Hancock County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 13 of those read), 1880

The Poor

The care and maintenance of the poor - the most sacred duty that can devolve on human government, next to that of providing that there sliall be no poor - has cost Hancock county large suras annually. This has been owing not so much to the great number requiring aid, as to the want of system in applying it. In the earlier history of the county this duty was performed in an imperfect and slovenl}' manner, by donations from the public funds ; and while man}' were allowed to suffer others not so much in need were too freely supplied.

At length a farm was purchased and a plain frame building put up for tlie accommodation of the county's paupers; and the system adopted of letting the farm and the kee])ing and maintenance ol the poor to the lowest Indder. This system in its verj' nature offered a premium to injustice; and it is not saying too much to assert that under it these unfortunates never have received and never will receive that kind care and attention their condition requires. As a rule, perhaps, their keepers have been ordinarily kind and humane; but human nature will assert itself, and self-interest thwart men's best intentions and instincts.

In May, 1S59. a committee of the Board of Supervisors reported the cost of the poor farm and house, to date, as follows: house, $3,000; barn, $800; fencing, $500; breaking ground, $250; incidentals, $ 350; total, $1,900; claims and allowances for the past nine years, §11,000; total cost, $15,900. The farm consists of 114 acres, with a small timber tract north of town.

At a little later date, the poor-house committee of the Board recommended an order to submit to the vote of the people the question of selling out the concern, and remanding the keeping of the poor back to the townships. The recommendation was not acted on, but the fact shows that the business was conducted in an unsatisfactory manner.

As the number of paupers increased, it became more and more manifest that the building was too small and too poorly arranged, and the means at command of the keeper too limited, for their proper accommodation. Much dissatisfaction was felt among the people; and at length. May 6, 1873, the committee declared the pooi'-house a " disgrace to the county, and unfit for the purpose." The Board took measures at once to prepare for the erection of an additional building. The chief cause of complaint was in the use (444) of a small building known as the " Mad House," in which the idiotic and insane were confined, and which was declared to be illventilated and in every wa3' unfit for the purpose.

The new " Mad House," or Insane Asylum, was built in 1874, and together with the original frame structure, furnishes ample accommodations for the unfortunates of all classes, and for the tamily of the superintendent.

An Act of the General Assembly, approved March 23. 1S74, revising the pauper laws, conferred on the county Boards power to prescribe rules and regulations for the care of the poor, which have had very beneficial efl'ects in systematizing the work. At the next May special session of the Board of Supervisors, a well-digested set of rules was presented bj' Mr. W. H. Manier, and adopted. These rules are important, and a synopsis of them is given below, to show the present methods and workings of the system:

1. All poor persons, who from infirmitj', idiocy, lunacy, or other unavoidable cause are unable to earn a living, may become a county charge.

3. The following exceptions provided for: partial ability to earn a livelihood or assistance from other sources, temporary inability, extreme danger of removal, contagious disease; in such cases the parties maj' receive aid in their respective townships, under charge of the overseer of the poor.

5. Overseers of the poor in the townships to keep full and accurate accounts of their doings, and make annual report to the Board of Supervisors; otherwise no bill allowed.

8. The keeper to receive no person without a written order from the overseer of tlie township, giving name, age, nativity, and cause, pro]icrl3- authenticated.

This law, with the regulations adopted by the Board, together with the ample accommodations provided and careful contracts "with superintendents, have resulted in the more humane treatment of the insane, idiotic and poor people committed to our charge, and more economical and systematic administration of pauper atfairs;and it is believed that the pauper management in the county is giving reasonable satisfaction to the people.

Still, there is doubtless great room for improvement. The first and great aim in the care and maiuigetnent of paupers, should be to restore them to health and to the society of home and friends; to make them healthy, happy and self-supporting members of the body politic. And the surest and safest way to bring about such results is to give them wholesome food, proper clothing and such healthful employment as they are capable of. Mauy of them become objects of public cbareje from a lack of proper physical and moral training, and these should be among the first remedies applied. Hence it is not every man that is tit for a superintendent of the poor.

And in the management of the farm, too, care should be taken that suitable occupations should be provided for those able to work. And we know of no more suitable employments among out-door labors, than that of growing and caring for the varieties of small fruits. The county poor-farm, should, therefore, have not only a well-kept orchard of apple, peach and pear, but an ample supply of raspberry, blackberry, currant, gooseberry, grape and strawberry plants, and the product of these would not only furnish to the keeper's family and tliose under his charge an abundance of the best health-preserving food, but would add a large item on the right side of the account current. To this out-door work some light mechanical employments might bo added to advantage, for in-door employment of those physically unfit for out-door labors.

We believe this suggestion as to the growing and use of orchard and garden fruits on the poor-farm, is one of much more importance than is generally supposed. There is no doubt but their free production and use would materially lessen the doctor bills of the institution; and their moral influence would be worth}' of consideration.

Election 1840

[The name of Abraham Lincoln, a Harrison Elector, was dropped by about 300 Mormon voters, and that of James H. Ralston, his opponent, substituted. With that exception, the Mormons generally voted the Whig ticket.]

Election 1843

Mr. Adams, Probate Judge elect, died soon after election, and a special election to fill vacancj' was held in September, with the following result:

For Sec. "Minority Rep.".. .1924 816 Against " " ...1108 For Section relating to Municipal Subscription to Railroads or Private Corporations 2253 1473

After discussion aud consultation among the old settlers of Hancock county during the winter and spring of 1869, it was resolved to hold a meeting at the county seat for the purpose of effecting an organization of the pioneers of the county. A call was accordingly issued in all the county papers, signed by a number of old settlers, asking their fellow pioneers to meet in convention at the courthouse in Carthage, on the 15th day of June next (1869).

Accordingly a large meeting was held, and oi'ganized by electing Judge David Greenleaf to the chair, with a number of vice presidents and secretaries.

On taking the chair the president introduced Hon. Orville H. Browning, of Quincy, who had been invited to address the meeting. Mr. Browning's remarks were so apposite to the occasion, and interesting, as illustrating early times in the county, that we make no apology for quoting them freely in this place. We copy from a report made for the Carthage Gazette^ by Mr. Noble Prentis, one of its editors. Mr. B. said:

" He was I'eluctant to call himself an old man, but was certain he was an old citizen. He attended tlie first Court in the county held at Montebello, when there were but two villages within the limits of the county, one of them Montebello, the other Venus, on the present site of Nauvoo. He remembered that at that session Venus was a contestant for the county seat. Of the lawyers he met at that Court every one had passed away from earth, and of the officers of the Court, his venerable friend, Wesley Williams (here present), was the sole survivor. At that time he himself was a young lawyer, having left his native State of Kentucky two weeks after the completion of his legal studies, and removed to Quincv, the only place he had ever called home, amid a people to whom he was indebted for all the prosperity he had enjoyed in life. When he first travelled the road from Quincy to Montebello, there were no houses or anything approaching a settlement, save at Whitney's Grove and Fort Edwards. No Carthage, no La Harpe, no Fountain Green, no Warsaw then. Between Montebello and Crooked creek, on the road to McDonough county, there were no houses. The country, though uninhabited, was not a wilderness or a desert; it was the green, billowy, sunlit, beautiful prairie, left solitary because the people at that day believed the open country would never be settled. The northern half of the State was almost uninhabited; the flourishing cities of Quincy, Galena, (463) . ' and Chicago - that miracle of a city - were all included in one Judicial Circuit, presided over by one Judge who had less than halt the business brought before Judge Sibley in his Circuit of two counties.

"Mr. Browning gave a graphic description of the lawyers of that day riding the Circuit on horseback with the inevitable saddle-bags, containing the 'other' shirt, a meager supply of corn dodgers, and occasionally (perhaps frequently) a bottle of Bourbon. Sometimes these legal pilgrims found shelter in the cabin of some friendly Indian, or spread thsir blankets on the praii'ie and slept with the clouds for a covering, or the stars for a canopy.

"Pie remembered attending the first Court held at Cathage. The temple of justice at that day was a log cabin of limited dimensions roofed with clapboards. The Bench and Bar boarded with a family at the edge of the timber, near the subsequent residence of Mr. Baldwin. The 'hotel' of Carthage was a sort of rail pen twelve feet square, the provisioTis and whisk}' being dealt out through the cracks to the outsiders. The site of the present court-house was a frog-pond, and yet this unpromising beginning had culminated in the present city of Carthage, one of the neatest and pleasantest villages he had ever visited."

A touching scene was enacted during this meeting. The presentation of a beautiful bouquet prepared by the ladies of Carthage, was made by the hand of Major H. W. McClaughry to the venerable Wesley Williams, the first County Clerk. Mr. W. was taken by surprise, rose to his feet and attempted a repl}', but was so overcome with emotion that he could only utter his simple thanks.

A constitution was adopted, providing for a permaTient organization, with David Greenleaf for President, a Vice President for each township, David E. Head, Treasurer, and Thomas Gregg and Wm. F. Barnes, Secretaries.

At Carthage, Aug 8, 1872. President, David Greenleaf; Secretary, Thomas Gregg. Dr. William Booze, of Hancock township, delivered the annual address, and Miss Mary SaflPord, of Hamilton, recited a lengthy poem.

At Carthage, Sept. 4, 1873, Ebcnezer Rand, Esq., of Carthage, presiding; Thomas Gregg, Secretary. Annual address delivered by Hiram G. Ferris, Esq., of Carthage.

At Dallas City, Sept. 10, 1874. President, Judge John M. Ferris, of Carthage; Thomas Gregg, Secretary. Annual address delivered by Hon. Augustus C. Dodge, of Burlington.

24th; Thomas Gregg, Secretary. President Ferris delivered tiie annual address. Mrs. Pollard, of Keokuk (Kate Harrington), recited an original poem.

At Warsaw, July 4, 1876, John S. Johnson, Esq., Vice President, .presiding; George D. Gates. Secretary. A failure; adjourned to September and another failure.

At AVarsaw, Aug. 5, 1879. Col. John M. Ferris, i>residiiig; Lemuel Mussetter, Esq., of Warsaw, Secretarj'. Hon. O. H. Browning, of Qiiincy, and Maj. Rol)ert W. McUlaughry, of Joliet, delivered annual addresses.

A number of the annual addresses were reported by the editors of the Carthage papers, and recorded by the Secretary among the proceedings of the Association. All of them were worthy of a place here, but want of space forbids. We will, however, quote extracts from two of those addresses; the first for tlie suggestion it contains, from the address of Mr. Sharp in 1870. He said:

" But, friends, these reunions can be made sources of knowledge as well as of social enjoyment; and I now suggest tliat we to-day amend the title of the association. Let it be hereafter known as the 'Hancock County Pioneers' Association and Historical Society.' Hancock county has a history worth writing and worth preserving. Enough of its early settlers still survive to furnish the necessary facts concerning the early settlements. Here, at the annual reunions, let these facts be gathered and recorded in the archives of the society. Let the files of all the newspapers published in the county, that can be obtained, be preserved. Let the society obtain, if possible, from the county, a room for the deposit of all documents which pertain to or throw light upon the history of the county, and let our Pioneers' Association and Historical Society preserve and transmit these to posterity. Now is the time to act in the matter. The period is fast approaching when death, which in the last year has materially thinned the ranks of the early settlers, will have called the last one to his long home. This should urge us to act promptly in this matter. While many yet live, from whose memories important historical data in reference to the earliest settlements of the county can be obtained, we should make a record of the interesting events that occurred in tlie days of our pioneer settlement."

Mr. Sharp's suggestion was not acted upon. From Mr. Grover's address at the September meeting, 1871, we also make an extract, principally because of its description of Warsaw and the county as late as 1837. Mr. G rover said:

" When the Black Hawk war broke out, the population of the county was still verj' small and thinly scattered; and many of the settlers left the county for awhile. There were no actual depredations here by the Indians; but there was, perhaps, just reason for apprehensions of danger. Fort Edwards was then standing upon that point, within a hundred yards of this square. It had been abandoned some years before, as a military post, bat the buildings were then in possession of Col. Farnham, an agent of the Govern - inent, and by his permission a number of men and a few families concluded to take shelter and protect themselves, if necessary. Among these were Col. Farnham himself, Mark Aldrich and his wife, Isham Cochrane and his wile, and, I think, James M. Wells. Other names I have not been able to learn. Among them was an Indian woman who was married to a white man; and it is stated that she stood in more fear of an attack from Indians than any of the pale-faced women in the fort.

" At the close of this war, Mr. Cochrane saw Gen. Scott with his troops pass down the river with I>lack Hawk and other prisoners in irons. Most of the scattered settlers soon came back, but some never returned. From this date population flowed in more rapidly for a few years. Villages began to spring up, and settlements became quite numerous in the skirts of the timber; but even as late as my first coming to the county, there were ver}^ few settlements in our large prairies. I have a distinct recollection of the appearance of the country from Carthage to Warsaw in 1837. Coming west from Carthage, the first house reached was then owned bj^ Wm. A. Patterson. It was a small one, and, I think, was unfinished and unoccupied. It was five miles from Carthage. There was a small field enclosed, then sown to buckwheat, and in full blossom. The next was the Chapman place, now known as the Comer place. There was an unfinished house and small enclosure. The next places improved were the farms of Benjamin F. Marsh and Gotham Clark, side by side. This brought us to the edge of what was then generally called the 'Warsaw timber.' From thence to Warsaw we passed Truman Hosford's, Bartholomew Slattery's, tlieVinyard farm (the latter now apart of Warsaw) and Mark Aldrich's, and from thence down a winding road through small timber and hazel bush, to Andrew Monroe's (where Elliott's store now stands). At this point we got upon Main street, and passed a little frame building they used as a meeting house, and three other one-story frame houses of a single room each, on the south side, one used by James Chittenden as a saddler. shop, one by Samuel W. Brown and Wm. Mcllhenny, as a tailor shop, the other by Smith Robbins, as a sort of fancy grocery. On the other side of the street was a two-story frame house, unfinished, erected by R. L. Robertson. This brought us to the ' Warsaw House,' then kept by mine host, 'Old man Newberry,' as the boarders irreverently called him; and here I slept ray first night in a house after five months' railroad exploration. I do not think there were then in all our large prairies a hundred improvements a mile distant from timber. The few roads across the prairies followed the most favorable ground for settlement, regardless of section lines; and in some directions you might travel for hours without seeing a house or enclosure. If the direction of the beaten road did not suit, you had full liberty of taking short and direct cuts to your journey's end."

The record kept by the Secretary contains the names of perhaps a thousand pioneers of the county, with nativity and date of emigration. We subjoin a few of the earlier ones: