " in alternate lots of equal value." For the lots assigned to the State, the county was to pay ten dollars an acre, and this revenue devoted by the Canal Commissioners to the purposes of the canal. A board to carry out these provisions of the act was constituted, to be composed of the Canal Commissioners, lion. Newton Cloud and Gens. Thornton and Fry, and William E. Arnistronnj, K. S. Diiryea and Gen. W. B. Burnett, the latter an enjjinccr on the catial. A <^lance at the situation demonstrated the fact that to secure anj'tliinii; near a central location, the county seat would necessarily be placed on section 7 or 9, in township 33, range 7. Section 9, was objectionable to the Canal Commissioners, as there was but a fraction of its northeast corner north of the river, and this was the only portion suitable for a town site. Section 7 was objectionable to the local members of the board, ])rincipally because their lands were located in the vicinity of the other position, and that the approach to the site from tlie south, would be over the low bottoms which would oblige travel to make a considerable detour. Such a conflict of interests left no room for compromise, and the result of a vote was a dead-lock," Gen. Burnett voting with the local members. Under the organizing act an election was held at the cabin of Columbus Pinney, May 24, 1841, with Perry A. Claypool, Robert "Walker and John Beard, Sr., as judges of election. One hundred and fortj'-eight votes were cast, which, as there was a spirited contest over these first offices, represented the entire population. It should be noted, however, that about one third of these votes represented an Irish element brought here by the work on the canal, and stayed here but a short time. In this election, Henry Cryder, Jacob Chiy- ])ool and James McKeen were made county commissioners; James Nagle, clerk; L. W. Claypool, recorder; Isaac Hoge, sherifl^,*

Joshua Collins, probate justice; f and J. L. Pickering, treasurer.;): On June 14, 1841, the commissioners elect with James Nagle as clerk, met at the house of William E. Armstrong, and after attending to the preliminary duties in relation to oaths and bonds, proceeded to organize the county. On the organization of La Salle (Jounty ranges 1 and

3 and 4 Ottawa Precinct, and ranges 5, 6, 7 and 8 the Eastern Precinct. In June, 1834, a "Northern Precinct" was erected including An Sable Grove and vicinity, and a year later, in June, 1835, Wauponsce was erected, embracing the whole of what is )iow Grundy County. In the following December that part of Wauponsee and the county north of the river was divided into two precincts, the dividing line starting at the river on the line between sections 3 and 4, township 33, li. 7, and going to section 21, 36, 7. The territory east of this line was known as Franklin, and west of this line as Grafton. The newly formed county was in this shape when the first Board of Commissioners sat down to arrange its political divisions. At their first session they formed tlie first precinct, composed of all of township 34, in range 8, north of the Illinois and Desplaines Rivers, and called it Dresden; the second, comjiosed of all territory north of the river in ranges 6 and 7, they called Jefferson; the third composed of all territory comprised in range 6, and the west half of range 7 south of the river, they called Wauponsee; and the fourth, composed of all territory south of the river, and east of the middle line of range 7, they called Kankakee. Subsequently, on December 6, ISil, Grnndy Precinct was erected out of the east side of Jefferson, and comprised all of 7'an2;e 7, north of the river. On September 8, 1847, Mazon Precinct was erected out of tlie Territory of Kankakee, lying south of an east and west line drawn through the middle of sections 25 and 30, in township 33, range 8, and continued through sections 25 and 27, in township 33, range 7. There were no further changes until March 2, 1850, wlien under the new Constitution, the Board of Supervisors through George II. Kiersted, Phillip Collins and Robert Gibison acting as commissioners, made the precinct lines to coincide with the townsliip lines, save where the rivers made a deviation necessary. Tlie present names and lines are those fixed at that time save in the case of the boundaries of Felix which was attached to Wanponsee, and was named and given a separate existence Nov. 22, 1854. The present boundaries between the two townships were arranged on petition of their citizens, September 9, 1856. The original names of Fairview, Addison and Dover were changed by the request of the State auditor, respectively to " Arianna," Braceville and Goodfarra.

One of the first duties imposed upon the County Commissioners by the act creating Grundy County, was to " prepare a place for holding courts in said county." The county at this time possessed neither buildings nor land, and it was ordered that the house of Wm. E. Armstrong be used for the court. This seemed to be the most available place for the purpose, and continued to be so used, notwitiistanding a formal protest by Mr. Cryder, until the

May term in 1S43, when Mr. Armstrong, having erected a frame wooden building 20 by 40 feet and two stories high, on the northwest corner of the present court house lot, the court was transferred to this new temple of justice. In the meanwiiile the "dead-lock" on the question of locating had been broken, and the matter decided in favor of its present location. The commissioners, therefore, finding this building suitably located, bought the building which, after having it "lathed and plastered," cost a total of $485.36. The county ofiices were in the upper story, the east room being assigned to the Clerk, and tlie southwest room to the Recorder. As the court room was the most available hall in the town, it found considerable demand for this object other than that to which it had been devoted, and its use was finally restricted to religious, political and court purposes. This modest edifice survived until the erection of the present courthouse which cost $22,- 760, and was accepted April 26, 1858. The " Commissioners' Court," as it was called, rivaled the Circuit Court in importance. It provided for court and jury, for prisoner and pauper; it ordered roads and licensed ferries, regulated the early tavern's bill of fare and laid its paternal hand on trade; it was in that day the sole arbiter of the county's destiny. The difficulties nnder which this executive board of the county labored haAC been long forgotten and now find expression only in the musty records of that time. The oft recurrence of the same names in the list of juries, the chiims made for " guarding prisoners," and sums paid for the care of paupers, suggest a lack of resources in both means and men, which was characteristic of pioneer days. An incident, published by Mr. Perry Armsfront^, " points the moral." Michael D. Prendegast, a man of fair scholastic acquirements, but of inordinate self-esteem, in August, 18-17, was elected Probate Justice of the Peace by the large Irish vote which was then an important element in county politics. His success stimulated his vanitj', wliieli he betrayed by signing his name " Michel De Prendegast," and adorning his person with a Catalonian cloak, stovepipe hat and a fancy ivory headed cane. His wife expressed the famil}' pride by remarking to a friend: "My husband is none of your common justices like Pat Hynds; he is the reprobate justice of the peace."

The greatness thus thrust upon him could not satisfy all the demands of his earlier tastes, and the " De Prendegast" was found, one Sunday evening, wending his way to one of the saloons with his judicial cloak about him. His entrance was greeted b}' a numerous and noisy crowd, and as he produced a bottle from the folds of his cloak, ordering it filled with port wine, Owen Lamb, noted no less for his strength and size than for his love of fun and adventure, stepped up to the justice, saying: "Judge, we will all drink with you, and I'll have the best in the house; give me some brandy." This was too much for the self-complacent dignity of the "judge," and he burst out with : "The likes of you, Owen Lamb, insulting me! Why, I'll blow your brains out on the spot; " and carried away with his anger, he instantly presented an old horse pistol to carry out his threat. The weapon was instantly knocked to the other side of the room, when the jud ;e precipitately left the field.

the suggestion of Wm. Armstrong and George Kiersted, Lamb brought action against Prendegast for assault. The instigators of the action represented the prosecution, and the defendant, aided by the only lawyers in the placs, E. H. Little and C. M. Lee, apjieared on the part of the defense. The proofs in behalf of the prosecution were positive, clear and unquestioned, hence the defendant confined his efforts to prove his good character. Among other witnesses, L. W. Claypool, deposed substantially that he had known the defendant a long time; his reputation as a law abiding citizen was good; he did not consider him a willful or malicious man; not half so dangerous as a little black dog the judge owned. Dr. Curtis testified that he had never considered the judge a malicious or dangerous man, but rather as a d - d fool. This was the tenor of the testimony for the defense.

In the meanwhile, news of the trial had come to the ears of the devoted wife as she was engaged in " wiping the dishes." Her impetuosity knew no method, but rushinoout with a cup and towel in her hand, she entered the court room, just as Kiersted was addressing the court. Without a word of parley or protest she rushed up to him saving: " So you have turned lawyer, Mr. Kiersted, take that! " at the same time accompanying her words with a blow of the teacup on his breast, which shivered her missile to atoms. Utterly surprised by the attack he drew back his fist to strike, when he recognized his assailant and gallantly apologized for threatening a woman.

During the progress of the trial, the defendant was pelted with eggs and subjected to other personal indignities. As he rose to "sum up" the evidence, an egg struck him squra'ely in tlie ear. Throwing liis hand up to the smitten organ, he exclaimed: "I'm kilt! I'm kilt!" and instantly feeling the soft material oozing out of his stunned ear, he displayed his hand covered with the meat of the egg, and with a horrified ejaculation, "See me brains!" broke with the speed of a quarter horse for his residence, declaring as the hope of a longer existence dawned upon his mind, "I'll demand protection from the Governor and his posse comitatus." Esrpiire Barber, before whom the trial was had, discovered the whole matter was intended for a joke, and discharged the defendant.

The first jail was built on or near the site of the old brick structure south of the court liouse. There is no record of this, but tradition has it that it was a two-story log house with a square excavation in the ground, with an entrance in the center of the lower apartment. The prisoner was dro])ped in and secured by an iron grate over the openinir and shielded from the bare earth walls by hemlock logs. From the numerous "claims for guarding prisoners" it is surmised that this jail was not much used. Indeed the early siierifi^'s declared it unfit for human beings, and occasionally emplo3^ed the prisoners in the business affairs of the jailor. It is said, but not fully credited, that Wm. Armstrong fastened one Cottrell, arrested for numerous thefts, with a chain and padlock ,to a whisky barrel. At any rate, the prisoner served the sheriff as bartender and ferryman for some time, and served himself so good a turn that on coming to trial the jury acquitted him in the face of the most explicit evidence of his guilt. So marked was this action of the jury that it was for some time afterward

The old jail was subsequently"- sold for fourteen dollars, when the brick was erected. This was built at a cost of §3,- 237.13, and accepted April 17, 1855. On July 14r, 1875, after the brick jail liad been ofiiciallj' and repeatedly called a nuisance the Board of Su])ervisors decided to build a new one, the result of which decision is the present stone structure, erected at a cost of $16,19U.60, and accepted Sept. 14, 1876.

The last, and perhaps the least satisfactory of the county institutions is the " Poor Farm." The first farm consisted of 160 acres (the N. E. quarter section No. 24, 33, 6), in Norman township. This land cost $2,400; was high land, and while not presenting its greatest attractions to the road, was considered well adapted to the purposes for which it was bought. It was Jbund to be too large for practical purposes, and portions of the farm were sold. Later it was thought a smaller farm could be made nearer self-supporting, and another farm was finally bought October 27, 1S79; eighty acres (the south half of S. W. quarter, section No. 33, 7) in Wauponsee were bought at fortj'-five dollars an acre. This selection was very much opposed, and a special committee appointed by the Board after examining the property reported as follows: " It is too low and flat, with no building place above level of prairie, and no drainage suitable for such a cellar as the wants of a poor-house require - wholly unfit for the erection of such buildings as this county will require in after years." The purchase was persevered in, however, and

Under the statute of 1S49 the probate business was transferred to the county iudge, wliile that of the commissioners was transferred to a county court composed of a county judge and two associates. At the election in April of the following year tlie township organization was adopted by a vote of the people, and under this arrangement the first Board of Supervisors organized June 12, 1S50.

'PIIE pioneers of Grnndy County came -»- principally from southern Ohio, with a number from the southern States, and later, a few from Pennsylvania and other more eastern States. Most of these families had been pioneers in older settlements in the States from which they came, or had grown up in frontier colonies which their fathers had founded, and had been trained in the stern school of experience to meet and conquer the difficulties of a new country. But the problem here, nevertheless, presented features and difficulties entirely diflerent from that with which their earlier experience had acquainted them. The timber that skirted the mar<>;in of the river and sent out spurs here and there along the banks of the creeks and ravines, divided the vast open sea of grass and flowers into two great divisions. On either side the broad expanse of verdant meadow, marked here and there by a stray clump of undersized trees, stretched away from the river, unbounded save by the horizon, and the pioneer with his little retinue of wagons was lost in this luxuriant wilderness like a convoy of sloops in mid ocean.

heavy showers for several days, and the low prairie around Chicago was more like a lake than dry land. For seven miles before reaching Berry's Point, the water was from three to fifteen inches deep, through which we worked our weary way. When within about two miles of dry land, one of our companions gave out, and two of us, one on either side, placed our arras around and under his opposite arm, while he placed his on our shoulders, and thus we bore him t]irou£:h.

"The next day we walked about forty miles to Plainfield. It gave us our first view of a rolling Illinois prairie. We strained our eyes to take in its extent, till the efibrt became painful. We descanted again and again upon its beauty and richness, and wondered why such a country had remained so long in the hands of the savage. It was a wonderful country. All was new. S'range sights and sounds greeted us. Tiie piping note of the prairie-squirrel, as he dropped from his erect position, and sought the protection of his hole close by our path; the shrill notes of the plover, scattered in countless numbers, fitfully starting and running over the prairie; the constant roaring of the prairie cock; the mad scream of the crooked-bill curlew, as we approached its nest; the distant whoop of the crane; the pump sounding note of the bittern; the litlie and graceful forms of tlie deer, in companies of tliree to five, lijrlitly bounding over the swells of the prairie; - it seemed a new creation that we had entered."

Every immigrant supplied his own means of reaching his destined home. Tiie pioneer from Pennsylvania, Oiiio, or the Southern States, betrayed his nativity and prejudice in the schooner-shape wagon box, the stiff tongue, the hinder wheels doable tiie size of the forward ones, and closely coupled together, the wliole drawn by a team of four or six horses which were guided by a single line in the hands of a teamster riding the " nigh wheeler." His harness was of gigantic proportions. What between the massive leather breeching, the heavy hames and collar, the immense housing of bear skin upon the hames, the heavy iron trace chains, and the ponderous double-tree and whittletrees, the poor beasts seemed like humanity in a chain gang, or some terrible monsters that human ingenuity could scarcely fetter securely. The eastern immigrant, from New York or farther east, was marked as far as his caravan could be seen, by a long coupled, low boxed, two horse wagon, provided with a seat, from which with double lines the driver guided his lightly harnessed pair of horses. Tiiere was about each part of tlie outfit, evidences of the close calculation of means to an end, and an air of utility which left no room for doubt as to the purpose of the maker in every part of it. This strange contrast in these early outfits suggests that they may not unfittingly be taken as tj'pes of two civilizations that met here on this middle ground, and in many a sterner contest waged an "irrepressible conflict." In the end, these

This prairie country undoubtedly offered opportunities to the pioneer occu]iant, far superior to those of a timbered country, but the early settlers, imbued with the logical deductions of their early experiences, looked with distrust upon the open prairie. The general impression was that only the tiniber belts would ever be inhabited; the prairie swept by the fires of summer, and by the piercing blasts of winter, seemed little better than a desert, and for several years there was not a cabin in Grundy County built more than one hundred yards from the timber. The necessity of tlie early cabins similar in size, style and materials, confirmed this impression, and made it a conviction.

Tiie pioneer having selected a site on some prospecting tour, or being attracted to a certain region by the report of friends, came with all his worldly possessions on wagons, and making selection of a farm, chose a site for his cabin, and set at once to build it. Trees were felled; logs of the proper length chopped ofl;' and drawn to the chosen site, and willing neighbors for miles about invited to the raising. Rude as these structures were it needed no little handicraft to rear them, and it was not long before the special ability of each member of the community, entailed upon him his special duty on these occasions. The logs trimmed, " saddled," and properly assorted, were placed in the pen shape of the cabin; the gable ends were run up with regularity', shortening logs shaj)ed at the ends, to allow for the slope of the roof; on these the long roof poles two feet apart, stretched from end to end, served as foun- dation for the roof, whicli was made up of clapboards, riven by the froe from bolts of oak laid in place and held secure by '- weight poles" made firm by pegs or stones. Then followed the sawintr out of the door-way and windows, the chinking of the cracks with pieces of riven timber; the caulking with a mixture of mud and chopped hay; the construction of floors and a door from puncheons, and the building of the chimneys of " cat and chi}'." Hinges were supplied from rawhide, and the wooden latch, reached from the outside by means of an attached leather latchstring passing through a hole in the door, was often the only ])rotection against forcible entrance. Later experiences introduced the use of heavy wooden bars, but the jiroverbial expression of early hospitality was the lianging out of the latcli-striiig. The local characteristics of the early settlers found their expression in the construction of the chimneys. Few early cabins were more than one story high, and the chimney placed on one side, was constructed in the case of the southerner or the Indianian on the outside of the cabin, while the rest built inside, the top in all cases scarcely reaching the height of the ridge.

The interior of the cabin i^as marked by the same general similarity. In each the wide fire-place shed abroad its genial warmth of hospitality or aided in the preparation of the table's cheer. The "crane," hung with iron pots and kettles, and the Dutch oven, half submerged in coals, were in all cabins the "evidence of things not seen," and furnished forth, under the guidance of the deft housewife, a meal which is still sighed for as the "grace of a day that is dead." The "corn pone," or when so exceptionally fortunate as to be able to use flour, the hop-yeast or salt-rising bread, the "chicken-fixings," the game, the fresh, luscious vegetables, - are memories that more pretentious days liave not dimmed in the hearts of the pioneers. The latter-day inventions of saleratus and baking powder had their prototype in the pearlash, which was prepared by burning the potash, so common then, upon the lid of the " bake kettle;" the sputtering, greenish flame produced by the process, in the meaiiwiiile enforcing njion the childish minds of the household the stern doctrines of the hereafter. The frontier cabin, as a rule, contained but one room, which served all the domestic and social purposes of the family alike, unchanged. Curtains arranged about the beds suggested the retirement of sleeping apartments, while the cheerful blaze of the fire-place afforded an unstinted glow to the whole establishment.

The women of those days ate not the bread of idleness. They were indeed the helpmates of father, brother and husband, and nowhere in the world did man prove such an unbalanced, useless machine as the unmarried pioneer in this western wild. While the man, with masterful energy, conquered the difliculties of a new country and asserted his sovereignty over an unsubdued wilderness, it was woman's hand that turned its asperities into blessings, and made conquered nature the handmaid of civilization. The surplus product of the frontier farm sufficed to supply a slender stock of tea, coftee, sugar and spices, with an occasional hat for the man and a calico dress for the woman; - all else must be derived from the soil. How this was accomplished, the occasional i-elics of a flax-wheel, brake, spiiiniiiij;-wheel or loom, suggest. To card and sjiiii, to dye and weave, were accomplishments tliat all women possessed. IIoiisekeejMng was crowded into tlie smallest possible space, and tiie preparation of linen, of " linsey woolsey," and stocking yarn, with their adajitation to the wants of tiie family, became, to vary the catechism, the chief end of woman. About tliese homely industries gathered all the ])ride of womanl}' achievement, the mild di.ssi|)ation3 of early society, and the ho])CS of a future com])etence; a social foundation, of which the proud structure of this great commonwealth bears eloquent testimony.

But with all this heljjful self-reliance indoors, there was plenty to engage the vigorous activity of the male portion of the famil}- out of doors. The exigencies of the situation allowed no second e.xperiment, and a lifetime success or failure hung upon the efforts of the pioneer. The labor of the farm was carried on under the most discouraging circumstances. The rude acrricultural implements and the too often inadequate supply of these, allowed of no economical expenditure of strength, and for years rendered the frontier farmer's life a hand to hand struggle of sheer muscle and physical endurance with the stubborn difficulties of nature. The location of the cabins along the lowlands that formed the margin of the streams, exposed the early settlers at their most vulnerable jioint. During a considerable part of the year the almost stagnant water of the sluirffish streams tilled the air with a miasmatic poison that hung in dense fog over stream and grove like a destroying spirit. The ditticulty experienced in securing good water often rendei-ed it necessary fur the farmers to drink from stagnant pools, " fre(iuently blowing off the scum and straining the wigglers from the sickening, almost boiling, fluid through the t.>eth." That the " fever and ague" should stalk through the land, a veritable Nemesis, was inevitable under such circumstances, an_d many a hardy pioneer was cowed and fairly shaken out of the country in the chilly grasp of this grim monster. But having withstood these discouragements and secured a harvest, the greatest disappointment came in the utter lack of mai-kets. After a year of labor, privation, and sickness, the moderate crop Would hanlly bear the expense of gettinij it to mai'ket. How this country was settled and improved under such circumstances can be explained ujion none of the settled principles of political economy. Retreat there was none; and that iiomely phrase, " root, hog, or die," was borne in upon the pioneer by his daily experience with a benumbing iteratio;i that must have wrought ruin to any class of people of less hardv mental and ph3'sical health.

In such a community where " The richest were poor and the poor lived in abundance," there was no chance for the growth of caste, and families for miles around were linked together as one neighborhood, by the social customs of the time, which in the spirit of true democracy, drew the line at moral worth alone. The amusements of a ]>eople taking their charactei- fuun the natural surroundings of the commnnitv, were here chiefly adapted to the masculine taste. Hunting and fishing were always liberally rewarded, while log cabin raisings, the opening of court with its jury duty, and the Saturday attenmon lioli(la\ with its scrub horse I'ace, its wrestling match, its jumping or t[uoit pitching, and jierliaps a fight or two, afforded entertainments that never lost their zest. It was a common remark, however, tliat " Illinois furnished an easy berth for men and oxen, but a hard one for women and horses."* Outside of '' visiting" and camp meetmgs, the diversions in which women participated at that earl}' daj' were very few; husking and spinning bees, and " large" weddings where the larger part of the nigiit was spent in dancing, did not have the frequent occurrence so characteristic of the Eastern States, and nothing here seemed to offer any substitute. So long as the commimity gathered liere lacked easy communication with the outside world this state of things continued. There was a market at Cliicago at this time, where a fair price could be liad for the surplus crop, and the growth of the older settlements further south brought the advantages of civilization nearer to t'lese outlying communities, but the lack of roads prevented the early enjoyment of these privileges.

The early lines of travel were along the Indian trails. These were clearly defined paths about a foot or eighteen inches wide, cut into the sod of the prairie, sometimes to the depth of ten or twelve inches. A portion of one of these trails can be seen now on the fsirm formerly belonging to Jacob Claypool, where it has been carefully protected by a furrow plowed up on eitlier side of it. There were three of these following the general course of tlie river through the county, and terminating at Chicago, which was atan early time a great resort of the Indians. One of these ran along tlie north side of the river, between it and the present site of the canal up to near the five mile bridge then passing north of the line of tlie canal, but south of the Catholic cemetery, it crossed both branches of Xettle Creek near where the stone bridges now stand, thence recrossing the canal line near the Peacock bridge, and passing on the ridge throuirh to the Protestant cemetery, it crossed the Au Sable below the aqueduct, and thence through Dresden it took its course over the bluffs toward Channahon. Another on the bottoms soutli of the river crossed the Waupecan Creek at the quarter corner, of the east line of section 18, in Wauponsee township, thence nearlj' in a straight line, passing twenty rods north of the center of section 17, it continued to Spring Creek which it crossed at its mouth, and thence it led across the Mazon on section 16, and np the river, crossing the Kankakee one half mile above its mouth. There was a second trail on the south side of the Illinois river, which skirted the points of timber, pas.sed a little north of the present residence of Jonathan Wilson on section 4, 32, 6, and entered Wauponsee about the center of the west line of the southeast quarter section 20, continuing thence in a direct line and intersecting the first trail at the crossing of the Mazon River. There was a '- high prairie trail" through Holderman's Grove north of Grundy County, which came to be an important line of travel.

There were of course no fences at first to interfere with the choice of road or to serve as guides, and these trails were followed until a wa^on path, pretty clearly defined, made traveling between well established points no very difiicult matter in the day- time, or on moonlight nights. But the belated traveler on a dark night, or one a little unfamiliar with the fords, found it advisahle to make an unexpected bivouac on the open prairie. Even some of the older settlers, when near at home, had some experience of this, as an incident related of Mr. Jacob Claypool, very forcibly illustrates: lie and his boys, Perry A. and L. "W., had husked corn for Iloldei-man, for one and a half bushels per day. Late in November (1834) they set out from home with two teams, one of horses and the other of oxen, to bring Imme their liard earned corn. On their return they reached the Indian trail near the west line of section 7, 33, 7, just about dark. To add to the difficulties of the situation, a heavy fog arose as night set in, and knowing that there was no escape from an open air camp, they made the best of their situation by carefully feeling their way along the trail to a point near the present residence of Isaac Iloge, where there were some hay-stacks. Here the party remained until about four o'clock in the morning, when the fog rising and the moon coming out, they started for the ford of the Illinois River, on the west line of section 8. Perry Claypool with the horses led, and fortunately striking the right place jiassed over safely, but the ox team failed to follow closelj', and becoming unmanageable, began to swim out of the difficulty with the wagon and passengers. By daylight the party reached their cabin home wet, cold and hungry, and worst of all, with one load of their hard earned corn floating down the river.

possible efforts to secure roads and bridges. The northern part of the State had settled uj) 60 slowly that there was no thoroughfare through Grundy County at all until about 1833. About this time the Bloomington and Chicago road began to be outlined by the droves of live stock going to market, and the return teams hauling salt and supplies. This soon became the principal route of travel, and crossed the county through the northern part of Highland, passed old Mazon and crossed the Mazon River at Sulphur Springs, on section 6, Braceville. From this point it led to the Kankakee River at " Cousin John Beard's ford," about a mile and a half from its mouth. This road was not officially laid out or worked until after the county of Grundy was formed, when the commissioners at one of their earliest meetings ordered it run out from " Lone tree point to Cousin John Beard's ford at the crossing of the Kankakee." It was subsequently' worked, and in 1843 a bridge was erected over the Mazon, where the road crossed, but it was soon destroyed. It was the earliest and greatest thoroughfare of its time, but it did not reach the dignity of a mail route, and has long since been abandoned. In December of 1834, the commissioners of La Salle County appointed Henry Green, Benjamin Bloomfield and Sam'l S. Bullock to lay out a road from Marseilles toward Joliet. This was laid out as near as practicable along the Indian trail nearest the north bank of the river. This was afterward divided into three divisions, and Wm. Ruhey appointed supervisor of the western division, "Wm. Iloge, of the middle division, and Joshua Collins of the eastern. On July 3, 1839, the "Shalcing Bridge " was erected near where the present stone bridge spans the west branch of Nettle Creek on Jeflerson street in Morris. To raise this early bridge required the Tinited energies of most of the men in the country about, and was probably the first bridge erected in the county. It was hoped that this road would prove to be the route for the north and soutli travel of the State, and upon such expectations Lovell Kimball of Marseilles laid out the village of Olarkson on the southeast quarter 12, 33, 6, with a double log cabin hotel as a nucleus about which to gather the expected city. This village aspired to county honors, until the construction of Grundy blighted all such hopes, and remained even then the principal village in this region until the location of the county seat at Morris, when it rapidly went to decay. At Dresden, on the other end of this road in Grundy County, Salmon Rutherford erected a large " framed " hotel, where, by license of the court he was allowed to charge the following scale of prices:

For this privilege he paid $6 and gave a bond of $100 for the faithful performance of his obligations. Another of these early hostelries was erected about this time on the west fork of the Mazon, and was kept by James McKean, and was for a considerable time the resort of drovers on their way to market with stock.

highways. Iloads were run with some reference to the farmers who lived along the lines of these " through routes," which led, not without an occasional serious struggle, to their abandonment. The result of these changes was to establish the main line of through travel along the high prairie trail by way of Ilolderman's Grove, etc., on which Frink and Walker subsequently established a line of coaches running between Chicago and Peru. From four to eight four-horse coaches left each terminal point daily, connecting at Peru with a steamboat from St. Louis. Neil, Moor & Co., an Ohio firm, ran a line of coaches between the same points following a route south of tlie river, but it proved but a short-lived competition, though vigorous while it existed. The latter firm failed and withdrew its coaches in a short time. But with all these improvements, Chicago, which had become the market for this section, was too far oft" for the means oi transportation possessed by the farmers. Everything was hauled in wagons and the roads were stern autocrats of the pioneer's destiny. The treacherous sod that covered the long stretch of swamp about the city would bear up only a moderate load, and thus restricted the amount of produce to be taken by a single wagon. Add to this the rude construction of the best roads and there is a sense of discouragement that might have worked despair if it had not incited to improvement. It may be noticed here that the civilization of the broad tread wagon and that of the narrowtread, met at the eastern line of Grundy County. With all the other inconveniences, the farmers of this section found that their wagons had a hard road to travel even where it was well constructed, one being ^on the unbroken or unsettled roadway all the time. This was soon remedied by the adoption of narrow tread wagcMis, but the other difficulties still remained.

The jiroject of connecting the waters of Lake JVIichigan with the navigable waters of the Illinois liiver had been talked of since 1S12, and urged from time to time on the ground of its military as well as its commercial importance, but it was not until July 4, ISoO, that ground was first broken for its construction. The line surveyed for its construction, connecting with the eastern arm of the soutli branch of the Chicago River, followed the general line of the Desplaines and Illinois Rivers to Peru, where it was proposed to pass by locks into the river. Tlie estimate of its cost varied from $6i0,000 to $10,000,000, the latter being neai'er the actual cost when constructed. There M'as an urgent demand for greater traiisportation facilities, and scarcely a year passed without a recommendation on the subject by State or national official, but here the matter seemed to end until 1S25. In this year the "Illinois and Michigan Canal Association" was formed witli a capital of $1,000,000, which received a charter granting most extraordinary privileges. At this time Daniel P. Cook, the only Representative of the State in the lower House of Congress, was earnestly seeking to secure a grant of public lands in aid of the canal, and he felt that this charter would defeat his plans. He therefore used every effort to have it annulled, publishing an able argument against the association scheme and sending it throughout the State. Tiie " Association" did not seem to prize its privileges ; no stock was ever subscribed, and the charter was voluntarily surrendered soon after its receipt. In 1827, came the grant of public lands, but this was not easily turned into money, and in 1833 the advisability of devoting the grant to the building of a railroad between the terminal i)oints was seriously discussed. "Up to January 1, 1S39, the gross expenditure on the canal, derived from the various Sources of loans, lot and land, amounted to $1,400,000. All of it, but about twentythree miles between Dresden and Marseilles, was contracted, and the jobs let were roughly estimated at $7,500,000,"* In the meanwhile the public and Legislature had been carried away with a vast scheme of public improvement, and the State involved in great financial embarrassment. After negotiating several loans on account of the canal which involved the State's finances without proportionately aiding the canal, there was a general collapse. The breaking of the State bank in 1842 added to the general distress, and gave rise to an agitation in favor of repudiating the State debt, which then amounted to $14,000,000. It was about this time that the unlet section of the canal was contracted, Jacob Claypool taking section 126 about where the aqueduct is placed. The failure of funds, however, brought the work here to an early close. The effort to secure a loan of $1,- 600,000 to finish the canal was protracted through some three years, in which the work came to a standstill, but in 1845 its construction was renewed, and "finally, by the opening season of 1848, tlie Illinois and Michigan canal, a stupendous public work,

The influence upon Grundy County was felt at once; warehouses were erected, and a good market for grain of all kinds was brought within easy reach, while goods and supplies of all sorts were as easily secured. Its effect in another way was quite as marked. When the work ceased in 1843 a large number of those employed on the canal, thrown out of work, took up land here,and, industriously engaging in farming, have become well-to-do, and are still here, or represented by their descendants. Daring the progress of the work the transient Irish element outnumbered the residents of the county, and worked their will for a year or two at the polls. The village of Morris suddenly changed from a rather quiet town to a place " where whiskey and Irish were plenty," together with what such a combination implies, but with the completion of the canal this element passed away, leaving Morris and Gruiuiy County to workout its own destiny untrammeled by outside influences.

Closely related with the canal was a scheme for tiie construction of a railroad from Chicago to the mouth of the Illinois. But the completion of the former and its being placed in trust with all its property and revenues to secure the piyiiiont of tlie Eiio'lish capitalists who had loaned the $1,600,000, discouraged the granting of a charter for the upper part of such a road. The slight dependence to be placed upon the river for through transportation had been demonstrated, and had proved very disappointing to the great expectations entertained of the canal. Tlirough freight shipped by the canal was occasionally seriously delayed because of the inability of boats of ordinary draught to come up the river far enough to make connections. A charter had therefore been granted for a railroad from La Salle to Rock Island. The country through which it was proposed to build this road was not thickly settled, and capital was therefore slow in taking up this enterprise. In the meanwhile, as it languished. Senator Douglas, impressed with the advantage of a railroad from Chicago to Rock Island, began urging his views upon others, and among the rest upon Norman C. Judd, who then represented Cook County in the State Senate. He suggested that the charter for the La Salle & Rock Island road be amended, so as to allow an extension of the road to Chicago. Mr. Judd entered into the project at once, and had no ditflculty in enlisting the interest of AVm. Reddick, State Senator from La Salle, Burea, Livingston and Grundy Counties, and the late Governor Matteson, Senator from Will County. The citizens along the route of the proposed extension were easily enlisted in the cause, and frequent consultations were had. At a conference of the supporters of this scheme, held in the old American House in Springfield, Senators Judd, Reddick, and Matteson, with P. A. Armstrong as clerk, were appointed a committee to prepare a bill for the purpose of amending the charter. This was immediately done, Armstrong drawing up the bill at Mr. Judd's dictation, which was then put upon its passage on the next day. It was obstinately contested by the English interest, but notwithstanding the apparent demands of equity, the bill passed bot'.i

Louses, and went to the Governor for liis approval. Tliis was tlie critical point, as it was understood that Governor French had assured the canal trustees that lie would veto the measure. Mr. lleddick, wiio had been of considerable service in the pa sage of a bill championed by a brother of the Governor's wife, at once projiosed to see Mrs. French, who had the reputation of being a good deal of a jioliticiau. and no mean power behind the Governor's throne. The bill was already in the hands of the Governor, and a veto was feared in the morning. So, late as it was in the evening, Mr. Reddick proceeded to the gubernatorial mansion. The Governor's salary was then $1,500 a year, and Mrs. French was her own door-girl. Recognizing her guest, she congratulated him on the passage of his railroad bill. " I am afraid we are not out of the woods yet," he responded. " Whj' sol" said Mrs. French, "I read in the Jieg'iste)' this morning that your bill had passed both houses and gone to the Governor lor his approval." " True," replied Mr. lleddick, "but we are informed that Governor French will veto it." Springing to her feet, and looking Mr. lleddick straight in the face, she said, stamping her foot to enforce her words, " But Governor French shall not veto this bill! " The next morning the bill was returned aj^jjroved.

The provisions of this charter which authorized the construction of a railroad from Rock Island " by way of Ottawa and Joliet to Chicago," and changed the name to " Chicago «fe Rock Island R. R. Company," were peculiar, and explain its success in the Assembly. It was skillfully drawn to "catch votes" and served its purpose. It provided: 1. That the road should pay toll to the canal board upon all freights carried, with the exception of (a) all live stock; (b) on freight carried after the close of canal navigation; (c) on freight carried durinii: the cessation of canal naviyfation caused by any casualty or otherwise; (d) on freight received from or destined to a point on said road tweutj^ miles west of the southern termination of the canal. 2. These tolls should cease when the interest and payment of the $1,600,000 should be paid. 3. That the canal trustees should grant the right of way free of cost. 4. If the trustees should refuse their assent to this provision on the first Monday in June after the passage of the act, the tolls imposed should be remitted, and the company have the right to construct the road untrammeled. It was further required that the road should be built within a year. It is needless to add that the canal board made a virtue of necessity and yielded. The act was passed February 7, 1S51, and the work liegun with energy. The route was surveyed in the early summer and before the following January the whistle of the locomotive was heard in Grundy County. At the time this charter was granted, there were only about one hundred miles of railroad in the State, and the " Kingdom of Grundj'," as it was jocosely called, considered itself on the royal road to prosperity and fame. This road follows the general line of canal through the county, and has 100,747 feet of main track, 106,747 feet of second main track, and 8,015 feet of side track in the county.

The Chicago & Alton road is the second railroad of the county in importance and in the order of construction. It was built in response to a demand for a closer connec- tiou between Chicago aud St. Louis. It crosses the southeast corner of the county, and affords an outlet for the coal found in that region, wliich, however, was discovered subsequent to the construction of the road. It was opened in lS5i,and has 106,737 feet of main track, 03, Gil feet of second main track, and 15,102 feet of side track in the county. In 1S71: the Chicago & Illinois Valley Railroad was laid to within a few feet of the Mazon Creek in Braceville Township, and in the following year it was continued througli the county by the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Company. These roads are separate in their organization and are likely to become the prey of more important roads. The former has 39,230 feet of track, and the latter 76,992 feet. Tiie Kankakee & Seneca Railroad is one of local interest, connecting these two points and crossing the county diagonally through the southwestern part of the county, having about 107,000 feet of track in the county. The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad appears on the tax duplicate as having 26,710 feet of track in Greenfield Township, the Wilmington Mining & Manufacturing Company some 0,000 feet of track, used to reach the mines of tliis company in Braceville Township, and the Jlilwaukee & St. Paul about a mile of track for the same purpose. The railroad interest of Grundy County, however, centers in the two leading roads.

Closely following the advent of the first railroad in Morris came the pioneer newspaper, the harbinger of democratic civilization. This was in 1852; arriving in the village on the verge of winter, accompanied with an almost helpless wife, and possessing barely enough material to answer the requirements of his modest office, J. C. Walters began the publication of an antislavery paper, the Jlon'is Yeoman. The citizens recognizing the value and importance of having an "organ" contributed snch support as they could, and about Oct. 1, 1852, the first number apj>eared. It was a seven column folio, printed on a sheet 21 by 36 inches in size, and dealt in general topics of news and politics. The "oflice" was in an adobe hut (an old mud-house is the name by which it is referred to now); the stands and other furniture were home made, and the old " Franklin press," shipped from Ann street, 'New York, struck off the edition. The editor was unique in appearance, surroundings, and in his literary style. He wore longhair and a cadaverous countenance emphasized by a pair of very dark eyes; his old fashioned press was surmounted, it is said, by an Indian's skull, the eye socket of which served to hold a tallow candle; and his editorials - "philippics" his friends called them - were full of such personal attacks as only tlie untutored taste of that day could admire. In 1851, the paper passed into the hands of Buffington & Southard anl the name changed to the Herald. Subsequently, Mr. BufHngton retired and Mr. Southard continued its publication until March 30, 1861, when he was called away and sold the paper to C. G. Perry, who subsequently took Mr. Turner in partnership. On Southard's return after about a year's absence, the proprietors of the Herald., having accomplished some political ends in which they were interested, offered to sell the paper to him again. This was agreed upon, but when the transfer was about to be made, a political consideration was attached to the bargain which defeated tlie sale. Angered at tliis turn of affixirs, some of Mr. Soutliard's friends insisted on his starting up a new paper, and the Jlorris Adoertlner was started with Soutiiard as editor and proprietor. It did not take long to demonstrate wliicli was the " fittest," and in accordance witli Darwin's forniulation of a natural law. the Herald sold out, and tiie two consolidated were conducted hy ^Ir. Southard under the name of Herald and Advertiser. It had in the meanwhile been enlarged to a nine column folio, and its name sim]ilified to the Herald alone. In (October, ISl-i, the pajier was purchased by General P. C. Hays, an Ohio editor of ability, but a native of an adjoining county, who conductc.l it alone until July 1, 1S76, when Mr. Fletcher was added to the firm. It is now a seven column quarto.

The Morris Gazette was a six column folio printed on a sheet 21 by 29 in size. It was begun by Andrew J. Ashton in July, 1853. It was Democratic in politics, and of a sharply personal character in all its effusions. The projector of the paper had little or no means, and depended upon party friends to establish the paper. The paper did not succeed, but in 185.5, the material was sold to the Herald, leaving a deficit to be paid by those who had aided in its establishment. Another paper of the same political faith was established about 1860 by Matt. Parrott, but it was not a success, and failed in a few months. The ne.xt paper was the Reformer, started in 1ST2, by '' Joe " Simpson. This paper was anti- Eepublican, principally Democratic, but considerably tinctured with green backisni. In 1876, this paper passed into the hands of A. R. Earlow, but soon coming back to

Mr. Simpson it was closed out. Again, in March, 1880, Col. Blackmore revived Democratic journalism in Morris by issuing the Morris Democrat. Tlie paper added a considerable vigor to the campaign of that year, bnt its energies were soon spent and it died before the issue was decided. It seems to be simply a question of demand and supply, and there being no demand, any paper of pronounced Democratic tendencies gluts the market and necessarily fails.

The IndepeiuJent is a semi-weekly paper, independent in matter as well as in name. Its first; number was issued March 1, 1S7S. It was established by Messrs. Perry, Crawford & Kntz, who leased the material of the Edwards' Directory office, Morris. It started as a seven column folio, bnt was increased one column in March, 1881. The business has fallen into the hands of J. A. Kutz, the other members having dropped out. It is the only semiweekly paper in the Congressional district.

The other papers of the county are the Gardner WeeTcly News, BraceviUe Miner, and IJie Independent. The first named is a weekly paper published at Gardner, an S-column folio, printed on a sheet about 26 by 40 inches. It was established September 29th, 1881, by C. M. King, when the " boom " in coal promised a rapid growth to the village. Mr. King, the editor and proprietor, is a busy, energetic man, and publishes editions of his paper adapted to the locality where issued, for Essex, Reddick and BraceviUe. The BraceviUe Miner is one of these editions, and was begun in 1882. It is the same size of The News, but is devoted especially to the interests of the miners, who form the leading part of the paper's patrons. It h

Republican in sentiment upon all political matters, but aims more particular!}' at furnishing the families of this part of the county with the county news. The office of these publications at Gardner is well equipped with material and presses. Tlie Independent, a 6-colamn folio, printed on a sheet about 22 by 32 inches, is published at Gardner by J. H. "Warner. It was established about ISSO, as an edition of the paper at Braidwood, in the adjoining county. It aims at local news, and serves its purpose with success.

r.nt deeper tban all these elements, more important than markets, or railroads, or newspapers, the foundation of social progress, is the clmrch and school. Whatever success the individual lacking these inilnences, may achieve, a community can never prosper without them, and much that Grundy County may be proud of is due to tiiese benign forces. The early settlements were considerably scattered, and it was for years a difficult matter to get more than two families together for religious services. The pioneer preachers were men of slender education and homely address, but were wonderfully effective in their self-denying earnestness. They visited from cabin to cabin, exhorting, counseling, reproving, as the occasion miglit demand; they became in every house a welcome guest, and many a weary heart and feeble hand was stayed by these simple hearted servants of the cross. Among the earliest names familiar to this vicinity were those of Adam and Aaron Payne, Stephen Beggs, "William Eoyal and Isaac Scarrett. These were all of the Methodist church which established an early mission at the mouth of Fox Eiver, in La Salle County. It was from this point that the Rev. Scarrett was brouoht to solemnize the first wedding within the present boundaries of Grundy County - that of James Galloway to Martha Matilda Stype, at the house of Mr. Isaac Iloge. The introduction of a considerable Irish element here brought with it the Catholic church and its earliest re])resentative, Father Dnpontaris, who was a worthy man and proved himself an efficient shepherd of a wayward flock. He was at any time ready to administer " extreme unction" or quell a riot, and did either with equal skill. The Mormons were also represented by their itinerants, but the people of Grundy did not seem to take kindly to their peculiar doctrines and gave them little encouragement In the meantime, while the country part of the county was being molded and modified by these influences, the principal village was rapidly gaining an unenviable notoriety for its boisterous incivility and it required no little moral and physical courao-e for the first ministei-s to attempt to hold services in the old Court House. Several ministers wei-e broken down by the rude participation of the audience in the proceedings of the meeting and left in disgust. The Rev. James Longhead, who founded the first Protestant church in the county, was attracted to Morris, principally by a missionary spirit. On his first entrance into town his vehicle was assailed by a huge foot-ball kicked into it by a boisterous crowd of men and boys who occupied the main street for their game, while ruder oaths from every side assailed his ears. It was the roughest town he had met on his travels from the East, and most in need of gospel influence. Thirty-five years of such influence have wrought great changes ; "this

Hand in Iiand with the church is found tiie school. The early library was made up of the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, tiie Columbian Orator and Webster's Speller. Out of these tiie members of the family too young for service in or out of doors drew mild draughts of mental exhilaration. Reading came by the devotion iif odd moments from the mother's otherwise crowded life, and once in possession of this magic power, the trials and triumphs of Christian with the eloquence of the "Orator" proved both entertainment and instruction. There were very few private schools in the county before the establishment in this county of thn " District S.;hools," about 1851. Since then there has been a rapid developmeut of school facilities and Grundy County with the rest of the State may pride itself on the possession of educational advantages second to none.

" Of most disastrous chances, Of movingr accidents by flood and field; Of hair-breadth 'scapes i'the imminent deadly breach ; Of being taken by the insolent foe!"

of woman's demotion, and of all the nation's sacrifice during those woeful years ! And yet, how our fancy fails. Time's kindly touch has dulled tlie anguish of those days ; fame's "ineffectual fire" is but a misty halo in the intervening shadows, and children read with ]iroud surprise of gallant deeds on unfamiliar fields.

The Senatorial campaign of 1858, with the succeeding Presidential contest in 1860, in which the great citizen of Illinois had been the ]irominent figure, served to fix the undivided attention of this county, with the rest of the State, upon the political storm which seemed to be gathering with portentious mutterings over the southern portions of the country. It is doubtful whether hope or fear predominated in the minds of the people as the d&y approached wlien Lincoln was to be inaugurated, and the universal hope and expectation was that in his grasp the serpent of secession would be strangled, as Jackson had done before in tlie case of the "nullifiers." It was in this state of vacillation between hope and fear tliat the reverberations of Fort Sumpter's guns assailed the ears of the eager North. It was this explosion, echoing round the world, that united the various elements and made men Union or non-Union. Niceties of political distinctions wore lost sight of at once, and to the credit of Grundy County be it said, there was but one party here, and that for the support of the Union. Fort Sumpter capitulated on Saturday, April 13, 1S61, and on the 15th, the Secretary of War telegraphed to tlie Governor of Illinois, the apportionment of that State under the President's call for 75,000 men to |)Ut down the insurrection at Charleston. The call was made under the authoi-ity granted to the President of the United States to call out the militia when the laws of the general government were opposed and the execution thereof obstructed, and required the Governor of Illinois to " detach from the militia" 225 officers and 4,458 men. The militia thus called upon had no actual existence in this State. Here and tliere through the State were half-filled companies of holiday troops, but even these in a majority of cases had no efficient organization or equipment. On the 15th, the Legislature was called to convene on the 23d inst., and an order issued from the Adjutant-General's office to the various militia officers to hold themselves in readiness for actual service. On the following day an order was issued for the iiutnediate organization of the six regiments called for by the general government. The response from every part of the State prompt and nnaniinons, and in ten days over ten tliousand men tendered their services to the government for the defense of the Union. In the meanwhile such companies as had an organization and partial eqnipinent were Jmrried forward, under General Swift, to Cairo. This force amounted to 90S officers and men, including among others the Ottawa Liglit Artillery from this section of the State. Of tlie ten tliousand men tiiat gathered at Springfield in response to the Governor's call, the majority were in company organization, clotlied and equipped by tlie communities which sent them forth. Of tliese Grundy County sent out the " Grundy Tigers," with W. T. Hopkins, Capt. ; Sam'l Elton, 1st Lieut. ; G. S. Doane, 2d Lieut., and Capt. Hulburd's Company which was mustered in June as Company E. of the Twenty- Tiiird Regiment of Infantry.