Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 6 (1 of 2 so headed), 1883 (part 2 of 2)

But notwithstanding the drafts the anti-slaver}' part}', the temperance party, and other parties from time to time made upon the Whigs, they continued to be one of the ruling parties until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, which led to the organization of the Republican party, and the absorption of the Whig, as well as the Liberty, or Abolition, party. For a quarter of a century the Republican has been the dominant party in Illinois, but has never attained to a majority in Jefferson County.

That other political organization - the Democratic party - which sprang into existence or, assumed distinctive form during the administration of Gen. Jackson, is still one of the great political parties of the countrj\ For fifty years it has maintained its organization without change of name or principles, and to-daj- the indications lor its success were never more flattering. It has alwaj's been the ruling party in this county. Indeed, the county has been and is still a stronghold of Democracy. Many of the early settlers fought under Gen. Jackson in the Indian wars of the the South, and were with him at New Orleans, and it is not strange, nor was it inconsistent with their duty or honor that they should look upon the old hero in the light of their political patron saint. And when he had passed away to his reward, they reverently placed his mantle upon the worthy shoulders of Stephen A. Douglas, and accepted him as their leader. With unbounded faith in the wisdom of their choice, they transferred their political allegiance to the " Little Giant," and in all party fights they rallied around him as solidl}- as the Old Guard around Napoleon at Waterloo, or the Stonewall brigade, of Confederate fame, around its idolized leader. When his sun went down forever in the dark political storms of 1860, they, so to speak, " hung their harps upon the willow," and mourned as those without hope and without faith. But eventually they aroused anew for the fight, and now they present to their political enemies a solid and unbroken front.

Other political parties have sprung up in the county, and in the country at large, and under the name of " Greenbackers," '- Prohibitionists," " Independents," " Grangers," etc., have flourished for a period to a greater or less extent, and succeeded sometimes in electing their candidates to office, but only in a very few instances. It is not probable that any of them will rise into formidable opponents of the two great ruling parties. The count}- is and doubtless will continue largely Democratic for years to come.

Zadok Casey. - It is eminently appropriate in the political history of the county to notice at length some of those active spirits who participated in the early politics, and bore a prominent part in the scenes and the times of which we are writing. Indeed, the political history would be incomplete without sketches of those men who contributed so largely in molding the political life and afl'airs of the county. Foremost of the list, as well as first in chronological order, is the Hon. Zadok Casey, who for a long period of his life devoted his time and his talents to the service, in one capacity or another, of his country and his fellow-men.

child of Randolph and Mary Jane (Pennington) Casey. He was married, when scareeh" twenty years of age, to Rachel King, a daughter of Samuel King. From the pioneer sketches of Mr. Johnson, and from other sources at our command, we gather some of the facts of Mr. Casey's early life, and his removal to this county. Soon after his marriage, he began to preach, and kept it up through life, even when most thoroughly engaged in politics. He was very poor, and after his father's death the care of his mother devolved on him, as well as that of his own family. When he came to Jefferson County in 1817, be brought her with him, and the worldly goods of them all comprised but a very small number of necessary articles for housekeeping. In a few days after his arrival here, he had selected a location, and beside a large log erected a camp to shelter them until he could build a house. He soon put up a cabin of small logs because there were not men enough in reach to raise a house of large logs. The floor was rough puncheons, the door of clapboards, beds of board scaffolds, a shovel, a skillet ; this was their early home in Illinois. But he was young, strong, and a good worker, and soon there was a sign of improvement and thrift about his place. He was a man of strong character and a powerful native intellect. When he came here he was entirely uneducated ; indeed, it is said that he learned his A B C's partly with the aid of his wife after he was married. But his natural thirst for knowledge led him to improve every moment, and he eventually became an excellent scholar. As we have said, he was a minister of the Gospel, and continued to preach at intervals during his whole life. But it is principally of his political career we shall speak in tliis connection.

Mr. Casey's active public life commenced almost with his settlement in the county. He took a prominent part in securing the formation of the county, and was one of the Commissioners composing the first County Court. In 1820, he made his first race for the Legislature against Dr. McLean, of White County, and was defeated, but at the next election (1822) he was elected over his former competitor, and was again elected in 1824. In 1826, he was elected to the State Senate for four years, and, in 1830, to the office of Lieutenant Governor, John Reynolds, as already stated, being elected Governor. So great and so universal was his popularity that in his race for the Legislature in 182-1, he received every vote cast in the county but one. Before his term as Lieutenant Governor had expired, he was elected to Congress over Mr. Allen, of Clark County. He was re-elected in 1834 over W. H. Davidson, and, in 1836, over Nat Harmerson ; was elected again in 1838, and elected in 1840 over Stinson H. Anderson. But at this session he voted for a national bank, for a bankrupt law aud against the independent treasury. This, to a great extent, injured his popularity in the district, and, in 1842, he was defeated by John A. McClernand. This left Gov. Casey for a time to the obscurity of private life, and for several years he was engaged in local and domestic enterprises. He was elected in 1847, together with Judge Walter B. Scates and F. S. Casey, to the Constitutional Convention, and to him and Judge Scales, more than to any other influence, is Jefferson County and the city of Mount Vernon indebted for the location here of the Supreme Court Hou^e. He was elected to the Legislature in 1852, and was a member of the State Senate at the time of his death. September 4, 1862. He was employed by the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad to secure the right of way through Illinois but when the company failed lie lost heavilj- by not being paid for his services.

Gov. Casey was a Democrat in politics, though not as strongly partisan as many of his associates in public life. Tliere are those who knew him well, that even intimate that his politics were

"shaky," and tint he was disposed to be just a little hypocritical. His great popularity, however, with the mass of the people, refutes all such charges. He was an excellent financier. Though he commenced life poor and penniless, he accumulated considerable property, and in after life, whatever he took in hand seemed sure to prosper. His children were Mahala, Mary Jane, Samuel K., Hiram R., Alice, Newton R., a physician of Mound City, 111.; Thomas S., of Mount Vernon, one of the Judges of this judicial circuit ; and John R., a practicing physician at Joliet, 111.

We have now given in detail the record dates of the birth, removal to Illinois, and the different important official positions filled by Gov. Casey during life, and it only remains now to fill up the strong outlines of this sketch by a just delineation of those physical, moral and mental characteristics of the man that stand out like the bold promontories that divide the troubled waters and embrace those harbors of safet}' for the ships upon life's sea. We have sketched his life from his birth in 1796, in the bumble pioneer home of his parents in Georgia, his early marriage and removal to Illinois in the spring of 1817, where, beholding the territory in all its natural beauties of woodland grove, green prairie sward, decked and covered with rich foliage and lovely flowers, that, becoming enamored with so much natural wealth and beauty of country, he determined to make it his permanent home. With his wife and child, he came to what is now Jeflferson County, and built his rude log cabin upon the spot made historic b}' his acts, and which will be known to remote historj' as the old Casey homestead. He was barely twenty-one 3'ears of age when he landed in the territory with his little family. They came here, the wife riding the only horse he was able to possess, and carrying the child and their all of earthly goods, -particularly the " skillet," being strapped to the saddle, and in front of this caravan walked the young husband and father, leading the way with his rifle upon his shoulder. When, upon the first night of his arrival, he had built his camp fire by the side of a large log, and his wife had set about preparing the first frugal meal, he wandered oflT a short distance, looking about him, and finally stopped and leaned in wrapt contemplation against a large oak tree, and there, with the silent stars looking down upon him as witnesses, he knelt in prayer and eai-nest supplication to the great God of the universe, and asked that his enterprise might meet the favor of heaven, that his family might be given happiness, health and security, and that he might be only a Christian, sincere man, and an upright, honorable and good citizen. That honest petition to heaven was gi-anted as soon as it was asked, as his great and pure life has so abundantly testified to all the world. Here was the humble beginning of a pioneer life, that was only given for the short space of fortyfive years to his family, to his neighbors, to the county-, the State and the nation, and j'et its impress is everywhere, and its good effects will be known and deeply respected by the millions who may come after him, and are now and will continue to reap what he has sown. He came to Illinois a poor and wholl}' illiterate young a wife and child and pon}- being his chief and nearlj' the whole of his possessions, and looking much like an awkward, overgrown bo}-, to whom the alphabet was an unexplored m3Stery. He onlj* knew how to work, and soon a floorless cabin had gathered beneath its clapboard roof his household goods, and his first years were only marked by hard work and humble Christian piety. There was nothing self-asserting in his nature, and he lived and worked and struggled the true hero, and in front of his fire of an evening, he would lie upon his back, while his wife was singing the song of the spinning-wheel, and aiding him in the mastery of the alphabet, that he might more acceptably advance the cause of Chris- tianity. Before he came to Illinois, he had been regularly licensed by his church - the Methodist p]piscopal - to preach the Word of God, and this holy work he continued until the day of his death. He had soon grown into physical and mental strength and symmetry. He was nearly six feet and two inches in height, of perfect proportions, lithe, active and graceful in his movements, and courtly- of manners, his presence in any crowd would arrest the attention and command deference and respect at all times and in all places. Soon he was drawn into political life and into public oflBce, and here he was even a greater man, and wielded a wider influence upon the stump than he had in the pulpit, although in his most active political lile, when a leading politician and office holder in the State, he never relaxed his ministerial duties, but mentally expanded, and grew with all his multifarious work, until, in the very threshold|of hisjlife, he lived and moved a great, commanding and central figure. With his own strong hand, he was first a great farmer and an eminent financier, calling about him numerous dependents, to whom he was as a kind father and indulgent friend, giving good advice, employment, subsistence, and in the fullness of a ' heart that was big enough to take in all the world, he attached all to him in bands of steel, and at the same time his busj' brain thought out schemes of industry, that built up his county and his State beyond anj* other man of his day or age.

When it is remembered that in the times when Gov. Casey lived his most active young life, when his destin}' was shaping itself, the surroundings were such as we know little or notliing of now except by traditions. The pioneer people were rougii, rude, simple, sincere, honest, warm-hearted and hospitable, and the men of mark were mostly brilliant, erratic, often irreverent and dissipated. Their lives were fevered and delirious, and upon the rostrum or in the forum, where they would gleam and flash like blazing meteors, thej- would easily descend to the revel or orgie, and their flashing lights would be quenched in gloom and darkness. In the society of the young State were the two extremes, the rude simplicity and the gifted, brilliant children of erratic genius, and amid these surroundings Gov. Casey trod alone his pathway of life, the sincere preacher, the pure and spotless politician and statesman, the great, the grand man of his time.

It was the inherent force of a great mind alone that enabled him to enter upon a long and exciting political campaign, and from the stump to discuss with wonderful power the absorbing and often exasperating questions of the day, and when Sunda\- came he could gather about him even those who had waged hot political controversy with him all the week, and all thoughts and all stirred up passions were laid aside in a moment, and as the minister of God he would lead the entire flock to the fold of the Great Shepherd - to that fountain of life for all mankind and for the ages. In religion, he was not a fanatic; as a teacher of the truths of Holy Writ, there was not a trace of dogmatism, and hence in his intercourse with men or in the pulpit, he was as natural, pure and commanding, as the simple and sublime truths that his life and preaching exemplified.

As a politician, he was equally pre-eminent, whether in the hustings, the Legislature, the State Senate, or the Congress of the United States ; he was respected whether as the humblest new member of these bodies, or as the presiding otficcr, the master spirit of the important committee, or the orator and speaker upon the floor. Here as elsewhere, he was the born leader among men, and his well-poised mind was never at fault - never brought in question the justness of his leadership. His fellow-members in Congress soon learned that he made no mistakes, and it was an almost everj'-day occurrence in the State Legislature while he was a member, and the Speaker was.

called on to unravel by his rulings some difficult parliamentary question, to announce to the House that the chair " desired to talve the opinion of the member from Jefferson County," and the business or discussion would suspend until Gov. Casej' could be consulted, and the tangled questions be made plain and settled to the complete satisfaction of all.

A grand old man, whose pure and exalted life is one of the most important chapters in the history of the Northwest for the study and contemplation of the youths of our country. His death, in the meridian of his intellectual manhood, was a National grief and calamity, for which a grateful posterity can only now have the consoling compensation that may come from the pen of the biographer, whom, we trust, may gather the hint from this brief sketch, and make an immortal book, entitled the " Life and Times of Gov. Casey."

Stinson H. Anderson. - Carlj-le said, "great men, taken up in an}' wa}-, are profitable company." This is very true, like all the aphorisms that fell from the pen of the great author and essaj'ist. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great man without gaining something liy him. He is the living light, fountain of native, original insight of manhood and heroic nobleness, which it is good and pleasant to be near. No great man lives in vain. And happy is the country, and happy the commonwealth, if it produce but one, whether it be a soldier, the foremost of the age, or a statesman who administered the affairs of a nation.

It is the uaturallj' great men - men of strong intellects and force of character - that come to tile front when important work is to be done. Such a man was Stinson H, Anderson. He came here at a time when he was most needed, and his finger-marks are still to be seen - telling tiie stoiy of his handiwork, and writing his epitaph in the hearts not only of his descendants, but of the thousands who are reaping and who will in the future enjoy the fruits of his labors. He came here, no doubt, impelled by the Napoleonic impulse of destiny. A new county was still in its first decade of " successful experiment," and while be did not, at once, rush into the vortex of political and official life, yet he soon became a recognized leader. He drew men to him as the magnet draws the steel. Even his opponents and political enemies acknowledged his merits and admitted his power and great intellectual strength.

Gov. Anderson was born in Sumner Couny, Tenn., in 1800, and while still a young ;man came to Jefferson Countj'. He engaged / in agricultural pursuits, and soon became one of the most successful and enterprising farmers of the county. He devoted consideral)le attenftion to fine stock, especially to horses, of which he was extremely fond. He loved the fleetfooted coursers, and the sports of the turf were his greatest pleasure and pastime.

In illustration of his love of the turf, the I following incident is related of him: He had a little race mare called Polly Ann, that he cherished next to his wife and children. He believed that she could outrun any animal (her distance) that stood on four legs in the State of Illinois, and was willing to stake his all on such an issue. Dr. Logan, father of Gen. John A. Logan, the "swarthy Senator from Illinois," had a very fine race horse - a stallion called Walnut Cracker - of which he entertained much the same opiuion as the Governor did of Polly Ann. Logan lived in Jackson County, and after considerable bantering between the owners of the rival nags, a race was finally made - distance 1,000 yards. To sach a pitch of excitement were the principals wrought up, and so confident was each in the speed of his animal, that they staked, not only all their ready cash, but all the property they possessed in the world. The race was run upon Logan's own track at Murphysboro, and Gen. Ander- iSon, of Mount Vernon, a son of the Gover- |nor, then but a lad, and Gen. John A. Logan, were the riders. When they appeared upon the race track, Walnut Cracker, the Logan horse, came with his head up and nostrils distended, like the warhorse of old, as though he scented the battle from afar, while little Polly Ann stood with her head down and her ears flopped over her eyes, seemingly almost without life. Young Anderson was somewhat awed by the appearance of the Logan horse, and with a sort of whimper, told his father he believed Polly Ann would be beaten. " William," said the Governor, -'she's got to beat; if you don't make her win, I'll whip you sir, as a boy was never whipped before, by - - sir!" Such iiery eloquence had its effect on William, and in the race, which followed a few minutes later, Polly Ann passed under the wire several lengths ahead of Walnut Cracker, thus carrying to the ownership of the Governor all the cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, etc., of Dr. Logan.

"To rust imburnished, not to shine in use," and duty to his countrj' called him from his plow, Cincinnatus-like, to take his place in her councils. He was elected Representative of Jefferson Coiinty in the legislative session of 1S3'2, and re-elected in 1834 He naturally became a leader, as one born to command, and by his rare judgment of men and things, convinced his fellow-members that ho committed few errors. In 1838, he was elected Lieutenant Governor on the ticket with Thomas Carlin, and for the sue ceeding four years was the presiding oflicer, by virtue of his position, of the Senate. Hen. Noah Johnston, who served in the Senate during those four years, describes him as an able, courteous and dignified presiding oflBcer. and one whose knowledge of parliamentary law and usage enabled him to avoid all mistakes. While President of the Senate, says Mr. Johnston, but one of Gov. Anderson's decisions was appealed from, and in that case he was sustained in his ruling. After the close of his term as Lieutenant Governor, he entered the United States Army, and was appointed Captain of dragoons, and served in the Florida or Seminole war - a war which continued with varying results for twenty years before the Indians were finally subjugated. He was Warden of the penitentiary at Alton for four years, and upon the accession of Mr. Polk to the Presidency, was appointed United States Marshal for the State of Illinois, which position he held until the close of President Polk's term.

Gov. Anderson's political life commenced just at a time when the two great parties assumed distinctive names. That of the National Administration took the name of Democrat, and the opposition that of Whig. Gov. Anderson cast his fortunes with the Democrats, and was ever after a faithful, active and energetic worker for his party. During his Presidency of the State Senate, party strife ran high and the bitterest political vituperation was indulged in by the Whigs and Democrats, but such was his tact and power in the management of men that througiiout the stormy sessions of his official term he maintained the profound respect of the opposition as well as of his own party.

In all the official positions held by Gov. Anderson, he discharged his duties with unswerving fidelity. A man of the most exalted integrity - the very soul of honor - he scorned a mean or dishonorable act as he scorned the diit beneath his feet. He was free and open in his speech, and would readily say before a mans face what he thought behind his back, but was just and generous, and willfulli' wronged no man. In his family, he was a devoted husband, a kind and indulgent father, and liberal in the education of his children. Although of no religious belief particularlj-, }-et he contributed freelj- of his means to the support of the churches and the Gospel, and his heart was tender, j-ielding in S3'mpathy and relief to distress wherever he found it.

Gov. Anderson died in September, 1857, deeply regretted and mourned alike by the countrj' which he had so faithfully served, and the people who knew him so well.

The political history of Jefferson County for years was embellished with the finger marks of the two statesmen whose sketches we have above given. Although of the same political faith - good Democrats - yet, to say that at all times thej' were in full part}' harmonj-, would be in direct conflict with the true political history of the county. Not infrequently was it the case, that in exciting and important campaigns there were found to be two Richmonds in the field, and who always pi'oved foeraen worthy of each other's steel. For years it has been another " war of the roses," and without the bloodshed and carnage which charactarized the political differences of the houses of York and Lancaster, it 3"et crops out occasionally between the descendants of the two great leaders. It is not material to the subject of this chapter that we enter into the details of this political feud - the party hroniUcrie. which had for its prime cause the fact that the count}- was too small for these two master spirits, a fact that led them to often cross swords upon the points of political power and aggi-andizement. It never culminated in open rupture or party dismemberment, but has been more good-natured than otherwise. It only shows in local contests, wherein more than one aspirant for official position can charge his defeat to a member of the rival faction. These little local differences, however, cut no figure upon national questions or in national contests. In these, all stand shoulder to shoulder, and pour in their fire where it is most needed, and where it will do the most good. And, indeed, this is but another peculiarity of the political history of the count}'. It matters not how much wrangling there maj' be upon local issues, or how much scramble for local offices, when it comes to a general fight with the common enemy all petty differences are forgotten, all countj' squabbles are laid aside, and a larger majority than ever piled up for Gen. Jackson. For proof of the truth of this portion of political history the reader is referred to Gen. Anderson, George Haynes, Judge Casey, Bob Wilbanks, and other young politicians of the day, now in the zenith of their glory, and whose '- lives and times " will be more fully written up in the nest centennial history of Jefferson County.

Noah Johnston. Another of the representative men of the county and who has contributed largely to its high rank, politically, is Ma]. Johnston. The following excellent sketch of him was furnished us by Mr. George M. Haynes:

For more than fifty years Maj. Noah Johnston has lived in this county. He has become, as it were, one of the fixtures, one of the land- marks known by every person, and knowing as many of the old settlers and the men who first cut out the roads through -this part of the State as perhaps any one now living. He is in his eighty-fourth year, and as he passes along our streets we and he well know that in the order of things he must soon "cross the river;" that but a few years at most, and his familiar face will no longer be seen. But will he die? No; such men rarely die; they continue to live long after their bodies have moldered into dust. For generations, at least, after his flesh and bones have returned to the earth fi'om whence they came, he will live in history and in memory. And as we see him day by day, we can but be impressed with the thought that he is of that class that leads us hack to other days. His life has been long and eventful; it began just two days before the close of the last century, and along the line of march he has liot been idle: he has gathered and stored knowledge. Possensed pi an active and intelligent mind, he has sufifered few things of importance to escape him, and one cannot converse with him for any length of time without feeling that he has learned something from him of the men and manners of former times that he did not before know. He stands forth, as it were, a friendly guide-board, ready to point out to the traveler the rocks and snares on the road of life - a gentleman of the old school in every sense of the word, made so by nature.

Maj. Johnston was born on the 2yth of December, 1799, in Hardy County, Va., on the waters of the South Branch of the Potomac, the oldest but one of ten as healthy children as could then be found in the " Old Dominion." His father, George Johnston, moved from Hardy County to Woodford County, Ky., in 1812, and settled near old Lexington. The summer after, his family were taken with bilious fever, a disease in that day not understood by the physicians, and before its ravages ceased four of the same healthy children of the year before were buried and one crippled for life. His father, George Johnston, died in Adams County, this State, in his eighty- fourth year. The Major is now the only surviving member of that family, who in the early days of the republic started "West to secure to themselves the homes which were not so accessible in the older States.

In 1824, the family removed to Clark County, Ind., and after a few years' residence removed to Parke County, same State, where Maj. Johnston's mother died and was buried. The Major continued to live at home and work on the farm with his father until he was thirty years of age, when he left his family in Parke County and returned to Clark and married a Miss Mary Bullock, his present wife, who has since been the sharer of his triumphs and of his reverses; together have they trod life's journey, sometimes in rain, sometimes in sunshine. Through life there are many dark sides and many bright sides, but they have been met and almost passed by this venerable couple, he in his eighty- fourth, she in her eightieth year. They are going - and soon; their work is almost done; their trials and . tribulations about over, and right well are they prepared for this earthly ending.

Soon after his marriage, Maj.- Johnston moved to this county and began farming. He was a man of more than an average education for that day, although he never attended school more than thi-ee or four months, yet his father was a good English scholar and devoted a good deal of his personal attention to the education of his children. After farming for a short time in this county, the Major engaged in mercantile pursuits, which, with some surety investment, did not succeed, and he soon found himself heavily in debt and forced out of business with no property or means to pay with, and thus [his little craft went down beneath the financial crash. After his failure, and, in fact, awhile before, he began to give some attention to politics, and was soon elected one of the Count}' Commissioners, and afterward was elected County Clerk.

But perhaps it would not be out of place to here relate a little incident of his family. A brother of his father left' home in Virginia and went to Mississippi and located near

Natchez. He never married and accumulated considerable property, consisting largely of negroes and lands. While the Major's father lived in Kentucky, this brother died, and another brother, the only remaining one, came from Virginia to Kentucky, and the two brothers went on horseback to Mississippi to look after the estate. While they were not abolitionists, they were opposed to slavery and were followers of Henry Clay's doctrine of gradual emancipation. On their arrival at Mississippi, they simply took what money there was, and being unable to give a bond for the good behavior of the negroes, as the law then required, they were unable to free them, and they retui-ned home and left the slaves and lands thei'e and never afterward returned.

In 1838, Maj. Johnston was elected to the State Senate from this and Hamilton County, serving four years. During his term of olHce, there were two regular and two special sessions; in fact, it was a period of much legislative interest. The first session of 1838 was the last held at Vandalia, and there was considerable excitement over the proposition to remove the caf)ital to Springfield. The Sangamon County delegation, with Abraham Lincoln as its leader, consisted of A. G. Herndon, E. D. Baker (afterward killed at Ball's Bluff, Va.), John Calhoun, John Dawson, Ninian W. Edwards, William F. Elkins, Andrew McCormick and Thomas J. Nance. In the excitement of the occasion, the delegation was termed by some gentlemen of the opposition as the "Long Nine. " Lincoln in reply said, "Yes, we are the ' long nine ' and I am the longest of the nine," and as such they have passed into history. They succeeded and the capital was removed to Springfield, where it has since been retained. In this session was to be found many who afterward gained renown and became a part of the permanent history of the State. One gained the Presidency, many seats in Congress, and some renown upon the battle-field. Marshall was there and Baker, and Ficklin, and DuBois, and Logan, father of the present Senator, and many others. For some years after the cajsital was removed, the Legislatui-e met in a chui-ch in Springfield.

At the first session after the removal the Bank of Illinois susjjended payment and the suspension was legalized by the Legislature until the end of the next session. In November, 1840, following, the Legislature met in special session; the time for the,regular session by law was December 7, 1840. There was considerable agitation over the bank susj)eusion. The Democrats were determined that the bank should resume and the Whigs that they should not before the end of the regular session, and to carry their point attempted to run the special session into the regular session, and thereby prevent an adjournment. The time was drawing near when the matter had toj be settled one way or the other. The Democrats being in the majority, the W'higs resorted to eveiy means known to parliamentary rules to delay and prevent a vote upon the question of adjom-nment. For days the battle was waged; the " Long Nine " were there, with Lincoln at their head. At last, when all their tactics had been exhausted and it was evident the Democrats would carry the adjournment unless something was done, Lincoln asked that the roll be called; it was called and found that there was one less than a quorum. The Speaker at once ordered the doors closed and instructed the doorkeeper to go out and bring in another member. Lincoln, seeing that his chances were getting no better, quietlv raised the window and jumped outside and left, which left the House two members short. But when the doorkeeper returned he had two members instead of one. The vote on adjoiu'nment was then put and carried, and the Legislature adjourned on the 5th of December, just two days before the regular session convened. On the same evening of the adjomnment the oiBcers of the bank called a meeting of the Directors, and at once resumed specie payment.

In 1852, Maj. Johnston, together with Abraham Lincoln and Judge Dickey, of Chicago (not the present Judge of the Supreme Court), were appointed a commission to take and report the evidence on claims . filed against the State on account of the construction of the Illinois Canal. The Commissioners opened an ofSce in Ottawa, Chicago and Springfield. In 1845, he was Enrolling and Engrossing Clerk of the Senate, and under his inspection passed the entire revision of 1845, which is claimed by many prominent lawyers to be the best the State has ever had. In 1846, he was elected as a "floater" to the Fifteenth General Assembly from the counties of Hamilton, Franklin and Jeiferson. During this session the proposition to issue State bonds for the payment of the State indebtedness was presented and carried. The Major was presented by his friends as a'candidate for Speaker, and but for the action of the Cook County delega tion. which then, as now, had an as or two to grind, would have been elected. They sent for the Major to meet them, which he did at the old American House. When he arrived the Chairman of the delegation informed him that they had decided to vote for him, provided he would make certain promises in reference to the appointment of the committee on canals, which then, as now, was an important question to Cook County. The Major replied that there were certain fixed rules which had been observed in the formation of the committees of the House whch he thought fair and just, and that if elected Speaker he could not and would not depart from them. This answer was not satisfactory, and they supported Mr. Newton Cloud, the member from Morgan County, who was elected by a very small majority, and it is not improper to here say that he was a good man and made an excellent presiding ofiicer. Shortly after Maj. Johnstou's return home in March, 1847, he received the appointment of Paymaster in the United States Army, with the rank of Major of dragoons, and ordered to report at St. Louis for duty. Gov. Anderson, then United States Marshal, brought him the news of his appointment one night after he had retired. At that time the Major was running a small " sueing shop" as Justice of the Peace, and had an otfice on the west side of the public square, about where the Thorn building now stands. He took the appointment, together with the bond sent out for execution, which was for $20,000, to his otfice, and after due consideration became satisfied he could never fill it, and prejiared a letter to the President, Mr. Polk, declining the appointment, had it all ready to mail, when some of his fri'ends came in and asked him when he was going to the war to pay the boys off. He informed them that he had decided to decline the honor, and had just so wi-itten the President, giving as his reason that he could not fill the required bond. It will be understood that up to this time he had not asked a single person to sign the bond with him. His friends who had called prevailed on him to sign the bond, which he reluctantly did, and it was at once taken out by his friend, who in a short time had it all complete and ready with ample sureties to present to the department. The Major then destroyed the letter he had written declining the appointment, at once proceeded with his preparations to leave, and soon was on his way to Alton to present the bond for approval, which was done by the proper officer on presentation, and he at once reported at St. Louis for duty He continued receive and disburse the money of the Government to its soldiers until the war closed, receiving and taking charge at times of as much as $200,000 in specie. On one occasion ^e went to Fort LeavenwortH with $200,000 to pay Gen. Price's men, but upon his arrival he found Maj. Bryant a ranking officer already there, and the Major transferred his money to Bryant and returned to St. Louis. In the spring of 1848, he crossed the plains with $100,000. He traveled between 25,000 and 30,000 miles, received and paid out over $2,000,000 and never lost a five-cent piece. When Congress called upon the Paymaster General for an account of losses to the revenue through his thirty-six different Paymasters, his reply was " not one dime." The handling of so much money on $20,000 bonds would not be productive of such results at this day.

While Paymaster, the Major, by economy and prudence, saved enough from his salary to enable him to relieve himself from his financial embaiTassments, which had continued to abide with him since bis failure before mentioned.

In November, 1854, Finny D. Preston, then Clerk of the Supreme Court, for the First Grand Division, resigned, and Maj. Johnson was appointed to succeed him by the Si-ipreme Court. In June, 1855, he was elected as his own successor, and was reelected in June, 1861, serving altogether, by appointment and election, about thirteen years. In November, 1866, he was again elected as Representative to the Legislature from this and Franklin Counties; this was the last public office held by him. In about 1853 or 1854, the Legislature made an appropriation of $6,000 for the purpose of building a Supreme Court House at this place. The Governor appointed as Commissioners to superintend the construction of the building Zadok Casey, T. B. Tanner, Dr. J. N. Johnson, W. J. Stephenson, and Noah Johnston. Upon the organization of the Commission, Maj. Johnston was made the General Superintendent and thus, under his immediate supervision, the building was constructed.

During his residence in this county he has held the office of Justice of the Peace for twelve years, and for many years was Postmaster, although he permitted Daniel Kinney to attend to the office and receive all the emoluments. He was Deputy United States Marshal for four years under Gov. Anderson. It will be noticed that for more than twothirds of his life in this county he has occupied important public positions in one capacity or another, in all of which he has proven himself faithful and capable. The Major was never an orator, and although the greater j)art of his life has been spent in politics, yet to unflinching integrity and competency, rather than to oratoiy, does he owe his success. In no place, in no position, public or private, can, nor has there, lodged the least stain upon his character; straightforward, plain, frank and honest has been his conduct, and as such he is to-day.

He is in some respects a remarkable man; he has lived to see this now great State of Illinois develop from the beginning as it were to its present grandeui-. He has, in fact, done his part in the progression that has been so marked. A man of no surplus words, a wise and honest counselor, he enjoyed the most friendly and personal relations of many men of distinction, among whom were Lincoln, Douglas and Breeze, the three really great men produced by this State, and of whom we shall never cease to be justly proud. There are few men now living so rich in personal reminiscences of the men of the earlier days of the State. The vitality and clearness of his mind is indeed wonderful; although near the close of his eighty foiu-th year, he converses readily and with much more freshness than many much younger men. He has witnessed every material improvement and advancement made both by county and State, and in many has contributed largely. He is now the President of the Mount Vernon National Bank, giving it his daily personal attention.

He has always been a partisan Democrat, never, we believe, departing one single time from that faith. Born just at the close of power by the old Federal party, the early enemy of Democracy, and just as Jefferson was establishing so firmly his more liberal and democratic ideas, the Major early became a student of that political school which had Jefferson for its founder, and " the most liberty for the most people" its beacon light. Although earnest and zealous in his politics, yet he always enjoyed the confidence of his political enemies.

In religion, he has belonged to no church, although a constant and attentive attendant and a fu-m believer in the Christian relisfion. His faith has been, to judge from his life, "to do right in all things, be jiast and honest to all men," and a just God will make all things well.

A more appropriate conclusion to this chapter on the county's political history could not be given than a list of the faithful who have served the people - many of them faithfully and well. The list of Senators and Representatives, and others, which follow will recall names of men who were once well g Casey died, and 'Williara B. Anderson was elected to fill out tiis unexpired term. -" Jefferson is now a part of the Forty-sixth District.

M. Williams (the county is now in the Fifth District) ; 1864-66, John Ward ; 1866-68, Noah Johnston ; 1868-70, C. C. M. V. B. Payne ; (whose name is Christopher Columbus Martin Van Buren Payne) 1870-72, Thomas S. Casey (Jefferson is now in the Eighteenth District) ;

Additional to the Representatives in the General Assembly of the State, the county has furnished two Lieutenant Governors, viz., Zadok Casey and Stinson H. Anderson ; one Attorney General, Walter B. Scates ; and two Congressmen, viz., Zadok Casey and William B. Anderson.