Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 31: The Closing Scene, 1909

Chapter 31: The Closing Scene

And now we have come to the closing chapter of our history, just as we are approaching the closing days of our earthly existence, the crossing of the bar - the parting of the ways. Soon, we shall reach the time and the clime where we shall all be equal - where king and peasant, rich and poor shall stand equal in the presence of the Ruler of the universe, and surely that which is the common lot of us all must be for the common good. In the light that comes beyond what difference does it make whether this earthly existence was passed surrounded with the comforts of earthly wealth, or in struggling for the necessaries of life, as has been the lot of most of us. Happy, if we view this change - this departure, as did the great apostle Paul, when he said, "the time of my departure is at hand ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith ; I have fought the good fight; henceforth there is laid up for me a crov^Ti of life, which the righteous Judge will give me" and then, remembering that he had not lived for himself alone, he added - "and not to me only, but to all who have believed on His name" or had faith in His everlasting words of truth.

Morn, Noon And Night John A. Wall

Our Jefferson county historian, born in poverty, 1836, in Saline county, Illinois, was early bereft of parents and brought to Mount Vernon at the age of five years and "bound out" to Eli Anderson, and his old maid sisters, who kept the old Mount Vernon Inn. As usual with children of this kind, he had task-masters and was "bossed to the limit." Having been familiar with slave help the family in which he spent his early life made him feel the sting of servitude and it is no wonder that as he grew to manhood he hated slavery with a holy hatred. By the articles binding him until he was twenty-one he was to have received a good education and a horse, saddle and bridle, but Anderson, the party of the first part, having died and the good education not being forthcoming, at the age of seventeen, he feeling that the horse and saddle and bridle would be like the education, he quit the job and went to work on the Illinois Central Railroad, which was then being built; afterwards working in a blacksmith shop, and then helped Uncle Johnny Bogan in the Jeffersonian office. He "rolled" for the first paper printed in Mount Vernon in August, 1 85 1 . His printing office education was much like his schooling, a day in and a day out, but still he received more education in the office than he did at school. In five years in connection with others he has taken charge of the office, and for thirty years thereafter was connected editorially and printatorially with many papers in Southern Illinois, having edited papers at Salem, Pinckneyville, Marion, Carbondale, Cairo, Coulterville, Benton, Mount Vernon and Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In August, 1 86 1, he dropped the pencil and stick and went to the front to help save the Union and the flag. He was in three days' battle at Pea Ridge, at the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and was in a bayonet charge, was severely wounded in the battle of Stone River, and taken prisoner and suffered in Libby and other prisons for some months, before being exchanged. He came home in 1863, and started the "Unconditional Unionists" with which to fight rebels while he was unable to use implements of warfare.

In 1889 Mr. Wall was made postmaster at Mount Vernon and served nearly five years with satisfaction to the people and credit to himself. After that he served as assistant postmaster for nearly nine years, making his service in the post-office fourteen years. He served the Republican party in two terms of the Legislature as doorkeeper of the house, and sergeant-at-arms of the Senate. He served one term as assessor of Mount Vernon township and did the entire work himself. He was often placed on the party ticket to "fill-up" and always reduced the opposition majority. He is now nearly seventy-three years old, and is rounding out his life by writing the History of Jefferson County and awaiting his final discharge.

In 1 859 he was married to Miss Milly F. Watson and they lived happily together until 1905, when she departed for the better land, leaving him to follow. Their children are Angus, deceased; Al J., foreman of the Republican office at Kankakee; Emma, widow; and Bessie, at home, and his grandchildren are as follows: Ethel and Walter, children of Angus, deceased; Lola, Leland, Dorris and Donald, children of Al J. at Kankakee; and Mildred, daughter of Emma, at home.

Mr. Wall has always considered himself in the servant class - if by effort, he could be helpful to others. When he was a "bound" boy he felt that he was a servant ; so, when he helped to saw wood and help make ties for the railroad ; so, when he became a disciple of Faust ; so, when he took the obligation to love and cherish the bride of his choice; so, when he volunteered to fight for his country and defend its flag; so, when he returned from his military successes and took up the peaceful duties of citizenship; so, when he took upon himself the obligations of a Christian soldier, and so, when he undertook to compose this Jefferson County History. Labor is part of his religion. His opinion of the man who will not work is expressed in the following lines:

Viewing life from an earthly standpomt alone, it sometimes seems unsatisfying - ever trifling - but from the Christian's Mt. Pisgah of Faith, Hope and Love - with life's duties well performed on the one hand, and the joys yet to come on the other, we can joyfully bid farewell to mortality, as we go "Sweeping through the gates into the city," singing as we go: