Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 4, 1883

CITY OF MOUNT VEHNON - THE DECADE FROM 1830 TO 1840 - GROWTH OF THE TOWN - NEW BUILDINGS AND NEW BUSINESS - A LOOK BEYOND THE TOWN - BRIEF RETROSPECT - ANOTHER COURT HOUSE - SOME OF THE BUSINESS MEN AND WHAT THEY DID - STILL ANOTHER COURT HOUSE - THE JAIL - ORGANIZATION OF MOUNT VERNON TOWNSHIP - OFFICIALS, ETC.

AS early as any of these, perhaps in 1825, Jacob Ford settled in a little cabin now better known as the Tommy Short place, north of the Coley Smith place, on Seven Mile, and here he was soon joined by Joab Peterson, a Swede; they had married sisters - cousins to old Mrs. Malone, by the way - and lived together for three or four years. The Garrisons, cousins to Isaac, etc., lived on the Herdman place. We may add that Aaron Yearwood ran the still-house on the creek for a year or more, Allen and John Wilkerson beiug the original owners. Aaron had no scniples about it till Abram Casey (A. T.) came in and mildly said, " Don't you think you are doing wrong?" Aaron reflected; conscience was not satisfied, he resolved to quit it, and did. Jack Sursa afterward operated there. James Sursa built a mill, which was extensively useful in its day; he was also County Commissioner for several terms. He died December 27, 1852, and Jack had been dead ten years the past August.

The Roads. - We have referred to th e Goshen read and the trails and bridle paths that traversed the country. No road whatever touched Mount Vernon for a year or two after it was laid out. Even the new road or trail from Crenshaw's crossed the prairie nearly half a mile south of town, and went to Isaac Casey's house (m the hill, where Beal lives. The history of our roads is given elsewhere, but we may here say that on the third day of the first term of the County Court, the subject of roads came be - fore the Commissioners. Orders were made at that time, and in September and October, 1819, but without result; at length in February, 1820, a Board of Viewers, with Joseph Pace as Surveyor, located the road running diagonally across the county, near where it has ever since been, now running from Mc- Leansboro to Centralia. In the spring of 1822, the Vandalia road was opened to the north line of Marion County, which was then an attached part of Jefferson, Elihu Masey opening the first section, and William Maxwell the next. But the road was not used much, and was not fairly open until the fall of 1823, when Thomas Minor and Maxwell were ordered to cut it out twelve feet wide and keep it in repair. The next road was the Covington road, opened, after two or three fruitless orders, in the spring of 1824, not far from where the Richview road now runs. In 1826, by the influence of John Summers, the Fairfield road was opened. Summers being one of the Viewers and the first Supervisor. It ran nearly where it does now, except that it started out nearly due east from the court house. In 1828, the Covington road was vacated, and the Georgetown road was opened, now much better known as the Ashley or Nashville road.

The early religious settlers of the county, a majority of them, at least, were Methodists, several of them ministers. The next strongest denomination was the Baptist. Zadok Casey, Edward Maxey and Lewis Johnson were Methodist preachers; James E. Davis, a Cumberland Presbyterian, and Archibald Harris, a Baptist, but all . these, all the preachers in the county, lived in a mile of where Thomas Moss lives. Th(j first religious society in Mount Vernon Township was the Baptist. It was organized in the old log court house in 1820. Chester Carpenter was holding a meeting at this time. The official members were Jacob Norton, Joseph Jordan, Oliver Morris and Overton Harlow. Not long after, a little log church was raised between where Isaac Garrison lives and the creek, this location being considered nearer the center of the population than the court house. Joseph Reid at the time lived in a small cabin near where Joseph Jordan and Frizell subsequently lived. This place of worship was not used as such more than a year or two, when the frequent floods in winter and spring proved that the site was not well chosen. The meeting was then, perhaps in 1823 or 1824, moved to William Hicks', two miles west of town, and continued there for five or six years. But in the spring of 1829, a very nice and spacious house, for that day, was built near the creek, the site now being inside the Fair Ground. Thomas Pace and others in town, who kept horses, had opened a road to the creek for the purpose of watering their horses. This road left the Shawneetown road not far from the Wyatt Parrish house, ran southeast near where Newby afterward Iniilt a horse-mill, then nearly a due east course to the creek at a pretty deep hole called the horse hole. The road diverging from this one a quarter of a mile or less from the creek, and crossing at a ford below was of more recent date. On a rise north of the road near that horse hole this church was built, In the fall of the same year, an association met at this house, puncheon seats were provided and public services were held in the woods. Carpenter was pastor of the society first organized, and continued in the same situation, wherever the meetings were held, for ten or fifteen years. But perhaps we may as well finish this last house before we leave it. It was used regularly as a meeting place till 1835 -36, and the puncheons being preserved, services were held in the grove when the weather allowed. A season of foot-washing was occasionally appointed here and con scieutiously observed. After societies were organized iu other places and this house no longer mot the demands of the church, it was sold; Capt. Newby bought it and converted it into a shop. He already had a small shop west of the road and nearly opposite his dwelling, and he put the second shop east of the road north of his dwelling, put up two forges in it and used it for years. It was in this house that George Starner worked for Newby, and here Jefferson Stephenson, afterward County Judge of Washington County, hammered iron for a long time after he came to Mount Vernon. Many of oiu" readers will remember the church, and still more the shop.

The second Baptist Church in the county was erected near what was called the soap ford on the creek, less than half a mile north of the Fairfield road. It was reached from town by a trail that went by where Hobbs & Sons' mill now stands, by where Charley Patton lives, and so on to the creek.

a trail frequently used by Caj)t. Sursa and others in the upper part of that settlement, coming to town. This church consisted of four large shanties standing about ten feet apart, forming an oblong square, with two halls crossing at right angles. The hall running north and south was closed at both ends. Of coui-se it was the design to hold camp-meetings^here,and several were actually held, one room or shanty being used for worship and the others used as camps. Meetings were hold here regularly for years. This curious structure was built about 1833, and stood and was used for six years or more. Traces of it may still be seen there.

We left the various buildings and improvements in Mount Vernon about 1830, closing up the history of the first houses. In the meantime, other houses were coming on. Greorge Pace married, lived awhile in the north room of the Kirby House, then built a chimney to Tuustall's old store room, on the lot where Herdman lives, and lived there a year; built a house on Bennett Maxey's lot, No. 1 , now Crebs', and finally bought Lot No. 37, where the Prince House stands, built and moved there. The house he built on Lot No. 1 was occupied by many after he left it, but perhaps as much by a negro called Old Nick, as anybody else. Nick died there, and it was not used as a dwelling house afterward. Yet some have said that this house was the old Clerk's office, moved up there by Dr. Adams, and the same that Mrs. Crosnoe got torn down in 1 841. George Pace sold his lot, now the Prince House, to John Van Cleve and went to Salem, as before noticed, in 1836. In the spring of 1829, Buck Pace, or W. W. Pace, by consent of John Tyler, who was agent for Nelson Ferguson and brother-in-law to both men, built a cabin on Lot No. 28, where the National Bank stands. Here Buck kept grocery. He or some one else subsequently built another cabin just east of this. Both were quite small, built of small logs and " skelped down." After Pace left, S. G. Hicks lived for a time in the corner house. By this time, however, Edward H. Eidgway had built a huge, hip-roofed house, in 1832, wtst of the square, where Hudspeth & Taylor keep. It was furnished with a store room, and here Hicks sold goods in 1834, 1835 and 1836, when he built a large frame north of the square, where Varnell's meat shop stands. Lot No. 25. Some years later. Hicks built a house near where the Methodist Episcopal Church stands. Benjamin Miller bought it in 1854 and moved it to his lot; Coffee enlarged it, and Maj. Summers now lives in it. (You see, we took up Hicks and ran clear away with him.) After he left the cabin on the Ferguson lot, Isaac [Casey lived there, and in 1837, when Stiuson Anderson came back from Alton, where he had been Warden of the penitentiary, he lived there long enough to build a cabin a little west of where Dr. Green lives. And there Anderson remained, out east of town, till he traded the farm to Edward Ridgeway for land in Elk Prairie. It was not long after Anderson left the Ferguson lot before John Kahm married Ellen Kirljy, about 1837, and came to town about 1840, setting up business at the old house on the corner, which Kirby had already used for a grocery, but making great additions to it. After Rahm, John Bostwick went in with a grocery, and kept what some called a very disorderly house. As John is alive and we do not know how stout he is, we will not say much about it, bat folks said that three or four old ladies went to his grocery one night, about 1849, took out his chattels to the middle of the street and tore the old house into a thousand pieces. It was never ascertained what ladies, if any, did it, but John left iu disgust, went to Eome and hail the first bouse built that Rome ever contained, Asa Watson being the boss carpenter.

In 1830, Dr. Adams built a house on Lot No. 26, where Goodale keeps. William Baldridge had bid off this lot at the first sale for $70, but lots declined. He sold it to H. T. Pace in 1825 for $20; he to Burchett Maxey in 1827, for $25; and he to Oliver Morris for $35. Dr. Adams built a house on it, but Downing Baugh soon after bought it, and Adams pre pared to move to an improvement ho had traded for west of town. But Thomas Minor had a claim against him, and put Stejihen Hicks, who was Constable, after him with an attachment. Adams showed signs of resistance, and Hicks struck him on the throat with a rock, a blow that came near proving fatal. Adams now went to the cabin where Wlecke's hotel stands, then went - perhaps took the house with hiLU--to the place where Old Nick died. Noah Johnston and William Bullock put up a two-story house, now owned by Russell Dewey and occupied by Hughes. Adams bought this frame and lived in it till he left town in 1835-3(5. Baugh built a store north of the square, about where Shepherd's drug store is, in 1832, and he built a two-story fi'ame house a little east of it; but he sold these, rented Van Clove's house, and a Dr. Allen came into the old house, built a porch to it, inclosed the porch, piitting in a glass front,, and the house then went by the name of the glass house. As we have mentioned Noah Johnston aud William Bullock, we may add that they came to Bullock's Prairie in 1831, and that Johnston came to town in 1833, sold goods some time where the Crews building stands, some time in 1834 -35, at the next corner west, Lot No. 21, lived awhile at the Ridgway building, where Hudspeth & Taylor's store also stands, and finally bought and located where he now lives. William Bullock first lived in a cabin that he built near this end of the Spiese farm, some sign of his shop being still discoverable iu the road there. He then came to town and had his blacksmith shop almost in the middle of the block south of the square, ou the " big road." The south part of town was all open, and the road came directly toward the com-t house. His dwelling house was located where Bob Wilbanks lives, but he died at Noah Johnston's.

Somewhere back in the olden time, Green Daniel built a cabin on John Johnson's (the writer's father). Lot No. 18, corner of Jordan and Washington streets, aud lived there for several years. Samuel Goodrich afterward lived there for some time. It was still later, perhaps, that Mr. Goodrich built a small house south of where Westbrook's mill was bm-ned, near the northwest corner of Curtis Johnson's lots, and not far from the same time that Allen Stanton, a shoe-maker, built near the southwest corner of the same lots. These houses were all pretty good forty to forty- five years ago. As old as Green Daniel's cabin, was a shop that John Williams built northeast of the court house. John built this house about 1830-31, used it for a time, made a visit to Tennessee and never came back. He was brother to Mastin Wilkerson's wife. So the shop stood there until Bowman built a frame house in front of it, and sold the lot, or let Rhodam Allen sell it to John Johnson. The writer's father bought it in 1834, finished the house, used the old shop awhile for a kitchen, built or had Wm. Yearwood to build a new kitchen, that still stands there, and we believe moved the shop on to some of his lot9. About the time that we came, perhaps in the spring of 1834, James Ross, a hatter, moved in, lived a year in the old house north of Herdman's, then got Lot No. 44, the south lot under Strattan & Johnson's block, built the log house that Mr. Schanck took away twelve years ago, and after awhile succeeded in trading for Daniel Anderson's grocery that stood on the corner, where he erected a large frame building for a shop. In this period also comes the grocery built by A. D Estes at the Crews corner. Joseph Estes, Absalom's father, had long owned the next lot west, and when Absalom married he built a small house there, where Morgan & Reid's shop stands, and painted it red, and it was universally known as the red house. Absalom also set up the gi-ocery at the comer. Edward Wells kept a grocery there for a time. This house on the corner remained in statu quo till Robert Castles got it in 1840, built a room west, a dwelling in the rear, etc. And thus it stood till Crews got it. It was also in 1834 -35 that W. B. Thorn bought the lot second from the corner south of Hobbs' mill. He got it from the writer's father for $100. He then erected a large blacksmith shop in frout. one that he had brought from beyond Jordan's Prairie, and a very neat hewed-log house back for a dwelling. In 1837, John Johnson built a hewed-log house where Taylor's Hotel stands, and Thomas B. Johnson and Dr. Greetham used it for a year or two for an office and drug store; then Thomas went to Kentucky and Mr. Thorn put up a harness and saddle shop in the house. Thorn had converted the former blacksmith shop into a dwelling. In 1841, he sold it to William Edwards and moved to the house that still stands just west of Merrill's livery stable. AVe remember but two other houses of this period, the Poteet house and the Lamar house. Alfred Poteet, in 1835-36, built where E. M. Walker lives and lived there while he remained in Mount Veruon, but the house afterward fell into the hands of Josiah

Melcher, and he moved it up and made a stable of it on the west end of what is now known as the Thorn lot, and it still stands there The Widow Lamar had two sons, Shelby and James. The boys built a cabin on John Johnson's lot south of the jail; it was occupied by them, Mrs. Foley; Blackhawk Williams, Sullins, Decoursey and many others, and only twelve or fifteen years ago passed away.

A little later and on up to 1840, houses began to be numerous. Dr. Greetham built the house where Urry lives and went into it from where Mrs. Thorn lives, in 1S3'J. AV. A. Thomas built just north of Greetham's, now Hitchcock's, in 1840. The same year, or the next, the Rev. A. E. Phelps built the house Conger lived in till lately, on the south end of Casey street, and Henry Pierce the house across the street east of Urry's, and Ridgway put up the four houses where J. R. Palmer, Peter Brown, etc., live, long known as the Ridgway Row. Jarvis Pierce erected the tavern that stood opposite the present site of the Methodist Episcopal Church, sold to Eli Anderson and he built a two-story house north of Phelps'; Anderson improved his tavern and Grant added rooms to the oast end of it at a later date by moving a school - house in from the woods near Noah Johnston's. Little, a tailor, put up Joel Watson's house in 1830; Daniel Baltzell the house just across Union street west of Joel's; and Rufus Melcher the house recently torn down by Mrs. Baltzell. The old Methodist Church went up from 1836 to 1840, to which the parsonage north of it was added under the regime of J. H. Dickens ; the third court house was built, etc. D. Baugh built the house that stood where Heiserman's new brick is going up, Thomas Cunningham the house that stood where Charley Pool lives. M. Tromlev the old house north of Latham's,

Isaac Faulkenberry the old house that stood on the east end of Latham's lots, and John Livingston the one that stood where George Ward lives. The Cesar and Guyler cabins went up near where is now the Baptist Church. W. Prigmore- built the house now better known as the Klinker House, north of the Prince house, and Johnny Smith the old house that stood on the corner of Walsh's lots. Thomas Pace put a house on the lot west of the old Odd Fellows Hall, now Mrs. Pace's, McAtee got it et al., and it formed part of the old Bogan houses near the Supreme Court House. Hiram McLaughlin put one on the east side of Casey street, ojj posite George Haynes', Gray got it, Nelson got it, and it now forms part of the residence of Jeremiah Taylor. From all this it appears that this was an era of unusual prosperity in Mount Vernon, and this will be in part explained by taking another look at what has been going on outside of the town. AVe have already stated that not an acre of land was entered in the township for seven years after the county was organized and the town laid out. This was caused by the pressure referred t(j elsewhere, growing out of there-action that followed the inflation at the outset. The tirst entry was then made by Isaac Casey, 1826, in Section IS, now part of Lewis Johnson's farm. A. T. Casey in Section 7, was the next man, 1S29; Azariah Bruce, 1830, entered in the same section, and Thomas D. Minor, the same year, in Section 19. Still it went slow; land was plenty and a man settled wherever he pleased, stayed as long as he pleased, and ejectment was unheard of. In 1831, Bennett N. Maxey entered in Section 7; in 1833, James Susca and William B. Watson in 21; Isaac Hicks in 31, and E, D. Anderson in 32. and Dr. Adams in 29, in 1835. Then everything went with a rush. In 1836,

Overton Harlow entered in Section 2, Elihu Maxey in Section 6, T. M. Casey, M. Bruce and C. H. Maxey in 7; Benjamin Webber in 14; Brewneaty Wilkey and Lewis Johnson, Jr., in IS; John Livingston, David Hobbs and Z. Casey in 19; Z. Casey in 20; Coleman Smith in 22; John Summers in 23; Calton Summers and John, in 27; W. B. Watson in 28; H. T. Pace, D. Baugh and S. H. Anderson in 29; William Bullock and Isaac Casey in 30; Thomas E. Pace in 31; and J. Johnson in 33, etc. In 1837, Harlow entered more land in Section 2; Elihu Maxey and W. F. Johnson entered in 5; John Dodds in 10; Henry D. Allen in 11; James M. Bridges in 13; Matilda Massey :ind William Byers in 18; Thomas Cunningham and Priscilla Meek in 19; Virginia Summers in 22; T. Cunningham in 27; W. B. Watson, John Summers and S. H. Anderson in 28; Asa B. Watson, E. H. Ridgway, Thomas E. Pace, John Johnson and Cephas A. Park in 29; T. Cunningham in 31; and H. B. Newby and E. H. Eidgway in 33. In 1838, James Newby entered in li; A. M. Grant in 15; William Bvers in IS; Joel Pace in 20, and D. Baugh in 28. But 1839 was as fast as 1838 had been slow. Simeon Walker entered in Section 1; Hiram Duncan in 2; O. Harlow in 10; H. Duncan and Mary Ann Summers in 11; M. A. Summers in 1 2 ; D. Summers and jMeredith Strickling in 13; D. Summers and J. Newby in 14; John Hart, Martha Grant, Freeman Burnet and David Stewart in 15; Abraham Buffington in 18; .l)-mstead W. Bruce, James Sursa, Daniel Barfield, Aaron Yearwood and Robert B. Rankin in 21; Moses Kirby in 22; John W. Summers in 23; Benton Y. Little in 26; William Marlow and George W. Summers in 27, etc.

up to 1840 no land was entered in Sections 3, 4, 8, 9, 16, 17. 24, 25, 34, 35 or 36. Many of these were already settled upon their entries, and some had been occupying them for many years.

We have now reached a period when individual arrivals and buildings did not amount to so much. But before bidding adieu to the past, we present a brief resume, in different form, of the last ten yeai's' business. Joel Pace, merchant, licensed March, 1831, remained till 1837, when he sold out to Handle & Grant; then I believe Grant bought Kandle out in 1838; D. Baugh, licensed March, 1831, still in business, 1840; Henry Isbell, of Belleville, or his sons, 1831, kept a few months at the corner west of Nieman's ; E. H. Eidgway, 1 icensed 1831 and again 1833, was in partnership with Eli Anderson in 1837, opposite the present site of the Continental. In 1832, W. W. Pace and Harvey T. were licensed as merchants; in 1833, H. B. Newby came in when Isbell went out, and in 1837 he had merchant's license. In 1834, Noah Johnston was licensed; next year it was Thompson & Johnston; in 1836, Thompson and Johnston were again separate, after which both disappeared from the record as merchants. Johnston first kept at the Crews corner, then Thompson & Johnston at the Hudspeth & Taylor corner. Dr. Adams held forth on the west side, renewing his license in 1836. Sanderson & Estes, 1834, kept at the National Bank corner; then Estes alone at the Crews corner. In 1835, John M. Pace comes in, but soon goes back to his farm; W. W. Pace comes in for a year, and switches off; B. Wells and A. D. Estes take out a merchant's license each, mostly selling - not dry goods, but to dry customers. In 1836, the licensed men of the town were Hickman & Witherspoon, L. C. Moss, A. B. Watson and James Kirby. In 1837, Bowman takes license; so does Mr. England, Cunningham & Shields followed Adams; S. G. Hicks followed Thompson; Barker followed Hickman, and Davis & Dodds went in on the west side. In 1838, W. S. Van Cleve followed Davis & Doddk, and William Dishon opened up at the Crews corner. In 1839, Van Cleve was succeeded by Addison, Daniel & Co. And we may as well add here that for the last ten or fifteen years, we mean prior to 1840, peltry was the chief staple of the country. Sometimes it seemed to be the only thing anybody had to sell or to buy goods with. Merchants sent deer hides to St. Louis by the hundred, some shaved, some with hair on. The shaving was done fast and cheap. A man hung a hide up by the neck, took a knife and scraped upward, and literally "made the fur fly;" and scraping a deer's hide was considered to be worth from 3 to 5 cents.

In 1840, the principal event was the building of the new court house. The old one never was really finished till now. It had long been considered unsafe, but the county court would not undertake a new one. But one bright, still morning in 1839, after " a calm, still night," it was found that the house had partly fallen down. There was a hole in one side big enough for a wagon to drive through. Nobody seemed to know how it had happened, but there was no doubt now; it had to come down. So everybody in town got out with ropes, which they ran in at one window and out at another; evei'ybody pulled and halloed, and soon it was only a pile of rubbish. The town was full of dust and noise and fun. The county court thereupon, March 7, 1836, made the following order: the next June term reoeive sealed proposals for the building of ihe brick coiirt house on the public square in Mount Vernon, and that Noah Johnston, John "SY. Greetham, Downing Baugh and A. M. Grant, who in connection with the Clerk of this court, shall constitute a committee whose duties shall be to superintend the advertising, planning and building of said house, subject at all times to the direction of the court and liable to be removed by said court."

Still the Commissioners, Barton A tchisson, James Sursa and William Bullock, did not fully surrender their authority to " said committee." They all mounted horseS and rode to Carmi, examined the coui-t house there, thought it good enough, and in spite of the earnest protest of the committee, determined to take it as a pattern. So that, June 5, 1836, it was " Ordered by the court that the Clerk shall advertise in the Shawneetown newspaper that they will let on the 20th of July the building of a court house in Mount Vernon on the plan of the court house at Cai'mi, 111., and of the same size and finish." William Edwards got the contract at $5,500. He was an Englishmaa, married Sarah Hyde in London, came to Washington, there got acquainted with Gov. Casey, bought land of him in Grand Prairie and moved out just in time to get this contract. He was a Methodist preacher; of his family let us further say, that Francis H., his oldest son, finished his education here, became a physician, married Miss M. E. Hicks and died recently at Sandoval. Joseph, the youngest son, also a physician, married Miss Higgins and lives at Mendota; and the daughters married William Kidd, William McLaughlin and William Gibberson. The court house was finished in 1840. But the county was hard run to pay for it. Orders were issued for small sums, but these were not quite satisfactory. In December, 1840, the Legislature was petitioned for authority to borrow money, and in May, 1841, the Clerk, E. H. Ridgway, was authorized to make a loan of S2,200 at the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown. But not till October 14, 1841, was the final settlement made. It then ajj pears that Edwards had drawn in orders 13,061.61; he took notes on different parties to the amount of $474.86, and four bonds due June 8, 1848, for the remainder. This settlement did not settle. In September, 1842, Edwards returned the orders and bonds and took five $500 bonds, bearing 12 per cent, due June 8, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852. This court house was forty feet square, square roof, cupola supported by pillars and surrounded by railing, court room below. Judge's seat on north side, stairways in southwest and southeast corners, floor, half brick outside bar, bar cut off by railing with gates, four rooms for offices above, front door south, plain doors east and west. Cattle and sheep used the old house all through vacations, but by the efforts of Dr. AV. S. VanCleve, the public square was now fenced for the lirst time, and the bushes and weeds cut. So it looked well.

About the time of the court house excitement, the Methodist Chui'ch was finished, the old Academy was built and the town was incorporated, but these will come up under the heads of churches, schools and city government. It was in the time of this prosperity, all in five or six years, that Jonas Eddy, Castles, Baltzell, Phelps, Dr. Short, Schanck, Hinman, Thomas, Clement, Dick Nelson, Haynes, Robert Wingate, Shaffner, Scates, Dr. Caldwell, Dr. Roe, Dr. Gray, Rahm, Stephenson, Palmei', Barrett, Tromley, Alexander Barnes, and many others located in Mount Vernon. Then followed nearly ten years with much of the slow and heavy move- ment of the olden times. The pulse quickened a little -when the Central Railroad Company was chartered, but became irregular again as soon as it was located. Among the accessions to our population worthy of note were Dr. Green, Tanner, Mills, Thatcher, Preston, McAtee, Began and Condit.

There is not much to add respecting the general history of Mount Vernon. Most of what remains to be told is included in the various sub-headings that follow, or is sufficiently set forth in the biographical and other departments of this work. A general outline reaching up to the present may be given in few words. The most conspicuous improvments in 1854 were the Johnson House and the Methodist Episcopal Church. John N. Johnson came to town a few years before, with little means, practiced medicine a while, got a small stock of goods, managed with eminent judgement, won everybody's confidence, built up rapidly, and by a very large purchase of hogs in the fall of 1853, made about $5,000. With part of this money he biiilt the hotel that bore his name for several years, but has been most recently known as the Commercial Hotel. He died the next winter, and the business, the church, the lodge, the town, the whole country, felt the loss. In 1857, Strattau and Pavey came out from Ohio, bought the farm of John Johnson, the writer's father, southeast of town, traded it to Thorn for a very large stock of goods, and from that time to the present, Strattan & Pavey, in conjunction with Fergerson, Allen, Taylor, AVestbrook, and other associates, have occupied a very large space in our little business world and contributed largely to the growth of the town and the development of the country. Strattan & Fergerson built the store now occupied by J. D. Johnson in 1859, and Strattan & Johnson the three-story block southeast of the public square in 1872, both the Johnsons just named being sons of John N. Johnson above mentioned, and the last named, Alva C, being Strattan's son-in-law. Pavey i& Allen built the store now occupied by Hudspeth, Taylor & Company, in 1875. and Strattan his residence in 1873. George H. Varuell was the next important accession to the ranks of business - proving indeed an accession to the town and the entire vicinity. He is brother-in-law to John S. Bogan, who has been so intimately connected with our history for thirty years, and came from Washington City in October, 1861. In the winter of 1802-63, Joseph J. HoUomon came from near Humboldt in Tennessee. He had bought of Mr. Elder, of Gibson County, Tenn., thirteen tracts of land in Franklin, Jefferson and Washington Counties, containing about 1,300 .'acres, for something over $13,000. He erected a tobacco warehouse east of town, now inside the city limits, and did a lively business here until it was burnt down in 1864. He and Varnell built the " New York Store," northeast of the public square, in 1863, and the mill now owned and run by Hobbs & Son in the same year. Hollomon sold out to Varnell in 18G5 and returned to Tennessee. Varnell pushed along. He built the Continental Hotel in 1877 to 1880, and the block north of the Episcopal Church in 1872. Henry W. Seimer came earlier than some of those just mentioned, built up a fortune gradually, and has contributed much to the improvement of the town and the activity of its business. A tailor by trade, he has shown himself fitted for other kinds of business, and has succeeded in all. In March, 1869, the old court house was burnt, and the officers found rooms in the Phoenix Block, and the court a room in the Presbyterian Church. At the September term, 1870, the Board of Supervisors ordered an election on the question of building a new court house to cost not over $30,000; and in April, 1871, a contract was made with W. E. Gray, of Alton, at $29,315. The Building Committee were G. W. Evans, Q. A. Wilbanks, Samuel Johnson, D. H. Warren, John C. McConnell and Henry Breeze, and the house was to be finished by March 1, 1872. The rest of its story is well known. The new jail was erected in 1872-73. The town received a wonderful impetus fi'om the railroad as long as it was a terminus, uver seventy houses being built in as many weeks.

The township was known in land descriptions, but had no political existence for many years. In August, 1841, James Sursa, Aai'on Year wood and Armstead W. Bruce were appointed Trustees of school lands in the township, like Trustees being appointed at the same time for all the townships.

The growth of townships as political divisions was very gi'adual. For twenty years at all general elections, everybody voted at Mount Vernon. But it was necessary to have districts for magistrates and constables, and for these officers to be elected within the districts. In a preceding chapter, these different divisions are given from the formation of the county down to the time of township organization.

September 10, 1869, S. F. Grimes presented to the county court a petition for township organization, as stated in the chapter on organization of the county, and an election was ordered for November. The result was 1,330 for, and 633 against, out of a total vote of 2,182. D. C. Jones, William Kirk and G. L. Cummins were appointed Commissioners to lay off townships. At the March term, 1870, they reported Grand Prairie, Rome, Field, Farrington, Casner, Shiloh, Webber, Blissville, Allen, Bald Hill, Anderson, Spring Garden, Moore's Prairie, each including an exact township; Mount Vernon, including Township 2, Range 3, and all of Township 3, Range 3, west of Muddy; and Pendleton, Township 4, Range 3, and all of Township 3, Range 3, east of Muddy. At the nest June term, Anderson was changed to Elk Prairie and Allen to McClellan; and at the September term, Dodds was formed of Township 3, Range 3. The lirst Board of Supervisors were Jacob Breeze, S. V. Bruce, W. S. Bumpus, G. L. Cummins, W. A. Davis, G. W. Evans, E. B. Harvey, Samuel Johnson, W. A. Jones, John C. McConnell, J. R. Moss, M. A. Morrison, J. B. Ward, D. H. Warren, Q. A. Wilbanks, and after Dodds was formed, R. D. Roane.