Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 13 (1 of 2 so headed), 1883

ODDS AND ENDS - DE OMNIBUS REBUS ET QUIBUSDAM ALUS - A BRIEF RETROSPECTION - MILLERS AND MILLS - BLACKSMITHS AND OTHER MECHANICS - BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS - A BATCH OF INCIDENTS - BUCK CASEY PLAYING BULL CALF - DONNYBROOK FIGHTS - FOREST FIRES - A RUNAWAY NEGRO - COUNTERFEITING - THE POOR FARM, ETC.. ETC., ETC.

"VXT^E have followed the history of Jeffer- V V son County from the period of its occupation by the aboriginal tribes down to the present, and may now take time to look back and to stop and breathe. When the county was formed - nearly sixty-five years ago - it was a wild waste, with only here and there meager settlements of hardy pioneers, but few of whom are now living to tell over the strange story of their early lives in the wilderness. They have passed away in their day and generation, and the very few who have come down to us from a former era have forgotten and forgiven the early hardships that encompassed them, and remember only the wild freedom and joys of their eager childhood. "We look back over the departed years and see a wilderness, uninhabited by white people, its solitudes unbroken by a sound of civilization. We look around us to-day and what do we see? The red man is gone, and has left nothing behind him but fading traditions. The verdant wastes of Jefferson County have disappeared, and where erst was heard the dismal howling of the wolf, or the far-off screech of the hungry panther, are now productive fields, covered with flocks and herds and with growing grain. Rapid as have been the changes in

" Lo! our land is like an eagle, whose young gaze Feeds on the noontide beam, whose golden plumes Float moveless on the storm, and, in the blaze Of sunrise, gleams when earth is wrapped in gloom."

In our sketch of the county, we have touched upon most of the principal facts connected with it of a historical character. By way of conclusion of the general history, we design, in this chapter (composed of the odds and ends) to gather up the scattered threads and weave them into a kind of valedictory to the first part of the volume. A few items and incidents have been overlooked and omitted in the preceding pages, and these we shall group together in this chapter.

The rifle and the fish hook antedated the grater and the stump mills among the very earliest settlers in supplying food. The first famines that occurred among the people were caused by the lack of salt, notwithstanding the close proximity of the Saline, as they could make bread of meat by using their lean meat for bread and the fat for meat when driven to it. Mr. Johnson says that bear meat was used for bread and the venison for meat. The question of bread after the first coming of a family until they could clear a little truck patch to raise their family supply was often a serious one indeed. Then, too, even after the fii'st corn was raised, there were no mills accessible to grind it. Corn was the staple production. Wheat was not raised for several years. Nearly all the bread used until the fall of 1818 was brought from the Wabash or |from Kentucky. The first mode of procuring meal by the settlers of Jefferson County were by the mortar and pestle, the mortar being a hollow stump, and the pestle a billet of wood swung to a sweep or made with a handle and used by hand. It was a dozen or more years before these were laid aside. Of this mortar-made meal, the finest was made into bread, and the coarser into hominy. Families were sometimes without even this kind of bread for weeks at a time.

One of the first mills known to Jefferson County was kept by old Billy Goings, as early as 1817, but it is said that as he also kept a tavern, a grocery (what we would call a saloon now), and a great many other things, including bad company, his mill was only resorted to by the better class of people in cases of extreme emergency. In the fall of 1818, Dempsey Hood put up a mill, of his own manufacture, except the buhrs, which he had bought from Goings. It was ot the simplest mechanical construction, and was operated by horse power. Many good stories are told of these early mills. One man used to say he always took his corn to mill in the ear, as he could shell it faster than the mill could grind it, and then he had the cobs to throw at the rats to keep them from eating all the corn as it ran down from the hopper. Another story was told on Hood's mill, that if a grain of corn got in " endways " it stopped the mill until the obstruction was removed. Still another story is told on the first water mill erected. The miller put thn grist in the hopper, turned on the water, and about the time the mill got under good headway he heard a turkey "gobble " in the woods near by, so he caught up his gun and started out after the turkey. While he was gone, a blue jay alighted on the hoop around the buhrs, and as fast as a grain of corn would shake down from the hopper, he would eat it. When the miller returned, the jay had eaten all the corn and the mill stones were worn out.

William Maxey built a mill near where Cameron Maxey now lives, in the fall of 1820, and for a number of years contributed largely to the supply of bread for the settlers. About the same time or soon after, Carter Wilkey put up a "stump" mill, and in the fall of 1823 Thomas Tunstall put up a tread-mill, the first of the kind in the county. A short time after, Arba Andrews built a wind mill. By the year 1825, the country was pretty well supplied with mills, such as they were. They were much superior, however, to no mill at all, and whether hand, stump, wind, tread or horse mill, they all had one family resemblance, and that was in speed. A blue jay might have eaten the corn from any of them faster than they could grind it. This is all changed now, though, and the county is supplied with mills that are without superiors in quality. But it is hard to realize that only fifty or sixty years ago, there were no mills, but such as we have described, in the county. What a gradual but wonderful development is there in the slow growth of the splendid perfected roller patent process mills from the pioneer hand-mill and mortar!

Elisha Plummer is the first blacksmith we have any account of, and came to Mount Vernon in 1820. If his " smithy " was not under a spreading " chestnut tree," it was prnbably because there was no chestuut tree, for houses of all kinds were scarce. John Cooper, another blacksmith, came in 1824. A man named Lane was the first gunsmith, and this was a very important business then. He was in the county as early as 1822-23. ButSagton was also an early gunsmith; Rhoda Allen's sons were the first cabinnt-makers. etc., etc. Thus the trades became represented in the county as business and population demanded.

The first birth, marriage and death are always matters of considerable interest in a new country, and usually ai-e preserved on record. The first birth we have failed to learn definitely, but it is believed to have been a son of Isaac Hicks, born in 1817. But that there has been a first one. followed by many others, the present population of the county is indisputable evidence. The first marriage was a daughter of Joseph Jordan, to Garrison Greenwood, a son of Fleming Greenwood, but the date is not remembered. Apropos of weddings, the following is related of Green Depriest, who is represented as a kind of devil-may-care fellow, as fond of fun and a good time as a monkey of a basket of apples. He started out one day for Walnut Prairie to have a littie spree. On his way, he stopped at the Widow Allen's to inquire the way. While talking with Mrs. Allen, a young woman, her daughter, came out of the house to speak with her. Depriest was impressed favorably with the young appearance, and, according to his abrupt way of doing things, told her who he was and that he would like to marry her if she had no objections. She replied that " Barkis was willin'." So he said he would go to the field and see the boys about it, while she could talk it over with her mother. The result was he married her, took her up behind him on his horse and went home, to the great surprise of his friends and family. Thus he had his spree after [all, but altogether a difi'erent one from that he had started out to enjoy.

: ISiy, Harriet Maxey was married to Thomas M. Casey, Vylinda Maxey to Abraham T. Casey, and Bennett N. Masey to Sally Overbay, all at the same time and place. This

[ was overdoing the poet, for instead of " two souls with but a single thought." it was six, four more than the poet bargained for. It was the largest wedding of the period in the style put on and the numbers present, as well as in the profusion of brides and grooms. Every family was invited, and every man, woman and child, who possibly could, attended, and the good cheer was the best the country afforded. Ransom Moss and Ann Johnson were married July 6, 1821, and thus the good work went on.

The death of Rhoda Allen, who was a man, notwithstanding the peculiar name, was the tu'st death of a grown person. He passed to his reward in August, 1820, and was buried at Union - the first person buried there. A child of one of the Maxeys died a short time before Allen, and is supposed to have been the first death in the county. Death has not been idle since then, as the many graveyards in the different portions of the county show.

An incident occurred in 1826 that cast a gloom over the whole settlement and excited the sympathy for the afflicted family. Joseph McMeens had recently settled in Jordan's Prairie and had a family of several children. In the fall and winter of 1826, his boys devoted considerable attention to trapping. One. day they left the house to visit their traps as usual, when a little sister, only four years old, started unknown to them, to follow. Her parents supposed she was with her brothers until their return and reported that they hail seen nothing of her. An alarm was at once spread and search made and kept up until in the night without any success. It was renewed the next day and continued for many days, but the child was 'never found. The strangest part of it was not the slightest trace of her, not a shred of her clothing or a footprint was ever discovered to tell the story of her fate, or suggest a theory as to her strange disappearance, and to-day, after a lapse of nearly sixty years, when the circumstance is forgotten by all except a few old people, the mystery is as deep and impenetrable as when it first occurred. The most plausible theory was that she had been picked up and carried away by some prowling band of Indians, though no trace of Indians were discovered in the vicinity. It was one of those mysteries that will probably never be cleared up until that great day of final settlement.

A fight with a wild cat is related by James Dawson, in which he triumphed over his feline antagonist in a summary manner. Dawson was a son-in law of Fleming Greenwood, and a man who is represented as not being afraid of the devil himself. Such a thing as raising domestic fowls was impossible in the early times, without a stanch house to keep them in at night. Even then the " varmints " were as sure to find them sooner or later as the colored American citizen is to find the hen roost of the present day. One night Dawson heard a racket in his chicken house, that denoted the presence of some unwelcome intruder, and he ran out with a light to investigate the trouble. Upon looking into the chicken house, he discovered a huge wild cat in possession. Sticking his torch in a crack of the building, he gave the monster battle, and in a few minutes succeeded in making a fiaak movement, seized it by the hind legs and knocked its brains out against the side of the house.

Quite an amusing story is told of a man named Dickens - James Dickens. He was a rather early settler, and for some time had charge of Tunstall's mill. The story goes that one day, while in charge of the mill, some ladies came to him who had become considerably bothered and perplexed in their calculations about a piece of cloth, and asked him if he knew figures. Now there was a tailor living in Mount Vernon named Figgers, and supposing the ladies referred to the little tailor, Dickens exclaimed in his oif- hand style, " Know Figgers ? Wy, yes; dodding if I didn't make him out of rags - all but his head." The result of the joke was a dickens of a fight, for the little tailor, like little men generally, was inclined to be a little " fierce," and he took mortal offense at Dickens for the remark, and a fist-fight followed.

The state of society on the frontier fifty to seventy-five years ago was not perfect in its moral symmetry by any means. Every community had its rough characters, and it is not improbable that the rough element sometimes predominated. Public days, such as muster and election days, where cheap whisky got the upper hand of the less free-willed, free fights were often inaugurated which would have done credit to a Donnybrook Fair. Jefferson County was no exception to the rule, and had its little episodes that would now be considered quire disgraceful. Mr. Johnson alludes to a general tight that occurred in 1820, in which nearly the whole population of the county took part. He says: " It was said that some of the Maxeys had said that the Maxeys and Caseys were going to rule the country. John Abbott determined to refute the idea by whipping the first one of them he might meet. This was noised abroad and it fell upon Elihu Maxey to measure strength with Abbott. Tliey met in town one day when nearly everybody else was there, and at it they went, like a couple of modern pugilists. Everybody got excited, even Uncle Jimmy Johnson laid aside his usual gravity, threw his old straw hat as far as he could send it, and requested any other man that wanted to fight to come to him, while Jim Abbott danced around and said, 'anybody that whips John Abbott will have to whip Jim', but Billy Casey picked up Jim and ran clear off with him. But it was all over in five minutes or less time. It was roughly estimated and to be considered the " best man " in the neighborhood was an honor greatly coveted and highly cherished by him who was so fortunate as to possess the enviable ( ?) notoriety. But with the progress of Christianity and tlie refining influences of education, society improved, gradually at first, but then more rapidly, until, at the present time, we find the county equal in civilization and refinement to any portion of the State, and as to Mount Vernon, it may very appropriately be termed the Athens of Southern Illinois.

The best incident illustrative of the pioneer period is told at the expense of " Buck" Casey, or rather, he tells it at his own expense. Although the incident has traveled over the State and has been located in a score or more of different places, yet it is vouched for as having originally occurred in this county and of Buck Casey having been the actual hero of it. In early times, when the settlements here were in their infancy, teams were very scarce and the means of hauling and plowing were restricted to the naiTowest limits. To such straits were the settlers sometimes reduced, and so sorely taxed was their ingenuity to rig out a team, that means would often be resorted to that in this day of inventive perfection would appear ludicrous in the extreme. It was not uncommon for a settler to yoke up a pair of bull calves when so young and small that only dire necessity - which we are told is the mother of invention - would sussfest their ability to be of much service, even in "snaking" up firewood. One year, so meager was the supply of bull calves in the neighborhood, that Buck Casey conceived the happy idea of yoking himself with the only one his family possessed, for the purpose of hauling wood from 'the adjacent forest. The yoke was adjusted, and with his younger brother, Abram, to drive, the team was ready for work. It is a tradition, however, that Buck made such an " onery " looking bull calf that his mate refused to pull or budge a step in the right direction, but whirling his business end to leeward, turned the yoke. Buck had heard of tying the tails of young cattle together to prevent such catastrophes when breaking them to the yoke, so he gathered up the big end of a corn-cob in the slack of his leather breeches, and to this he securely tied the calf -tail, then told Abe to give 'em the gad. The calf made a bound, found his tail fast, became frightened and then plunged forward at the top of its speed, helter-skelter, pell mell, over stumps, logs and brush at a rate that bade fair to bieak the necks of both. Buck became worse frightened than the calt, and as they approached tlie house, he yelled out at the top of his voice: " Here we come, head us off, pap, damn our fool souls, we are running away," It was Buck's " last appearance" in the role of a bull calf.

One or the great'dangers the early settlers were subject to were prairie and forest f res. It is true, the danger is not so great here as farther north, v?here miles and miles of prairie grew rank with grasses, ten or fifteen feet high, and' without a tree or shrub in sight to break the endless monotony, but still there was danger. AVhen ' the grass dried up in autumn and the leaves fell from the trees and they, too, became dry, the whole presented one immense tinder box, that, once ignited, no power could resist or control. The roaring flames would sweep over the prairies, and, reaching the woods, where the leaves lay thick, diminished but little in volume, but crackled, roared and swept on, scorching the trees, sometimes, forty feet from the gi-ound. We have heard of no loss of human life in this county, but stock often perished, and houses, stacks of grain and other property were destroyed. In many portions of the State much loss of life has resulted from these autumnal fires.

Crime has never prevailed in Jefl^erson County to that extent it has in some portions of the State, though, of course, the county has not been wholly free from it, and from lawless charac;.ers. Among the first settlers, there were a few whose morals would not bear too close a scrutiny. Goings, who has already been mentioned as having one of the first mills in the count)', was accused of being a counterfeiter. Goings always had a lot of men around him of bad repute, and it was generally believed that his house was a regular rendezvous or headquarters for horsethieves, negro stealers and all sorts of low, vicious characters. He left the county in 1821, impelled, no doubt, by the urgent wish (!) of his neighbors. John Breeze, who afterward occupied Goings' house, found a quantity of unfinished counterfeit money, that he had been obliged to hide when he suddenly left the neighborhood. A man named Herron also became involved in counterfeiting. He was arrested, and was tried at the June term of com-t, 1821, and was fined $20 and costs and sentenced to be whipped. The sentence was carried out, the prisoner receiving thirty-nine lashes upon his bare back. This seems to us a rather barbarous sentence now, but fifty or seventy-five years ago it was common, not only in Illinois but in many, if not all, of the older States. Another case, we noticed in running over the old records, of whipping, that occuiTed here in 1830. It was that of James Vance, who was tried and convicted as a horse-thief. He was fined $22 and costs and sentenced to ten days in jail and to receive twenty lashes upon his bare back, which penalty was duly executed. A number of other criminals, more or less vicious, might be noticed, but such history is better forgotten than perpetuated.

A case that caused the most intense escitement was that of a "runaway negro," who made his appearance in the county in 1843. Runaway negroes, in old slave times, were a common occun-ence, and there are still many people living who well remember the line of underground railway through Illinois on which negroes, fleeing from slavery in the Southern States, traveled on free passes to the land of freedom. There were not many people in this portion of this State, perhaps, who would actually help the negroes to escape from their masters, but there were many who would not help the masters to re-capture the negroes, and a little further north there were many warm friends of the slave. Runaway negroes, as we have said, were common, and were much feared by the women and children. A fretful child could nearly always be quieted with the threat that " a runaway nigger would get it." But it was in the spring of 1843 that the runaway negro

Frederick first appeared in the county. He was seen northwest of Mount Yernon, near Jefferson City, where he attacked an old lady named Campbell, but he became alarmed and fled. The neighbors were aroused, and soon there were several hundred men sccairing the woods in search of him. He was again heard of in the the eastern part of the county, where he had abused a Mrs. Sursa. Nest, he was heard of in Wayne County, where his pursuers soon followed him, but he had fled into Clay County. Finally, he was captured near the town of Maysville, Clay County, and was brought to Mount Vernon, where the excitement went up to fever heat. Some wanted to burn him, others to hang him, and it was only by the utmost exertions of the more lawabiding citizens that he was not lynched. Judge Scates, as soon as he found a chance to be heard, made a speech to the excited people, setting forth the sufliciency of the law, the consequences of mob-law in general and the penalties to which they laid themselves liable, individually, by persisting in it. Concluding his speech, Judge Scates remarked to Sheriff Stephenson: " I wish you to watch this proceeding, and report to me the very first man that you see doing what is contrary to law; I will issue a writ, and have him arrested, if there is force enough in the State to do it." Law and order at length prevailed, and the excited people withdrew. The negro was indicted at the August term of the court, 1843, for rape and attempt to commit rape. Upon these he was tried, found guilty on both counts and sentenced to the penitentiary, on the first charge, "for the full term of his natural life," and on the other for " fourteen years" longer. As there was no Gov. Blackburn to pardon him out, the negro was still serving his sentence the last knovyn of him.

The care of the poor is a duty we owe to that unfortunate class, who have found the thorny path of life " rough, adverse and forlorn," and crave our assistance. " The poor ye have with ye alway," said the Master, and we, who have been more fortunate than they, should not fail to contribute of oui- earthly goods, when we can, to smooth the path of some poor unfortunate.

Kindness costs but little, and to'the child of misfortune it sometimes goes almost as far as dollars and cents. None of us know how soon we may go " over the hill to the poor house" ourselves. We recently visited one of these institutions, and were pointed out an inmate who once could ride ten miles, we were told, in a straight line upon his own land. But a multitude of misfortunes brought him to the poor-house. Then, be kind to the poor, for in so doing you may entertain angels unawares.

As early as 1830, we find allusions to county paupers. They were then usually kept by some person who was paid for it by the county. In 1843, the pauper list is referred to by Mr. Johnson in his sketches, as being a Mrs. Henly, H. M. E. Herron, William Tuck, a man named Beasley and a woman named Shoulders. These were all kept by individual citizens, at the expense of the county. A few years later, they had increased to some twelve or fifteen, who were maintained in the same manner.

In 1859, the first steps were taken for the establishment of a regular poor-house. Two and a half acres of land were purchased, situated in the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 22, Township 2 and Range 3 east. March 19, 1859, 120 acres were purchased in Section 27 of the same Township and Range, by the Coiiiity Board, composed of J. R. Satterlield, W. Adams and S. W. Carpenter, for the sum of $1,150, upon which the requisite buildings were erected. This is still used for a county farm and poorhouse, and is the home of all the county's poor who are maintained at the public expense.

This chapter closes the history of the county at large, and the succeeding pages will be devoted to individual towns and townships respectively. The foregoing, though a sketch, and admitting of anecdote, excui'sive digressions and a flexible texture of narrative, yet, for the most part, it is essentially historical. We have endeavored to narrate some of the physical and moral features of the county; its formation, settlement, local divisions and progress; the habits and customs of the early pioneers, interspersed with individual incident. These we have recorded as best we could, and now submit them for the verdict of the general reader. _