Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 17, 1883

Chapter 17

IN the rush of invention and discovery, men give but little time or care to the preservation of facts and incidents that render history valuable and instructive. As the period of mortality shortens, activity increases and selfishness becomes a predominating motive. The dead and the past are too quickly forgotten in the hurry of the present and the anxiety for the future. But the reflecting mind always derives satisfaction in reviving the events of preceding years and forming a mental contrast between the then and now. Could we but again go back to our boyhood days, and handle the old wooden plow, the sickle and cradle, and once more listen to the hum of the spinning-wheel in the old log cabin, after so long enjoying the benefits of modern implements and machinery, it would seem to us impossible that the people of the olden time could live as contentedly as they did. But the old settlers have, many of them, passed away. The slow plodding ox team has given place to the more rapid Norman sjjan. The reaping-hook of our fathers has become a curiosity to our chil- grandchildren may laugh and wonder at the implements and machinery which we now use and consider so perfect. The methods of harvesting and machinery in use by the coming generation may put our boasted selfbinders and steam threshers to shame. These changes are inseparably blended with the changes in population and with the progress in civilization and social life. It is the duty and task of the historian to make note of all these transitions, and the history of Field Township would be imperfect without this reference to the old-time ways and customs, which are yet dear to the memory of many stilJ living.

Field Township is situated in the north tier of townships, and is boituded on the north by Marion County, on the east by Farrington Township, on the south by Mount Vernon To\vnship, on the west by Rome Township, and is Congressionally known as Township 1 sottth of the base line, and Range 3 east, of the Third Principal Meridian. It is divided between woodland and prairie, the former predominating. The timber is mostly oak and hickory, with a few other kinds common to this section of the country. Casey's Fork of the Big Muddy is the principal stream, and flows south thi-ough the west siae of the township. Adam's Ftirk has its sonrce in the northeast part and flows westwardly. These, with a few other small brooks, constitute the natural drainage.

Field Township has no railroads or manufactories, but is thoroughly an agricultural region, and many prosperous farmers, who.se well-kept farms are proof of their enterprise, are found here.

The settlement of Field Township is of much more modern date than some other portions of the county. Among the early settlers were the Fields, for whom the township was named. Jeremiah Field, the patriarch of the family, came to Marion County in 1826, but never lived in this township. Sevflral of his sons, however, came here, among them Nathan, James and Henry Field. Thomas MeCrary settled the farm now owned by John Osborne, in Section 17, and was from Alabama. He died about 1877-78, and left several children.

Thomas Jordan settled here very early, and lived near the line, in the prairie which bears his name, and which lies in this and Rome Township. He kept a tavern on the old j Goshen road, and had a large family of children. The Jordans were among the ear- j liest settlers in this portion of the State, but [ they first located in Franklin County, where they lived for some years and built a blockhouse. They afterward scattered out, and several of the name Ijecame settlers in different portions of Jefiferson County, Thomas locating in this township, as above. James Foster was an early settler, and improved the place where John MeConnell now lives. Ml-. Maxwell and David Garrison settled early, W. J. Gam son, a descendant, has always lived here. D. Easley settled the place now occupied by Alfred Finn. John and Benjamin Hawkins came in about lS40,and settled in Section 8. They were good farmers, and came originally from Indiana. Thomas Minor settled in the southeast part of the township prior to 1840, and still lives there. W. D. Claybourn came about 1840, from Tennessee, and is still here. Thus the township settled up, and the land was all entered and improved within a comparatively short time from the first settlements.

Field Township, as we have said, was of more modern occupatioQ than some of the contiguous portions of the county, and hence the first settlers did not experience as great trials as some of the first pioneers did. Mills had already sprung up in many localities, and life was becoming quite easy to what it was when the first whites settled in the county. It was not all flowers and su^nshine here, however, for a number of years. The people had their hardships and dangers, and enough of them, too, but they managed to outlive them and to see peace and plenty around them.

The old Goshen road was one of the first highways through Field Township, but so much has already been said of it that we will but make this reference to it here. As the township settled up, other roads were opened to accommodate the increasing population, and substantial bridges were built where they were needed. There are now some three or four good bridges in the township.

An amusing incident is related of the early history of Field Township, which is somewhat as follows: Thomas McCrary, who is mentioned as an early settler, was what was termed in those days an Abolitionist. He used to burn charcoal for a blacksmith named Storman, and the i)it where he burned it was on big Muddy Creek. He burnt all the coal Storman used for several years. Blacksmiths then used charcoal entirely in their shops. Being an Abolitionist, McCrary, of oom-se, kept a station on the underground railroad, a line that trafiScked between the Slave States and Canada, and was more or less obnoxious to his neighbors, according to their political sentiments. A man named Harmon living just over in Rome Township, had boasted that if any negroes came about him they would be roughly treated, etc. One day Andrew and William McCray, two of Tom McCrai"j''s boys, blacked their faces at the charcoal pit and went to Harmon's. The women were washing at the spring, and when they saw the " niggers, " they ran to the house'for protection, very much frightened. The boys disappeared into the woods, and at the first branch washed the black from their faces and then joined the immense crowd that had turned out to hunt the " niggers," whom, we may add, they did not succeed in finding. The joke was too good to keep, and the McCrary boys finally told it. This led to a regular " Donnybrook fight" on the next election day, between the friends of Harmon and the McCrarys.

The first schoolhouse in Field Township was built on Big Muddy on the MeCrary farm. It was a log cabin about sixteen feet square, and of the usual pioneer pattern, with its slab seats, puncheon floor and oldtime fire-place. There are now in the township six good, commodious schoolhouses, well furnished and well patronized during the school terms.

Field Township is well supplied with chui'ches, and if its citizens are not religious it is for no lack of church facilities. Oak Grove Baptist Church, on Section 28, is a neat and tasty frame building. New Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Chui-ch, on or near the line of Section 25, is a handsome frame edifice. Panther Fork Baptist Church, on Section 11, is an excellent frame building. The Campbellites, or Christians, have a new frame church on Section 18, near the line of

As a matter of some interest to our readers, we append the following list of township ofiicials since the adoption of township organization in 1869: as it is without towns, without railroads and without manufactories. Its population is devoted chiefly to farming and stock-raising, and are an industrious and prosperous people. One of the largest stock-raisers in the township is John McConnell, who devotes his attention to horses, cattle and Cotswold sheep, of which he has some line animals. Others, also, devote more or less time and attention to stock, and every year stock-raising, as a business, is increasing in interest.

Chaptee Xviii

CASNER TOWNSHIP - TOPOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES - EARLY SETTLEMENT - ROUGH FARE OF THE PIONEERS - SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES - LIST OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS - POLITICS, ETC. - RO.ACHVILLE VILLAGE, THE CHICAGO OF THE COUNTY, ETC., ETC.

" Ha! how the woods give way before the step Of these new comers! What a sickening smell Clings round my cabin, wafted from their town Ten miles away."

THERE are few now living who were here when Jefferson Coimty was formed. Could you, who have only seen the country as it now is, borrow their eyes, and through them look back over the long past, what an amazing sight it would be to you! The wonder of Kip Van Winkle was not greater when he woke from his long nap in the Catskill Moitntains, and discovered himself no longer the loyal subject of George III, but the free and sovereign citizen of the greatest country upon which the sun shines, than would be yours could you look back and take in at a glance the then state of the country in all its primitive glory. What illusions it would dispel, what a change it would produce in your conclusions regarding your county, and the pioneers who settled it and wrought the wonderful changes that have taken place. Men are great and good in this world according to the lives they have lived, and the work they have performed. The trtie story of the early settlers of Southern Illinois has never been told. It should be; and when it is, they will receive their just meed of praise. Then it will be seen that they are true heroes and heroines. They were not seeking fortunes, nor fame; they were intent only upon making a home for their children, and they loved freedom to that extent that they took their lives in their hands and faced death in all its forms, and laid the foundations of all this splendid structure of civilization we see around us, that brings us all our pleasures, our wealth and our joys. Compared to the battles and victories of the celebrated warriors of the world, the work of these unpretentious, unassuming, unambitious men should tower above the warriors and states- men in the annals of the great, as does the mountain above the mole -hi 11. Bettor men and women never lived than these noblehearted pioneers, and it is simply shocking - almost criminal - that their desoendants are so utterly ignorant of the true story of their great lives. They had no churches, no schools, no courts, no officers of the law. Their law was the imperial court of an honest, healthy public sentiment, and if in the course of their lives they found a dishouest man, they punished him to that extent, and so swift and unerring were their judgments and convictions that they either drove the wrongdoer from the settlement or cured him completely and made an honest man of him. This was the way they lived out their great lives, doing good and building wise in their day and generation. They are gone now, and we shall nevermore behold the like of them; we can only put upon record their lives and their acts, and thus preserve them from being utterly lost to their descendants.

Casner Township, to which this chapter is devoted, is situated west of Mount Vernon, and contains soroe as fine farming land as there is in the county. The surface is generally level, with gentle, undulating swells, resembling the ocean after a storm. The western part of it, along the Washington County line, is fine prairie land, while the remainder was originally covered with timber, among which were to be seen the varieties of oak, walnut, wild cherry, hickory, ash, locust, a good deal of hazel, sumac, etc. The township is bounded on the north by Grand Prairie Township, east by Shiloh. south by Blissville, west by Washington County, and forms Congressional Township No. 2 south, and Kange 1 east. The principal stream is Rayse Creek, a branch of Big Maddy, and which flows nearly through the center of the township; a few unimportant

The historj' of the settlement of this township by white people is but that of the settlement of the entire county. The name of the very first settler of Casner Township is somewhat indefinite; but among the first settlers was George Casner, for whom the township was named. He settled on Section 19 or 20 about the year 1824, and 'was from Virginia. He had quite a large family of children, and was twice married. He died only a few years ago, and his widow is still living on the old homestead. Mr . Casner is described as a most estimable man, somewhat quick and loud spoken, but kind and afiectionate in his family. He accumulated quite a little fortune, but through misfortune lost much of it, and died comparatively poor. About the time Casner came to the township, there came a man named Howell, and shortly after him Alva Clark. The latter settled near Casner and died in 1847. William Bm-ris also settled near by. He died, leaving a large family of children - among them a son who died in the late war. Solomon Patterson came here from Monroe County, and settled in Section 31, about the year 1837. He lived here awhile, and then moved into Moore's Prairie, where he, later, died. Harvey Creel also settled here in 1837. He came from Clinton County, had a large family, but all or most of them have moved away. A. M. Daniels settled on Section 6, and died in 1845. T. B. Lacy came from St. Clair County with his father, in 1834, to "move" a man named John Holt, whose father, Robert Holt, lived in Shiloh Township. A man named Johnson was then living on the place where Mr. Lacy now lives. Johnson tias moved away from the township. The place was originally settled by Walter Bean, who was a regular Daniel Boone for hunting. He was also very fonrl of bees, and spent much time in hunting "bee-trees" and gathering wild lioney. Mr. Lacy first settled in Blissville Township, but afterward in this. William Champ was among the early settlers in the eastern part of the townshiji. Other families came in, and the land was rapidly settled.

In illustration of pioneer life, we make the following extract from a sketch by Mr. Johnson. " Ooifee was not much used, as it cost 50 cents a pound, and had to be brought from Shawneetown or Kaskaskia at that. Meat was plenty, but bread was scarce. Meal had, at first, to be brought from the Wabash River. William and Isaac Casey constructed a little hand mill that would grind a bushel or two in the course of a day, and they did well. But many of the first settlers had to beat their meal in a mortar. One family had a big kettle, which they used for a mortar; but generally the mortar was a stump with a basin burnt in the top of it. Over this was suspended, by a sweep, a huge billot of wood. This billet of wood was brought down upon the grain in the mortar, the sweep raised it. and so thump, thump, the pounding went on till the grain was broken small enough to make bread. Another style of mortar was a huge block, and the pestle was a maul with an iron wedge in the end of it. Tliis was used in bad weather, as it could be brought within doors. The meal was sifted and bread made of the finest, while the coarser was made into hominy. In early autumn, meal was grated and bread made of this meal was baked on a board or in the ashes, and was very delicious." What would the young people of the present day think of such fare"? But even this was relished and enjoyed by the people then. However, we would think ourselves on the eve of starvation wore we forced to live on it now, in this fast age of the country.

As population increased, mills were built, and the mortar and pestle were " laid on the shelf." Severs had a mill near Muddy Creek, and a Mr. Carroll started a tannery about 1849-50, in the western part of the township. He was finally killed in a saw mill. One of the first roads through the township was the road from Shawneetown to St. Louis, passing through Mount Vernon and this township. Several good, substantial bridges span the streams, thus rendering local travel safe and pleasant. George Casner was a blacksmith, and started the first shop of the kind in the township.

School Treasurers - William Gray, Hugh Flanagan, A. Carroll, Thompson Lacy. J. M. Severs, Thompson Lacy, A. Hogshead, W. R. Champ, now in office.

The voting place of the township is at Roachville, and the sturdy yeomanry poll a large majority at all important elections for the Democratic party. Indeed, it is said that many still vote for Thomas Jefferson and Gen. Jackson, and as for Stephen A. Douglas, he could be elected to any office in Casner, from Constable to President of the United States, by an overwhelming majority.

The schools of the township are scarcely up to the standard. The log scboolhouse may still be seen here, though there are several neat frame schoolhouses. There are in the township six, all told, and in these schools are maintained for the usual terms each year.

The first religious meetin;rs were held in a grove near Casner's. Preaching used to be had at Mr. Patterson's before there were any churches built. Reynolds Chapel, a Methodist Church, was organized in 1876. It is a frame building, and has but a small membership. Samuel Reynolds made a profession of religion on his death-bed, and in honor of him the church was organized and given his name. Elijah Lacy was among the early ministers. Religious meetings were also held by the Methodists at the house of Mr. Bean, on the farm where T. B. Lacy now lives. Rev. Mr. Striblin was also an early preacher in this section. A flourishing Sunday school is held in the schoolhouse at Roachville.

. - Roachville, on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, about ten miles west of Mount Vernon, is somewhat larger - smaller, we mean - than Chicago. It was laid out 'April 6, 1870, by John D. Williams, for David Koach, the owner of the land upon which it is located. The place comprised four blocks and forty lots. A storehouse was built by Roach, in which Frank Pease, from Ashley, opened a store. He was followed by Mr. Woods. Benjamin Cole opened a blacksmith shop. A Ml-. Quackenbush built a mill and sold it to Abram Severs; the latter afterward sold it to Mr. Fairchild. This, with a few dwelling-houses, comprises all that has ever been of Roachville. It probably never will be much greater, though it is surrounded by an excellent coiiutry. particularly on the west.

Casner Township ought to be one of the finest farming regions in the county. It has considerable good land, that is well adapted to grain and fruit. Stock-raising, too, might be made profitable. Energy and enterprise alone is needed to make Casner one of the leading towBships of the county.