Knox County, Illinois - The whole text, 1912 (part 2 of 56)

In Copley township there has been at times considerable mining and one in traversing the streams of that township finds many evidences of former mining operations. Two of the oldest -mines are those operated on the James McGovern and Charles Morgan farms, and we believe that they are still yielding coal of an excellent quality.

One of the earliest shaft mines in the county was that operated near Oneida by Messrs. Camp and Powell, and it was perhaps the only extensive mine ever run in that township.

When the Illinois geological survey of the county was made, just prior to 1870, it listed a large number of mines. Nearly every township in the county was represented. Much valuable information was given. It is to be doubted if there are today in operation a half dozen mines that were then running, and of which sections are given in the works of the survey. This indicates that there are melancholy features connected with Knox county mining, and that more than one man has failed to make money operating a mine. Some large mines have flourished for a few years only to be closed because either of inability to cope with the water or because of the imperfections of the veins and the abundance of the clay intrusions.

For years in the early days there was much stripping of coal done in the creek bottoms where the veins were very near the surface. All that had to be done was to remove the thin superficial covering of soil or of slate and the coal was within reach, and was then very easily removed. This method has been abandoned with the exhaustion of this accessible supply.

While there is coal in nearly every township of the county, if not all, there are but few extensive workings. For years a conspicuous sight in the seventies, and perhaps before, was the large colliery just southwest of Wataga, near the railroad track. Among those that operated from time to time large mines in the county were R. M. Campbell, east of Wataga, the Essexes in Henderson township, the Cliffords in the western part of Walnut Grove township, Alex Baird in Henderson township, the Eppersons in Rio township, and the Etherly Company, whose plant was abandoned in recent years. The cheapness at which outside coals can be placed at the larger centers of the county is the real occasion of the decline in mining, notwithstanding the large coal acreage.

The last available statistics of mining in the county are those of 1910, published by the State. These show 27 mines in the county producing that year 38,673 tons, and employing 122 miners and sixteen other hands. The largest mines were those of the Pendergast Brothers at Soperville, Rodell & Mitchell of Wataga, and Thomas H. Mellan of Soperville. The total for the county is but a fraction of that produced a half century ago.

Of the six veins of coal. No. 6 has been most extensively mined, owing to the thickness of the vein and the ease with which it can be removed. It is usually four and a half feet in thickness and has a clay seam two inches in width that serves as a parting between the upper and lower parts of the vein. No. 4 is not so shaly, seems more dense and compact. No. 3 is not a thick vein, usually about thirty inches to three feet. No. 2 is also a thin vein but of very excellent quality. No. I if correctly enumerated, is a thick vein, four to seven feet. Some of the veins of the county are difficult to place because of peculiar conditions surrounding them.

Map of Knox County, Illinois, showing streams, watersheds and drainage areas The fiffures with each municipality give the altit.de. The numbers of coal veins are also indicated. The dotted lines along

The Stone Quarries

In the early day there was considerable stone quarried in Knox County but at the present time there is but very little, owing to the better quality of stone that can be procured elsewhere. The early quarries were situated not far from Knoxville. North of that city, along the bank of a small stream that runs into Court creek can be seen the site of a quarry in a sandstone bluflf. This stone is in large blocks and hardens on exposure. It was used in the construction of some of the buildings in ICnoxville and elsewhere in the county. Farther north in section sixteen in the same township is still another quarry relic. From this were taken blocks of conglomerate, that were hard and very durable, composed of limestone pebbles, cemented solidly together. This stone was used in the construction of the foundation of the Old First Church of Galesburg. This indicates that stone was quarried there as early as 1846. The Hope Cemetery wall, Galesburg, is made of this same enduring material. Stone was also quarried in the sandstone beds along Haw creek south of Knoxville. Over vein No. 6 of coal there is often a heavy seam of limestone that has been used for foundation and other purposes. In the north part of the county a bastard limestone was formerly quarried. As a rule outside of the conglomerate the rock of the county is likely to shale and split under the influence of the weather.

A few feet below the surface in some parts of the county is found a second soil, or perhaps it might be better termed a first soil, as it antedates the present. In passing, it might be remarked that each coal vein indicates that under it was a soil on which flourished the dense vegetable growth that was subsequently, when the land was again submerged, compressed into coal. This soil is usually termed fireclay, and traversing it in' all directions are the roots of coal measure plants. Thus there were six soils for coal making plants and subsequently six periods when the land was under the surface of the sea, as the presence of so much marine life in the rocks between the coal veins clearly shows.

The second soil is of course of recent formation. There lie above it four to six feet of the yellow clay, and yellow clay below it. It denotes a period above the level of the waters and conditions suited to vegetable growth. It is in association with this soil that the remains of elephants and mastodons are found. The parts most often discovered are the teeth, because their enamel resists best the processes of decay. A number of fine specimens have been exhumed in this county. In the Galesburg waterworks excavation in Cedar Fork valley, three well preserved teeth and parts of the hip bone of an elephant were found. Around thfem were fragments of cedars of considerable thickness. In the same trench was found the long, handsome tusk of some member of tlie swine family. In a brick yard pit near Oneida in the second soil were found numerous bones of a mastodon, while in a marshy place near the same city was found a great tusk. From a Spoon river bluff was taken a well preserved tooth of a mastodon, and on a gravel bank in the river was discovered a mighty tusk. Recently near Woodhull several gigantic teeth have been unearthed, and still more recently in excavating at Galva immense molars of some species of elephant were found.

This is mentioned simply to show the variations in the topography of the county during the ages, and the life to which each variation gave subsistence. The present configuration is the outcome of the slow elevation of the land, permitting the deposition of the subsoil and the soil, and the incessant operations of water, air, temf>eratures and life, since the deposition of the clays in the glacial epoch. ^ ^ . : ' ---': -" ': - .';:'^ -"

From the topographical and scienic view, main interest centers around Spoon river. It enters Truro township on the east side of the county and takes a serpentine southwesterly course through Truro, Haw Creek, Maquon and Chestnut townships. On the way it touches Persifer and Elba townships. Its northern part is marked by narrow valleys and in a few places the river runs between bluflfs. From where French creek enters to the junction with Haw creek, the river runs through a broad and fertile bottom. This is one and a half miles in width at the French creek juncture, broadens to two miles at the Pease creek juncture, and from there to the mouth of Haw creek varies from three quarters to one and a half miles in width. Standing on the shore opposite Haw creek entrance, one can look along four miles of bottom land.

Eight square miles of bottom land are included in Spoon river valley between the mouths of French and Willow creeks, and in places it seems to be from six to ten feet in thickness. All this represents what the streams have in part brought down from the hills and uplands.

The topography of Spoon river valley can be seen to good advantage from the bridge southeast of Maquon. The valley broadens and the bottom is nearly three quarters of a mile in width. The river flows in a channel cut in the alluvium and the banks show this deposit to be eight to ten feet in thickness. The highlands are well back. The broad bottom extends north and south as far as the eye can see. It seems to be all under cultivation and as the soil is so deep and rich ought to bear magnificent crops. The view from the hills above down the valley is a charming one.

The Hill Structure

The hill structure of the county is well shown in a ride west from Maquon past that curiosity. Horseshoe Lake or Bend, an isolated body of water in the south part of Orange township, and having some fame as a fishing resort. On the north side of this lake are high hills, between which and from springs comes the water that feeds the lake. This natural reservoir occupies a part of the basin between Pig and Haw creeks. To the south and southeast there is bottom land. Judging from the natural features, this lake may occupy what was once the chanf nel of Pig creek, or perhaps even Haw, and its ends for some reason having become filled, the stream was forced to cut its way farther south. It is said that.

during times of flood Haw creek backs into it, and this indicates that the level of the two are not far from identical. At the time of the visit the reservoir ranged from two to five rods in width, but it was said that its beauty had been marred by the attempts to drain its waters. An early tradition is that the lake was made by dams formed by the beavers.

Before one gets to this lake, there is a fine series of hills descending from the higher level, and so facing the road that one can discern the rounded hollows down which the water descends between each pair of hills. '. ;

All these facts indicate how well adapted this county is to be the home of civilized man and what a variety of life it can support. Verily, it is one of the choice garden spots of the earth.

The knowledge of man does not extend back far enough, to tell us what manner of people the very first inhabitants of Knox county were. When the white men came, they found this country inhabited by the Red Men. But who were here before the Indians? One historian says that "the entire valley of the Illinois river from Starved Rock to the Mississippi was, unknown ages ago, the home of a still different race from any yet enumerated. Time can scarcely be reckoned in considering the ages in which human life has found existence along the rivers of this state. Again and again has this land been trodden by different races, cities have risen and fallen, and great people have vanished utterly, leaving behind them no record of existence, except their voiceless graves."

The earliest race of people, which left us any trace of their existence in our land, we call the Mound Builders. Whether these strange builders of mounds were the ancient ancestors of the Red Men whom Qjlumbus found in America, or were an entirely different race of beings, scientists are not agreed.

Mounds of different sizes, shapes and kinds are to be found along the banks of certain streams, notably the Illinois and some of its tributaries. Spoon river is quite rich in these relics. There are three types of mounds existing : the ossuary, the sacrificial and the altar. The first named type is the most common, being found in many parts of the county. Whether all the burial mounds commonly called "Indian graves" are graves of Indians or are part of Mound Builders' ossuary mounds, is not known to the writer.

The only sacrificial mound which could be located, is situated on the N. E. quarter of N. E. quarter. Section 12, Truro township. One writer, in speaking of it, says "on a well prepared earthen altar, four men and one woman were burned, so that the bones were charred, and the soil was impregnated to a considerable depth with the oleaginous matter. In an excavation beneath this altar were the skeletons of two men."

The Ataerican Indian knew nothing of their origin or use, and had no traditions concerning them. But in later years, the Indians sometimes used them ;/ for burial purposes, by digging into one side of the mound and placing their ' ': dead therein.

The plungfing buffalo, keen of instinct, and very practical, broke great roads ; across the continent in search of food, water and salt. These "traces" or paths, lead from timber groves, to timber groves, always seeking the shortest and best : route descending and crossing the streams, usually at the bars formed at the mouth of some smaller stream. These roads were swept clear of debris in . summer and snow in winter. The wild Indian, having the same instinct as the wild animal, followed the same trails and wore them smooth by frequent use. The earliest white explorers were dependent on the buffalo and the Indian for ways of getting about. And later came the first settlers to travel over these same trails, in looking for a home. Many of these trails became public highways continuing until this day, monuments of the past. Thus we may mention : the great Galena trail from Peoria, passing through Knox county, where it V forms in two branches and goes to Galena, one branch going by way of Rock : Island. One of the earliest roads in Illinois was one of these trails from Dan- ; ville, Illinois, near the famous Vermillion salt springs on the south-eastern border of Illinois to Peoria. This became the "Danville and Fort Clark road," - over which came the earliest settlers to the military tract. This trail became a well traveled road about 1815. This part of the state being settled earlier than the more eastern parts, owing to the fact of the allotment by the government of this territory, to the soldiers of the War of 1812, thus it will be seen that the stream of earliest immigrants came from the eastern states, usually by the Ohio river, disembarking and following these two trails mentioned, into and through Knox county at a very early date. / ;;

It will be seen, by the accompanying map, that Indian trails extended over the greater part of Knox county, several of these being important thoroughfares. One in the northern part of the county, that takes an easterly course, became the main road to Chicago. The one taking a diagonal course from Indian Point township to Truro township, is probably the oldest known trail in the county. It was used by the Indians and French as early as. 1673, it being in a direct course from La Salle, on the Illinois, to the Mississippi river. It was quite largely used by Indian trading parties, and formed a part of a direct line of Savage communication between the Chicago portage and the Mississippi river. During the French occupancy, it was used by the French missionary and the fur trader. This path is believed, by many, to be the identical one used by Father Marquette and Joliet on their return eastward on their voyage of discovery. This old trail held its course through Hancock, Warren, Knox, Stark and Bureau counties.

Several points within the state appear to have been the favorite meeting places, not of one tribe alone, but of many tribes, and thus diverging trails led thereto. Peoria, Rock Island and Chicago river were important places. Thus Maquon became quite a center of Indian population, situated as it is at the crossing of two main trails.

"History holds in her iron hand, no more picturesque story than these trails could reveal, were their guarded secrets known. Here met the nations of the Old World and the New-« - Indian and White, Spaniard, Frenchman, Briton and American ; priest and nun, soldier and adventurer, settler and outlaw, fair patrician women, and the outpouring from the Saltpetriere and other hospitals of Paris."

When Father Marquette and his companions, with their two Indian guides were floating down the "Father of Waters," they noticed an Indian trail. Mooring their canoes, they followed the trail about six miles, where they came to an Indian village. The inhabitants came out to meet him, and after smoking the calumet, they addressed him thus: "We are the Illini. How beautiful is the sun, oh Frenchman, when thou comest to see us. Our village awaits thee. Thou shalt enter in peace all our dwellings."

The first authentic history we have of the Indians of the Mississippi valley reached us through preserved records of La Salle, the French fur trader and explorer, who spent the winter of 1679-80, at what is now Peoria. We know that he and his companions were within twenty miles of Knox county and it is more than probable that they traversed her soil also.

W - History Of Knox County

'. The Indian word "Illini," means in their language, "superior men." This Illini, or Illinois confederacy was composed of five tribes : Michigamies, Cahokias, Kaskaskias, Peorias and Tamaoras. They were intensely warlike, being almost constantly in conflict with other tribes. They were migratory and depended largely upon the summer and winter hunts. In their wars with the Sacs and Foxes, they suffered severely. About 1722 they were overpowered by the Sacs and Foxes, with the aid of other tribes. .--.,.-

From that time the Sacs and Foxes held, for many years, the supremacy of the land between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. But the Kickapoos and the Pottawatomies contended with them, each holding certain portions. Upon the arrival of the white people these different tribes were in the vicinity of Knox county.

The Foxes called themselves Musk-wah-ha-kee, a name composed of two words, meaning "those of red earth." The French called them On-ta-ga-mies, that being their spelling of the name given them by other tribes, the meaning being "Foxes," and was bestowed upon them because their totem (or armorial device, as it might be called), was a fox.

. The name of their allied brethren, the Sacs, is variously spelled, in Indian dialects, Ou-sa-kies, sauks, etc. Black Hawk was of this tribe. Black Hawk's Indian name was Ma-ka-bai-mis-he-kia-kiak, meaning black sparrow hawk. Both Sacs and Foxes were of Canadian origin. They were a courageous people: shrewd, politic and enterprising.

The Sacs and Foxes had a peculiar custom unnoticed in other Indian tribes. Each male child, at birth, was marked with either black or white paint, the mother being extremely careful to apply the colors alternately, so that each family, and the entire nation, might be thus divided into two nearly equal clans, the blacks and the whites, the object of these marks being to keep alive a constant spirit of emulation in the tribe. In their games, hunts and public ceremonies, the blacks always contended with the whites, while in war each party was ambitious to take more scalps than the other.

The Pottawatomies were among the most energetic and powerful of the Indian tribes of the northwest. They came to Illinois from Wisconsin. For a long period of years they were a power in the Illinois country, and were the last tribe to leave its borders upon the encroachment of the whites. They were the ones found in Knox county, by its first white settlers. The name Pottawatomie, means "we are making a fire."

Their general councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. When in council, they usually sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and each in- dividual, notwithstanding the fiery passions that ranked within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if cast in bronze. Before commencing business, a person appeared with the sacred pipe, and another with fire to kindle it. After being lighted, it was first presented to heaven, secondly to earth, thirdly to the presiding spirit, and lastly to the several councilors, each of whom took a whiff. These formalities were observed with scrupulous exactness. { ../.;;..;?

Shaubena was a faithful friend of the white men, and often his life was endangered because of it. After the death of the chiefs. Black Patridge and Senachwine, no chief ever exerted so much infiuence over his nation as did Shaubena. He often prevented the tribe from going to war. The Sacs and Foxes were always trying to kill him, and he was hunted down as a wild beast. They killed his son, Pypeogee and his nephew, Pyps, to enrage him. Black Hawk, being aware of Shaubena's infiuence, twice visited him to enlist him in his cause, but was unsuccessful. While Black Hawk was a prisoner at Jefferson barracks, he said, "Had it not been for Shaubena, the whole Pottawatomie nation would have joined his standard, and he could have continued the war for years." -v ;.

Many early settlers of Knox county owe their lives to Shaubena, as he was ever on the alert to save the whites. He frequently visited the settlers in the northern part of the county. It is said that at one time he visited the settlers at Fraker's Grove, in Lynn township, warning them to leave, that they would be killed if they didn't. David Cooper, John Essex, Thomas Essex, Sr., Thomas Essex, Jr., with their families, fled to the fort near Pekin, Illinois. All but the last named returned later,

Shaubena often went to the home of John Essex. He was always kind to them, once bringing them a quarter of a deer that he had killed. .;;' .-v^.

In an interview given Mr. Fred R. Jelliff, Major Thomas McKee, of Galesburg, said : "The Indians most frequently seen in this locality were Foxes, Sacs, Kickapoos and Pottawatomies. They were alike in many particulars. The Kickapoos and Foxes were often in the vicinity of Henderson Grove, which was a favorite sugar camp. They were as kind a people as you ever saw. They were considerate. For instance, if you were in a wigwam talking, the rest would keep quiet and give you respectful attention. They did not interrupt you. They made their children act with deference in the presence of strangers. They did not hunt, perhaps as extensively as do some other tribes. They lived on com and beans, on berries and other fruits gathered in the woods, while a favorite dish was the wild potato, or penyon, as it was called. This they found in the bottom lands. It was formerly quite abundant but of late I have not noticed it. They speared and caught fish, not small game, and now and then secured a deer. The squaws did the work, such as gathering the penyon and cultivating their ample crops." Their life was one of simplicity, and if was not until they were aroused by injustice and unkindness, that they became cruel and warlike. The Pottawatomies retained their identity as a tribe better than the others.

The language of these Illinois natives was simple, consisting of but a few words made plain by the most significant of gestures. Their names were long and full of vowels. The following are some of the words used by the Pottawatomies: .. .

The Pottawatomie summer camps were near the fishing points, and the winter camps in the timber where the birds and wild animals sought shelter from the cold. '

The Pottawatomie wigwam was from six to ten feet in diameter - a circle of poles meeting in center at top, and bound together with buckskin thongs. This frame was wrapped on the outside to the top with mats made of bullrushes woven together, lattice style, with long fibers of rushes and grasses, or sometimes it was covered with strips of bark. In winter, the wigwam was banked with ashes around its base. Inside there was a hole about two feet deep in the center of the wigwam for the fire, the smoke finding its way out the best it could through a small opening at the top of the wigwam. The earth floor of the wigwam was covered with the skins of wild animals, killed when the fur was long and thick. In winter, the Indian men sat most of the time on the rugs smoking and playing cards, while the squaws did the work. The men killed the game and the squaws prepared the meat for future use by jerking it. The squaws made the gardens usually on a rich piece of ground. They prepared the ground by breaking it in a rude way, and planted pumpkins, beans, potatoes and melons. The garden spot was fenced with Jack oak trees. The small trees were .cut down and dragged to the garden spot. Forked sticks were driven into the ground for the trees to rest upon. These were arranged so closely as to make a fence that was impregnable to the wild hog or other small wild animals. The ripened com was shelled and broken to pieces by pounding it in a hollowed-out log with a wooden club. This corn was boiled with water and a piece of pork, making the favorite hog and hominy. Pumpkins were cut in strips and dried in the sun for winter use. The men were dressed in buckskin breech-clout moccasins and leggins, and a blanket fastened about the waist with a skin belt. When ready to sleep, they curled down among the fur rugs and pulled the blankets close about their heads. Every Pottawatomie Indian man carried, swinging to his belt, a skunk skin, with head, teeth, claws and tail intact. In this skunk skin he carried his tobacco, and in an opening just back of the fore legs, he tucked his pipe. Then he had a flat piece of stone or mud that he used for painting his face. His meth9d was to paint this flat piece with blood root (called by the early settlers Indian paint), in designs of lines and crosses; and when he had the figure finished to his taste, he pressed it with the paint still moist, to his face. The Pottawatomie women never smoked, and never painted, except a line down the center of the head from forehead to back of neck, where the hair was parted.

It is interesting to note the way the squaws cared for their babies. The Pottawatomies never had large families, and regarded, with disgust, the many children of the white people's houses. The Indian mother devoted her whole time to the care of her pappoose. The baby was laid upon a flat piece of linn bark, called by the Pottawatomies a chimote. The baby was fastened to the chimote by wrapping with cloth from feet to chest. And at the chest, the ends were tied in front and to them was tied a string of beads or something bright

:; for the baby to play with. The arms were left free, and another strip of cloth was bound across the forehead and was tied to the back of the board. \\'hen the mother traveled, she swung the baby on the chimote to her back, and when she worked, she stood the chimote against a tree. The Pottawatomie babies

Knox county has been the home, for a longer and shorter period of time, of many tribes of Indians. From past historians and from people now living, it is learned that sixteen and possibly all of the twenty townships of the county have been inhabited by them. The following local items have been gleaned from accounts of the aborigines and of the relics found in various places :

In 1832 John Cresswell settled on the S. W. Quarter of Section 27. During that year, a fort was made on his land, it was named Fort A^ie in honor of Mrs. Cresswell. In 1836 the fort was torn down by Joseph Hahn, who built a barn of the logs and which he used for tramping out wheat with horses. Other thrashing machines were unknown. Another fort was built, it is said, on Section 33. These forts were built to protect the white settlers during the Black Hawk war.

The only hill in the township of any size is Pilot Knob, having an eighty acre grove upon it. In this vicinity many Indian arrows have been found. ..;;:...-

During the year 1836-57, a band of Indians about thirty in number, camped for a short time, just west of John Thompson's residence, and near the present

Altona high school building. An old Indian and his squaw remained long after ! the rest of the Indians had gone. This pair were considered good neighbors. ;.:>;;

Mr. Michael Fraker, in 1828, while still living in Kentucky, purchased a farm from the government in Lynn township. Upon his arrival, he found a band of Indians located on his land on Section 23. There was quite a controversy as to whom the land belonged, the Indians claiming they received their title directly from their god. Mr. Fraker used considerable diplomacy. He, being a blacksmith, mended their guns, and did other favors for them. They in' turn, helped him build his cabin. They could see no reason why he put in so much chinking between the logs to make them tight. They finally decided to move. They went seven miles east and built a village on Indian creek. They always remained friendly to Mr. Fraker, coming back every spring to make maple sugar, and to raise sugar corn and vegetables, leaving in the fall for their hunting grounds. Near Frakers, there is a fine spring, trails leading in all directions from this spring. ; . - r . . ;- .;;. -' ^v^; -;

Indians had corn fields on Sections 23 and 26 and cultivated the soil for years. In an early day, a well was dug on Section 30 near the creek. At a depth of 60 feet, the workmen found what seemed to be an Indian camping ground. Ashes, stumps and general rubbish fresh as if the fire had just gone out ; a cedar log was also found.

The Indians lived in wigwams, helped the settlers make maple sugar and were friendly till the war broke out. Anticipating an Indian outbreak, the white settlers built two forts. One fort on Section 33, was named Lewis Fort. A description of this fort is given elsewhere in this article. The other on Section lo, was unnamed. This township furnished a company of "Minute Rangers" in the Black Hawk war.

At Foreman's Grove, on Foreman creek, near the northern limits of the township, a small tribe of Indians were located when the first settlers arrived.

One branch of the Gelena trail passes through the township from north to south, crossing Court creek where Appleton bridge now stands. The north end. of the bridge stands in the Indian ford. There was an Indian village on the present site of Dahinda (lodge poles were still standing in 1830). On the bluffs nearby are 25 or 30 mounds, supposed to be Indian graves. Many arrows, stone axes and bullets have been found in the township. Sections 35 and 36 be- ing particularly rich in these relics. Indian ladders were found in the woods by the early settlers. They were made by cutting a small tree having many limbs, then cutting the limbs off so as to leave enough of a stump on each limb to make a step. The last Indians seen were on Section 14, N. E. quarter. There is every evidence that a fierce battle was once fought on the north and east quarter of Section 14, about two. miles north and west of where Court creek empties into Spoon river. Within an area of a few acres, large numbers of bullets have been plowed up, and have been picked up by handfuls. They are of the old-fashioned kind of bullets, such as were used in the smooth bore Queen Anne muskets of two centuries ago. This would indicate revolutionary times, or before. .;';,: -V..v';r;./--v.-'--;\ :/: ^.'-: .-'-'-',':-

Maple sugar was made in this township annually. There were several traditions of hidden wealth buried by the Indians. A cellar was dug on the Taylor farm in 1841, when at the depth of four feet, three bars of copper were found, which had been hand forged out. In digging a well, at the depth of twenty-two feet, remains of a camp-fire, charcoal and rubbish were found. '. .. : . -

On the S. W. quarter of Section 31, on land owned by Charles Bradford, a number of Indian graves were found, when the first white settlers came. The corpses had been buried in the forks of the trees, ten to fifteen feet above the ground. Logs had been split in halves and hollowed out, the forks of the trees were cut away with their tomahawks sufficient to let them in, and the rude coffins there rested with their skeleton contents until about 1836, when the whites took them down and buried them in the earth. One sacrificial mound is located on the e^st quarter of Section 12 of Truro township.

Mrs. John Reed settled on Section 17, in 1836, on the very ground where the Indians had camped, and used water from the same spring. 'V". ;^

.- There were many Indians in the township when the whites came. In early times there was a small grove on the N. E. quarter of Section i6. Orange township. This was a favorite camping place for the roving bands of Indians on their way from Spoon river to the Mississippi. Numerous fine specimens of arrow points were found here on Mr. Myers Eiker's farm.

The last appearance of any considerable number of Indians in Orange township was in 1843, when several hundred Sacs and Foxes camped on the northwest quarter of Section 5, while on their way to the reservation in Indian Territory. A block house was built on the southwest quarter of Section 3. It was called McCallister's fort. The land is now owned by Mrs. J. M. Nisley. One man was killed by Indians near this fort. r - -, . .----..'/.-

In this township was an arrow-maker's workshop. On Red Chalk hill, vast numbers of arrows in all stages of completeness, and flint chips are found, showing that here arrows were made. - . --".::

There was but one grove of timber in the township, and that extended into a point. Along the edge of this timber, which extended from Cedar Fork to Section i6, many Indian remains were found. Remains of bark wigwams. Hint arrows, axes, hatchets and domestic utensils were found. Hence the name of the township. Indian creek empties into Cedar Fork, and that into Spoon river.

On Section 12, were many graves, on the bank of Haw creek near the iron bridge. On land belonging to Carl Burnside, on the southwest quarter of Section 15, Chestnut township, are four mounds about three feet high and fortyfive feet in circumference. Some interesting things were once found in them when opened some ten years ago. On Section 33 are a group of three graves.

On Mr. Charles Burnside's farm. Chestnut township. Section 14, northeast quarter, the hills and valleys back of his house were covered with arrows and implements of war, many yet remaining. Across the road on land belonging to Mr. William Swigart, Section ii, southeast quarter, there is a valley north of the house where the ground was covered with arrows, as were the hills surrounding it. If we only knew what mighty tribes contended here. y|* '

At the beginning of the Black Hawk war, all the Pottawatomie Indians disapf>eared forever from this locality, none of the whites knowing when or where they went.

Along the banks of Spoon river the Red Men found their Paradise. Its waters were filled with fish and mussels, while wild fowls haunted its banks, and deer and small game abounded in its woodland and prairie. It was called, in the Algonquin tongue, the language used by the Pottawatomie Indians, A-maquon-sip-pi, A-ma-quon meaning mussel, or mussel shell. The Indians used the shell as we do spoons for dipping up food. The word sip-pi means river, thus A-ma-quon-sip-pi meant Spoon river. Because of the Indians' manner of pronouncing the first syllable of a word very short, it was difficult for the white man's ear to catch the sound, and thus it was an easy step from A-ma-quonsip-pi to Maquon. In a government report, in 1813, Brigadier General Howard speaks of several encampments on the "Maquonie" as the river was known at that time.

Amaquon village was situated on the S. E. quarter of Section 4, Maquon township. It was located near a hill, and near a fine spring of water ; there was a garden and orchard on the hill north and a garden east of it. These gardens were fenced with jack oak trees. The trees of this orchard furnished fruit for Mr. Wm. Palmer, the first white man to build a house in Knox county. It was built on the top of the hill just beside where the main trails crossed.

Village No. 2 was situated about. a half mile distant to the north on the northeast quarter of Section 4, on the spot where later Mr. Nelson Selby, the first land owner in Maquon township, settled. The tent poles of this village were still standing in 1850. Mr. Selby's daughter, Mrs. Mahala Benson, used to play, when a child with the buckskin thongs with which the tent poles had been tied. This village had its garden northeast of it, on a small flat of very .{. rich soil one quarter of an acre in size. For many years, the kettle sticks re-: mained in this garden. Where the Indians held their annual green corn feasts and dances, south of the garden, were three Indian graves. Northeast of this garden, at the foot of the hill, is the famous Selby spring, which the Indians opened and used. In the year 1850, a white man brought an Indian troop to give a show in Maquon. When they camped at the south edge of town, these Indians went straight to the Selby spring for water, showing that they were familiar with the place.

Village No. 4 was located on the Mrs. Lodema McGirr farm on the north- :' west quarter of Section 12, Maquon township. Tent poles, maple sugar troughs .;' and wat^r boxes were there many years after white settlers came.

(Village No. 5 was on Mr. Menzo Morse's farm, northeast quarter of Sec- 'tion 35, Maquon township. It was on a depression surrounded by hills and near a large spring. Indians spent the winter of 1829 here. Old settlers remember that there were about lOO inhabitants in this village of which the larger number were men. '. ';';'/-;; -; : Several burial grounds were found in Maquon township. One of consider-

- able size was on the bluff or mound at the mouth of French creek, a short distance southeast of Maquon, on the southeast quarter, Section 2. The builders of the C. B. & Q. railroad cut through a large number of graves in the year 1856. On the southwest quarter of Section 5, during the childhood of the older settlers, there were more than a dozen burial mounds from 35 to 40 feet in circumference.

In the eastern part of Salem township on the farm of Mr. Avery Dalton, Knox county's oldest inhabitant, was held annually, Pottawatqmie green corn feasts and dances ; also, councils were held. .. : ,.,...

Lewis Fort, in Henderson township, was built by Wm. Lewis and sixteen others in the short time of four weeks. It was near the woods, was 210 feet square, and was built of oak timbers, twelve feet each in length, set close together in the ground, forming a piece fence or palisade eight feet in height. This was lined with chunks of sod two feet wide, four feet thick, and two feet in length. Portholes were made every four feet. Block houses were erected on two of the corners, at which each of the four sides of the fort could be guarded. These houses were i6 x 20 feet, and projected slightly beyond the fence to prevent the approach of incendiaries. A shed extended all the way around the inside. The only place of entry was a doorway, twelve feet wide, closed with a heavy puncheon door. A sham cannon of basswood gave the fort a deadly look. The other forts were of the same general plan.

It is little known that this portion of Illinois took any part in the revolutionary war, but the American army marched through Knox county on their way from Peoria to Rock Island. Colonel (afterwards General) George Rogers Clark, received twenty volunteers from Kentucky, under Captain John Montgomery, which was an important addition to his army. Captain Montgomery, is described as one of the "Long Hunters of Kentucky, Irishman full of Fight." In 1778 he was made lieutenant colonel and given the title "Commander in chief of the X'irginia Troops in the County of Illinois." |

The condition of the American army may be judged from an extract of a letter he wrote in September, 1779, to General Clark: "I would be glad if it is in your power to send to me a Relefe to me for the soldiers, if it is only as much as will make them a little Jump Jacote and a pair of overalls, I think they might scuffle through."

On May 26, 1779, the British and Indians attacked the Americans at Cahokia, Illinois. The command was under a Mr. Hess, and was composed of 750 men. including servants and Indians. These were Menominies, Sioux and Sacs and Foxes. General Clark and his men made so brave a resistance at Cahokia, that the British retreated northward, one part going by the Mississippi river, and the other going by the Illinois river. Colonel Montgomery was ordered to follow the enemy up the Illinois river to the lake (Peoria), and then cross the country and attack the Sacs and Foxes on Rock river near its mouth. This attack during the fore part of June, I78o,"by the American army upon the Rock river town of the Sacs and Foxes, is the only event in the Revolutionary war that brought the American army so far north. And notice : Knox county is in a direct line between Peoria and Rock Island, and that the well traveled Galena trail passes from one to the other, therefore, the army must have marched through Knox county. The Indian villages of Maquonia were on the well worn trail from Peoria to Rock river (Indian village), hence it is no stretch of imagination to presume that they passed through the present village of Maquon. Another evidence is this : there are, within the confines of Knox county, abundant evidence that there were, at least, three heavy battles fought on her soil and neither battlefield is ten miles away from Maquon.

This American army, under Colonel Montgomery, consisted of 350 men, according to his letter written February 22, 1783, to the Honorable, the board of commissioners for the settlement of western accounts. Among other things he says, after speaking of General Clark's movements and commands: "After giving me instructions he (General Gark) left Cohos (Cohokia) the fourth of June with a small escort for the mouth of the Ohio river, on his route to Kentucky. I immediately proceeded to the business I was ordered, and marched three hundred and fifty men to the lake open on the Illinois river, and from thence to the Rock river, destroying the towns and crops proposed." Colonel Montgomery gives no detailed account of the march from Cahokia, or of the engagement at Rock river. It was probably only a minor matter to this "Fighting Irishman." No mention is made how the Montgomery army returned, but it is safe to presume that they went as they came, by land. .,-.,- .x-

; There were, at Iea:st, three Indian treaties that effected the Indians of Knox county. Th first one being a treaty made at St. Lx)uis, on November 3, 1804, between William Henry Harrison, governor of Indian Territory, and of the District of Louisiana, with the chief and the head men of the United Sacs and Foxes, tribes of Indians. It is as follows :

For this land, the Indians were to have goods to the value of $2,234.50, and an annuity of $i,ooo per year. By a treaty at Fort Madison, April, 1809, and renewed during different years, they were allowed to remain on the lands until they were surveyed. -'A\ ; ^;- '^^^

;::: It seems that the Ottawas, Chippewas and the Pottawatomies also claimed rights in these lands. On August 24, i8i6, a treaty was entered into between the United States and these Indians, under which the Indians relinquished all claims on these lands, as follows : The head chiefs and warriors for themselves and the tribes they represent, agree to relinquish, and hereby do relinquish, to the United States, all their rights, claims and title to the land contained in the before mentioned session of the Sacs and Foxes, which lies south of a due west line, from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river. And they, moreover, cede to the United States all the land contained in the following bounds, to-wit: Beginning at the left bank of the Fox river of Illinois, ten miles above the mouth of said Fox river, thence running so as to cross Sandy Creek, ten miles above its mouth ; thence in a direct line to a point ten miles north of the west end of Portage, between Chicago Creek, which empties into Lake Michigan. The general boundary line between the lands of the United States and the said Indian tribes shall be as follows, to-wit : Beginning at a point on the Missouri river opposite of the mouth of the Gasconade river, thence in a direct course so as to strike the river Jefferson (in Iowa), at the distance of thirty miles from its mouth, and down the said Jefferson to the Mississippi, thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Onisconsing river, and up the same which shall be thirty-six miles in a direct line to the point where the Fox river (a branch of the Illinois) leaves the small lake Sakaegan, then down the Fox river to the Illinois river and down the same to the Mississippi. The treaty (Aug. 24, i8i6) was attended by twenty-eight chief Pottawatomies, Ottawas, Sacs and Foxes, and Kickapoos. .: -.,,.. ,, V . ' was surveyed, by congressional enactment. May 6, 1812, and subsequently the military tract of Illinois was created consisting, as we know, of the land between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers south of the north line of what is now Bureau and Henry counties.

War of 1812, declared these treaties were not binding, and that they would not abide by them. Many whites moved upon the land of the Indian. In 1831, Black Hawk and a band of warriors established themselves on the disputed territory, ordering the whites to leave at once. '-''./

Upon the declaration of war in June, 1812, the Pottawatomies and most other tribes of Indians in the territory of Illinois, strongly sympathized with England. Just prior to the War of 1812, Tecumseh, the great Indian chieftain, endeavored to arouse the western Indians against the whites. For this purpose, he visited Illinois and perhaps Knox county. Long years afterwards the Pottawatomie chief, Shabbona ( who then lived in Bureau county) stated that Tecumseh came to him personally to get him and his tribe to join with him against the whites.

It is not generally known that Illinois took any important part in the War of 1812, but the record, though incomplete, shows that at least four regiments and a number of rangers were enlisted and in active service, and had it not been for the bravery and vigilance of these rangers, the other settlements of Illinois would have met the sad fate of Fort Dearborn.

In September, 1812, an expedition was fitted out at Camp Russell, near Edwardsville, not far from St. Louis, to march to capture Peoria, as the white settlers there were supposed to be in sympathy with the Indians, and was to take the Indian tribes in that vicinity. During the expedition. Major Boone, was sent with one hundred from Peoria in the direction of Rock river, to look out for war parties of Indians. When he went back, he reported that he had penetrated the country northwesterly and within forty-five miles of Rock river, he said there were several encampments of Indians of the Maquonia, which seemed to be deserted about the time the army arrived at Peoria. This is from records of the adjutant general of Illinois, and to my mind is conclusive evidence that the army marched to Spoon river, which was known by that name at that time, and crossed it at Maquon, Knox county, Illinois. I can not otherwise account for the name as there is not another town in America by that name.

Another expedition during the War of 1812 marched from Edwardsville to Quincy, where was a large Sacs and Fox village, thence across what is now Schuyler and Fulton counties, to the mouth of Spoon river, near where Havana now is, and thence to Peoria and destroyed the Pottawatomie village of Chief Gomo, near Chillicothe. Peoria was burned and the inhabitants carried away in 1813. - .

Black Hawk war seems to be a blot upon the fair name of Illinois because of the greed of some of the white people who were determined to have the land.

regardless of the Indian rights and claims. The following speech, by the famous Black Hawk, explains the Indian's idea in the matter: .....-., .. -

"You have taken me prisoner with all my warriors. I am much grieved, for I expected, if I did not defeat you, to hold out much longer, and give you much trouble, before I surrendered. I tried hard to bring you into ambush, but your last general understood Indian fighting. I determined to rush on you and fight you face to face. I fought hard, but your guns were well aimed. The bullets flew like birds through the air and whizzed by our ears like the wind through the trees in winter. My warriors fell around me. It began to look dismal.

"I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose dim upon us in the morning and at night it sank in a dark cloud and looked like a ball of fire. That was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. His heart is dead and no longer beats quick in his bosom. He is now a prisoner of the white men: they will do with him as they wish, but he can stand torture, and is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an Indian. He has done nothing for which an Indian ought to be ashamed. He has fought for his countrymen, against the white men who came, year after year, to cheat them and take away their land.

"You know the cause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of it. The white men despise the Indians and drive them from their homes. They smile in the face of the poor Indian, to cheat him; they shake him by the hand, to gain his confidence, to make him drunk, and to deceive him. We told them to let us alone and keep away from us, but they followed on and beset our paths and they coiled themselves among us like a snake. They poisoned us by their touch. We were not safe. We lived in danger. We looked up to the Great Spirit. We went to our Father. We were encouraged. His great council gave us fair words and big promises, but we got no satisfaction; things were growing worse. There were no deer in the forests. The oppossum and beaver were fled. The springs were drying up, and our squaws and pappooses were without food to keep them from starving.

"We called a great council and built a large fire. The spirit of our fathers arose, and spoke to us to avenge our wrongs or die. We set up the war-whoop, and dug up the tomahawk ; our knives were ready, and the heart of Black Hawk swelled high in his bosom, when he led his warriors to the battle. He is satisfied. He will go to the world of Spirits contended. He has done his duty. His father will meet him there and commend him.

"Black Hawk is a true Indian, and he disdains to cry like a woman. He feels for his wife, for his children, for his friends, but he does not care for himself. He cares for the nation and the Indian. They will suffer. He laments their fate. Farewell, my nation. Black Hawk tried to save you and avenge your wrongs. He drank the blood of some of the whites. He has been taken prisoner, and his plans are crushed. He can do no more. He is near his end. His sun is setting, and he will rise no more. Farewell to Black Hawk."

I wish to acknowledge my obligation for local history to Major Thomas McKee's Reminiscences of old days in Illinois, Miss J. H. McKenney, Mrs. Elsie D. Hartsook, Mr. J. W. Miles, Captain C. C. Craig, J. W. Adams, and others.

The legal history of Knox county in detail would include a review of the acts of the legislature from the admission of the state of Illinois into the Union, the records of the courts which had jurisdiction over the territory now within the county, a biography of the judges who have presided over the courts having such jurisdiction and of the leading lawyers who have conducted litigation concerning public matters in the county and a review of the more important cases tried within the county. This history of the county, in the appropriate departments, will contain biographical sketches of the lawyers who have practiced and are now practicing before the bar and of the judges who have presided over the courts of record in the county. It is intended in this sketch to review only topics of general interest concerning legal matters within the county. The statutes of the state required that the territory within the limits of the county should have three hundred inhabitants before it could be organized as a county, and there was included within the county when first organized the territory now within its boundaries with the two townships that are now the west townships of Stark county and which were detached from Knox county in 1839, when Stark county was organized.

An order was entered in the circuit court at Lewistown in Fulton county, of which Knox was then a part, on the 5th of July, 1830, that a term of the circuit court be held in Knox county on the Friday before the first Monday in October, 1830.

When this county was organized the statutes of the state provided, that the county commissioners court in each county should divide the county into districts, in each of which two justices of the peace should be elected, except in the district in which the county seat was situated and in that district three justices of the peace should be elected. Justices of the peace had substantially the same jurisdiction in criminal and in civil matters that they have at the present time, with the exception that in civil matters their jurisdiction was limited to the sum of $ioo. The statute then in force is very similar to the present statute except that justices have been given additional jurisdiction in a few other special matters; there has been very little change in the practice in such courts. In 1874 their jurisdiction was enlarged to controversies not exceeding $200,

The statutes in force in 1830 also provided that a court of record styled "the court of probate" should be established and held at the several county seats, and that the judges of probate should be appointed by the general assembly to be paid a reasonable compensation to be allowed them out of the county treasury by the county commissioners' court. They were required to hold terms on the first Monday in every month and had jurisdiction over estates of deceased persons. The only jurisdiction that the court of probate had when first established was in the matter of estates of deceased persons, the appointment of guardians and matters relating to apprentices. They had no jurisdiction in the allowance of claims against estates if the claim exceeded $IOCXD or in proceedings to sell real estate to pay debts.

In 1837 the legislature changed the name from probate judge to probate justice, and made the office elective by the voters for the term of four years. The probate justice was also given the same jurisdiction in civil matters as justices of the peace, and in cases of debt or assumpsit where an administrator or executor was a party, they had civil jurisdiction to the extent of $1000. In 1845 the style of ihe probate justice was changed by the legislature to "probate justice of the peace;" the term of office was reduced to two years, but their jurisdiction remained substantially the same as under the act of 1837. ;

The constitution of 1848 provided that a county court should be established and that a county judge should be elected in each county. By the statute of 1849 county courts were given full jurisdiction in the settlement of estates, including the power to sell real estates of decedents to pay debts, with the same jurisdiction as justices of the peace in civil suits, where the amount involved did not exceed $ioo. In 1872, under the constitution of 1870, the jurisdiction of county courts in civil suits was enlarged, giving them jurisdiction in all matters over which justices of the peace had jurisdiction, when the amount involved did not exceed $500 with jurisdiction, concurrent with the circuit court, over appeals from justices of the peace, but appeals from the county court when sitting as a justice of the peace, were to be taken to the circuit court. They were also given jurisdiction over criminal cases, where the punishment was not imprisonment in the penitentiary or death, and the circuit court was authorized to certify indictments in such matters to the county court for trial. In 1877 the jurisdiction of the county courts was extended in civil suits to $1000; law terms were established for that court, and appeals in common law cases directed to be taken to the appellate court and in proceedings for the sale of real estate to pay debts of decedents to the supreme court.

There was also a court of record for the government of counties, established when the state was organized, called "the county commissioners' court." It was composed of three county commissioners elected in each county ; they had power to appoint a clerk. The jurisdiction of this court was limited to matters concerning the county revenue, the imposing of county taxes, granting licenses for ferries and "taverns" and anything that brought in revenue to the county. It also had jurisdiction in all cases of public roads, canals, turnpike roads and toll bridges. While styled a court, it was simply the means of county government. This court continued until 1849, when an act was passed authorizing counties to adopt town- ship organization by a vote of the people. 'While it is styled a court, yet it had no jurisdiction in civil matters, between third parties or in criminal matters, its jurisdiction being limited to county business.

The circuit court in Illinois has always been a court having general jurisdiction over all legal matters except in the probate of wills and the settlement of estates. The first term of the circuit court was opened in Knox county in a '' "temporary seat of justice" on the first day of October, 1830, at the home of John B. Gum, which was a log cabin on section thirty-two in Henderson township. .^ ':'-'

The first judicial order, made in the circuit court of Knox county on that :;-"- day, directed the recording of an order made at Lewistown on June lO, 1830, that /; ! an election be held at the house of John B. Gum for the election of three county ';. commissioners, a sheriff and coroner, to be held on the 3rd of July, 1830. There was a grand and petit jury in attendance. On the first day of court the grand jury made a report concerning the condition of the jail and that there was no '' '; business for their consideration. The court adjourned until the next day when - , the court was adjourned for the term. The only business transacted by the court - - at that term, other than directing the recording of the orders concerning the v organization of the county, the approval of the bonds of John G. Sanborn, as clerk of the court, of Stephen Osburn as sheriff, ordering such bonds recorded, ^ the appointing of a temporary states attorney and the empanelling and discharging . .-'X of grand and petit juries was to certify to the county commissioners court, that .'^ : the sheriff had attended court two days. -' . -

On January 15, 1831, the legislature passed an act providing, "that the seat ; of justice for the county of Knox is hereby permanently established on the south- S." west quarter of section twenty-eight in township eleven north, of range two east" . , and authorizing the county commissioners of the county to purchase said quarter 'v ! of land of the United States "and to lay off on the same a town which shall be -. ..-.- called Henderson." (Laws of 1831, page 62.) On December 22nd, 1832, the >; -;/ legislature enacted: "That the county seat of Knox, hitherto known by the name :-'-; of Henderson, shall from and after the passage of this act be known and desig- ; nated by the name of Knoxville." Knoxville remained a town until 1853, when :' it was incorporated as a city by an act of the legislature. - - -':

In March, 1831, the county commissioners made a contract with William - ;- Lewis for the building of a court house in the town of Henderson to which the .';.. legislature had transferred the seat of justice. A two story court house twenty- :^ eight feet long by twenty feet wide built of hewed logs was completed in 1833, at -- ; a cost when furnished of less than $40x5, which served all the purposes of a court « \y house until 1840, when a two story brick court house was erected at a cost of ''--;. $15,450 on the public square in Knoxville. That building still stands and is now - ;; used by the city of Knoxville as an office building. In 1854 a two room fireproof - brick building was erected near the court house for the use of the clerks and for . ,V the safe keeping of the records. :",;

In 1873 the county seat was changed from' Knoxville to Galesburg, where -l.t r court was held in the opera house on the south side of the square until October ;-- term 1883. The records of the county were kept, and the clerk's offices were ; ; located in a one story fireproof building on South Cherry street, which had been . ; built by the city of Galesburg for the use of the county, where the city hall of Galesburg now stands. That building was also used as a county court room.

In 1882 the county began the erection of a second story over the clerk's offices which was reached by an outside stairway. The circuit court was held in the second story of this building from October, 1883, until the present court house was completed in 1886 at a cost, when furnished, of about $150,000.

In 1860 the question of the removal of the county seat from Knoxville to Galesburg was raised. From that time the location of the county seat figured much in the official affairs and in the politics of the county. Dennis Clark who resided in Abingdon was elected county judge in November, 1865, and held that office five successive terms and until the election in 1886. The fact that the city of his residence was favorable to the change of the county seat to Galesburg was long used as an argument why the citizens of Galesburg should vote for him for county judge. In 1862 in a constitutional convention, propositions were offered, contended for and resisted, the ultimate motive of which was the removal of the county seat of Knox county from Knoxville to Galesburg. In 1865 an act was passed by the legislature providing for a change from Knoxville to Galesburg if the people of the county should by a vote of its citizens favor such removal.. In March, 1869, an act was passed authorizing the supervisors to appoint commissioners to contract with the city of Galesburg or persons offering gifts to the county as an inducement for the removal of the county seat to Galesburg. An election was held on the question of the removal of the county seat to Galesburg on April 6, 1869. On the face of the returns the vote was against the removal. That election was contested, and on a trial in the circuit court of McDonough county, where the case was transferred, by a change of venue, it was held. Judge Higby of Pike county presiding, that the majority of the vote on the location of the county seat was in favor of Galesburg. The case was one of the most important and closely contested civil cases that have arisen in this county. The ablest lawyers that could be found in the state were employed in the case. The law firm of Craig and Harvey, composed of Judge A. M. Craig, who at that time lived midway between Galesburg and Knoxville, and later was elected to the supreme bench of the state, and his brother-in-law, Curtis K. Harvey, a very promising young lawyer, were the leading counsel for the city of Knoxville. They were assisted by G. L. Hannaman and P. H. Sanford, who resided in Knoxville and who afterwards from 1886 to 1898 presided as judge of the county court after the removal of the county seat to Galesburg, but who lived and died in Knoxville, and by Eagan and Temple and H. M. Weed of Peoria, and Beckwith, Ayer & Kales of Chicago. The case for the city of Galesburg was presented by Mc- Kenzie and Williams, Frost & Tunnicliff and Kitchell and Arnold. E. P. Williams of McKenzie and Williams is entitled to much credit for the great care and freedom from error with which the case was presented in the circuit court, and the ultimate success of Galesburg at the end of the case in the supreme court.

At the time of the county seat contest all that was required in favor of a removal was a majority of the votes cast. Prior to that contest there was no general legislation in such matters, but special acts were passed by the general assembly concerning different counties. The constitution of 1870 contains a provision that a vote to change a county seat shall not be taken oftener than once in ten years, and that if the new location is further from the center of the county than the old one, then a vote of three-fifths of the votes of the county in favor of the removal is required to move it, but if the new location is nearer the center of the county, then a majority vote only shall be necessary. The contest in Knox county was the cause of the foregoing provision.

On June ii, 1832, court was opened in the new log court house just finished in Knoxville, then called Henderson. The grand jury empanelled at that term reported that there were no violations of law, and the records show that there was no business before the court either of a criminal or civil nature. The first bill in chancery filed in this county was a bill for divorce, at that time called a libel for divorce, filed to the October term, 1832, entitled Tanner vs. Tanner. At that term, there being no general statute concerning notice of suit to non-resident defendants by publication, an order was made for the publication of notice to the defendant in a public newspaper published in the state. The libellant, Rhoda Tanner, upon a showing as to her poverty, not only procured an order that she be permitted to prosecute her suit as a poor person without the payment of any costs, but also secured an order directing and requiring James W. Whitney, an attorney, to prosecute her suit without any compensation or fee. The only other business at that term was the issuing of attachments against persons summoned for jury service who have failed to appear.

At the June term 1833, in Knoxville the first entry on the records of the county was made in a criminal case. That case came on a change of venue from McDonough county. The only common law case upon the docket at that term, in which any order was made, was an appeal from the judgment of a justice of the peace, which had been obtained on a note dated in May, 1830, "payable in young cattle." O. H. Browning, a lawyer from Quincy, a leader of the bar in the state in his day, appeared as the attorney for the defendant. The defendant procured a continuance and the case was not disposed of until 1834, when, the defendant being unable to obtain any further postponement, the appeal was dismissed and judgment for $21.15 rendered against the defendant. . - 1 - : . ; The second and third chancery suits, begun within the county, were also bills for divorce. A decree was entered in April, 1834, granting a divorce to the libellant, in the bill for divorce filed to the October term, 1832. The first indictment returned by a grand jury, for an offence committed within the county, was returned at the April term, 1834. At that term two indictments were returned, one charging certain defendants with riot, and another charging the defendant with selling intoxicating liquor without a license. The cases were tried before a petit jury and the defendants were acquitted.

Under the constitution of i8i8 the judicial power of the state was vested in a supreme court and such inferior courts as the general assembly might establish. It provided that the justices of the supreme court and of the inferior courts should be appointed by a joint ballot of both branches of the general assembly and be commissioned by the governor and hold their offices during good behavior, until the end of the first session of the legislature after January i, 1824.

Richard M. Young, one of the judges of the supreme court who received a salary of $1000 each, presided over the circuit court in Knox county from its organization until the May term, 1837, when he was succeeded by James H. Ralston. Stephen A. Douglas was one of the judges of the supreme court from 1841 to 1843 and presided over the circuit court of Knox county during that time. In 1848 a new constitution was adopted by the state which declared that the judicial power of the state should be vested in a supreme court consisting of three judges, in circuit courts, county courts and in justices of the peace, all of whom should be elected by the people of fixed and definite terms. The constitution of 1848 fixed the salaries of judges of the supreme court at $1200 per annum and of the judges of the circuit court at $icxx> per annum.

The constitution of 1870 increased the number of judges of the supreme court to seven and the salary of such judges to $4C»o until otherwise provided by law. It also made provision for the creation of inferior appellate courts by the general assembly, which provision was acted on in 1877, and the appellate courts established. It fixed the salaries of circuit judges at $3000 per annum until otherwise provided by law. V-.':'^^ -". ^..-,.

The appellate courts were formed by an act dividing the state into a certain number of circuits, each circuit being composed of several counties, and electing three circuit judges in each. The state was divided into four appellate districts. The supreme court assigns three circuit judges to each district, who do appellate duty as well as circuit court duty, however without any additional pecuniary compensation, but are recompensed by the honor of the appointment.

In the constitutions of i8i8 and 1848 there was no restriction against special legislation, and much of the time of the general assembly was occupied with legislation, concerning matters of local interest only, in which the public at large was not interested. The constitution of 1870 contains a provision against special legislation concerning certain enumerated things, and provides generally that in all cases where a general law can be made applicable no special law shall be enacted. Section 42 of an act passed by the legislature and approved March 2, 1839, provides : "That Turner Roundtree, Thomas Gilbert and z\grippa L. Martin, of the county of Knox, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to review, survey and relocate that part of the state road leading from Knoxville in Knox county to New Boston, in Mercer county, which lies in the said county of Knox, so that said road, as relocated, may run through the town of Galesburg in said county of Knox, and strike the present state road at some point between Galesburg and Alfred Brown's." In 1841 an act was passed requiring an election to be held in Cherry Grove precinct, in Knox county, for the election of an additional justice of the peace and constable who shall reside within the limits of the town of Abingdon.

Some of the special charters created by acts passed under the old constitutions of the state are cherished as very valuable, while the rights secured by others have been abandoned. The Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Galesburg is incorporated and exercises its corporate rights as a bank under a special charter obtained from the legislature. The cities of Galesburg, Abingdon, and Oneida, each, were incorporated under special charters. The original charters obtained from the legislature by these cities continued many specially valuable provisions, amongst others may be mentioned the prohibition against licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage. Abingdon and Oneida still cling to their original charters, with the result that no intoxicating liquor has ever been legally sold as a beverage within their boundaries. In 1876 the city of Galesburg, by a vote of its inhabitants, became incorporated under the general incorporation act concerning the incorporation of cities and villages passed in 1872, and relinquished its charter prohibition against the sale of intoxicating liquor. The public school system of

The public school system of the city of Galesburg, while existing under a special act, is controlled by the general school law in the conduct of some of its business and in some matters by its special charter. In 1882 there appeared in the public newspapers of the city articles written by a prominent lawyer contending that the board of education of the city was not controlled by the general school law, and that it was unnecessary for the teachers employed in the city schools to go to the expense and trouble of procuring certificates of their fitness to teach from the county superintendent of schools. The result of the newspaper articles was that a citizen of the same political persuasion as the author of the articles employed a lawyer who occupied offices near those of the author of the articles to bring a suit to enjoin the payment of the salary of a teacher of penmanship, who, teaching a special subject only, did not have a certificate from the county superintendent licensing to teach. The writer of the newspaper articles was employed to defend the school board against the injunction suit and show that his published articles laid down correct legal principles. The circuit court held that no teacher in the public schools was entitled to be paid out of the school fund, unless he held a proper certificate from the county superintendent of schools. The case was appealed to the supreme court, where it was expected, that as the briefs for the citizens who brought the suit, only perfunctorily stated his contention and the defendant's brief was an able one, that the case would be reversed and the school board exempted- from the provisions of the general school law. Another leading lawyer of the city, James A. McKenzie, who was regarded as one of the best common law pleaders that ever practiced in the county, and who had a state wide reputation, quietly filed a brief as a friend of the court and for the public good, and the decree of the trial court was affirmed in an opinion published in 112 111. Supreme Court Reports at page ii, much to the discomfiture of the lawyer, who had instigated the suit by his published letters and who apparently had his choice of sides in the case.

A comparison of the judicial records of the first few years of the county with those of later years demonstrates that the inhabitants of the county were neither different in their characteristics nor distinctly better or worse than its citizens of the present time. The first action usually taken by a defendant in court was to move for a continuance. The proportion of divorces compared with other chancery suits was then apparently as great as at present, and the court compelled attorneys to prosecute suits for divorce in behalf of poor persons without reward, a proceeding unknown at the present time in civil suits between parties. Now there is an outcry for the defense against such sirits by the public, instead of assistance to complainants therein. Selling intoxicating liquor, without a license, was in the early years of the county a frequent offense, and there was the same difficulty in procuring convictions that now exists. A large proportion of the judicial records of the circuit court, in its earlier years, is made up of orders for attachments for contempt against parties summoned for jury service, who had failed to appear. The parties on the hearing of the attachments were usually discharged, occasionally, however, being taxed with the costs of the attachment. Serving on juries, especially on grand juries was a service rendered at that time apparently more unwillingly than at present, for which there was

The City Hall S6 History Of Knox County

The public school system of the city of Galesburg, while existing under a special act, is controlled by the general school law in the conduct of some of its business and in some matters by its special charter. In 1882 there appeared in the public newspapers of the city articles written by a prominent lawyer contending that the board of education of the city was not controlled by the general school law, and that it was unnecessary for the teachers employed in the city schools to go to the expense and trouble of procuring certificates of their fitness to teach from the county superintendent of schools. The result of the newspaper articles was that a citizen of the same political persuasion as the author of the articles employed a lawyer who occupied offices near those of the author of the articles to bring a suit to enjoin the payment of the salary of a teacher of penmanship, who, teaching a special subject only, did not have a certificate from the county superintendent licensing to teach. The writer of the newspaper articles was employed to defend the school board against the injunction suit and show that his published articles laid down correct legal principles. The circuit court held that no teacher in the public schools was entitled to be paid out of the school fund, unless he held a proper certificate from the county superintendent of schools. The case was appealed to the supreme court, where it was expected, that as the briefs for the citizens who brought the suit, only perfunctorily stated his contention and the defendant's brief was an able one, that the case would be reversed and the school board exempted from the provisions of the general school law. Another leading lawyer of the city, James A. McKenzie, who was regarded as one of the best common law pleaders that ever practiced in the county, and who had a state wide reputation, quietly filed a brief as a friend of the court and for the public good, and the decree of the trial court was affirmed in an opinion published in 112 111. Supreme Court Reports at page ii, much to the discomfiture of the lawyer, who had instigated the suit by his published letters and who apparently had his choice of sides in the case.

A comparison of the judicial records of the first few years of the county with those of later years demonstrates that the inhabitants of the county were neither different in their characteristics nor distinctly better or worse than its citizens of the present time. The first action usually taken by a defendant in court was to move for a continuance. The proportion of divorces compared with other chancery suits was then apparently as great as at present, and the court compelled attorneys to prosecute suits for divorce in behalf of poor persons without reward, a proceeding unknown at the present time in civil suits between parties. Now there is an outcry for the defense against such suits by the public, instead of assistance to complainants therein. Selling intoxicating liquor, without a license, was in the early years of the county a frequent oflfense, and there was the same difficulty in procuring convictions that now exists. A large proportion of the judicial records of the circuit court, in its earlier years, is made up of orders for attachments for contempt against parties summoned for jury service, who had failed to appear. The parties on the hearing of the attachments were usually discharged, occasionally, however, being taxed with the costs of the attachment. Serving on juries, especially on grand juries was a service rendered at that time apparently more unwillingly than at present, for which there was then more reason than now, in addition to the lack of transportation facilities, as grand jurors in the earlier years of the county received no mileage or compensation of any kind, and petit jurors received 25c a day for each civil case in which they served, and no compensation whatever in criminal cases.

The territory within the state of Illinois was originally with other territory northwest of the Ohio river, within the state of Virginia and was in 1778 organized into the county of Illinois. In 1783 it was ceded to the United States by the state of Virginia, and by the ordinance of the i3th day of July, 1787, was erected into a territorial government. That ordinance contains certain articles of compact, between the original states and the people in that territory, which articles it is declared shall forever remain unalterable unless by common consent. The ordinance provides, among other things, that the inhabitants of said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of judicial proceedings according to the course of common law. There is still in the statutes of Illinois an act which provides, "That the common law of England so far as the same is applicable and of a general nature, and all statutes or acts of the British parliament made in aid of, and to supply the defects of the common law, prior to the fourth year of, James the First, excepting the second section of the sixth chapter of 43d Elizabeth, the eighth chapter of the I3th Elizabeth, and the ninth chapter of 37th Henry Eighth and which are of a general nature and not local to that kingdom shall be the rule of decisions and shall be considered as of full force until repealed by legislative authority." The legislature fixed the law as it was in England in 1607, the fourth year of James the First, as the period at which the law of England should be made applicable to this country instead of the year of the Declaration of Independence, for the reason that was the time of the institution of the first territorial government in America. The adoption of the common law, as it was in 1607, has been construed as only applicable in cases where that law is applicable to the habits and conditions of our society and in harmony with the genius, spirit and objects of American institutions. By the common law is meant those maxims, principles and forms of procedure that have no written law to warrant them, but are founded on the laws of nature and the dictates of reason and have by usage and custom become interwoven with the written laws. This law is found in the records of the courts, and writings of men skilled in the profession, whose statements of the law are deductions and conclusions gathered from the decisions of the courts.

The practice and procedure in the trial courts, in our times, are but little dif- . ferent from the practice at the time the county was organized or as it was in 1607. The pleadings, in courts were then written by the attorneys, now they are usually dictated to stenographers, are typewritten and are more verbose. By the change in office methods, the conciseness and precision that governed in earlier times has been lost. The procedure in the courts both in civil and criminal matters has not advanced and has not kept pace with the improvements in other sciences, but clings to the rule of precedent. Several attempts have been made by the judiciary and the leading lawyers of the state to simplify and expedite the methods of court procedure, but the recommendations of practice commissions, the last of which was made in 1907, have been practically ignored by the legislature. While the statutes of the state make a large volume, that part of them applicable to practice in courts of record is contained within less than forty pages of the present statute. The most important statute modifying the old -; ; common law practice is the statute of amendments, which permits any process '.'.'- or pleading in a civil suit to be amended by leave of the court for the furtherance ; .. of justice at any time even after judgment. ;-

Knox county is in the military tract of Illinois: - the land in it was set apart .- by the federal government for the soldiers of the War of 1812 to be located upon - ' '^ by them. The warrants issued to the soldiers were in great part bought up by ..:- speculators, who located the warrants on land the title to which was in the gov- *;- ernment. Many of the soldiers who themselves located their warrants and re- :-;' - ceived the patents for their land, either sold the land, or the land being so far .;; - from the settled parts of the country, it was regarded by the owners of so little ; \ value that they paid no attention to their property and permitted it to be sold ' for taxes. The result was that after a patent had been issued to a soldier and " ' the land remained vacant and unoccupied, or it was occupied by squatters with- J out any claim of title, speculators would secure some kind of a title, either a tax ' title or a deed, either from the soldier, or some one of the same name. It did ' not seem to be important, whether the maker of the deed was the soldier or a V. ' descendant, if he could make a deed in the name of the patentee. Titles to land - were very uncertain. Many fraudulent titles were recorded, and frequently there were several titles of record to the same tract of land. The result was, that in ' '.. 1839 statutes were enacted by the legislature for the purpose of quieting titles. One of these statutes provided that whenever any person, having claim and color ; -''-- of title made in good faith to vacant and unoccupied land, shall pay all taxes :.. legally assessed thereon for seven successive years, he shall be adjudged the legal ; ; owner of such vacant land, according to the purport of his paper title. Another . > section provided that every person in the actual possession of land under claim . and color of title, made in good faith, and who shall for seven successive years continue in possession and shall during said time pay all taxes legally assessed ;. against such land, shall be adjudged the owner to the extent and purport of his ' paper title. The purpose of the passage of these statutes was to perfect and give . , ' good title to land, which parties had in good faith bought from others, who had :-'. no title or only a fraudulent title, and to put an end to the very general litigation . - concerning land titles. The courts held that while these statutes purported to be ,. - .' statutes making title, yet they could only be used as a shield to defend the title .-..:' of the party in possession and could not be used as a sword to destroy the title of ; others. The case of Hale vs. Gladfelter, which was tried in the circuit court of V i Knox county before Hon. A. A. Smith of Galesburg, judge presiding, and taken by appeal to the supreme court involved the title to a quarter section of land in Victoria township in this county, secured a construction of the statutes referred V. . to. It was one of the most important civil cases tried in this county and had very able lawyers opposed to each other ; Leander Douglas represented T. J. Hale, who was ultimately successful, and Frost and Tunnicliff, P. H. Sanford and ;;. Martin Shallenberger of Toulon, represented Levi Gladfelter. > .

In 1882 Edgar A. Bancroft, then starting in the practice of law, began in - ; Knox county a case of great public importance entitled Jones vs. the Chicago & '': Burlington Railroad Co., to recover penalties for overcharges on shipment .'. - of stocks. F. A. Willoughby and F. S. Murphy were subsequently associated ' '. with Bancroft for the plaintiff and O. F. Price and Williams and Lawrence of :';;^

Galesburg, with Chicago attorneys represented the railroad company. In this cause was tested the validity of an act of the legislature passed in 1873, entitled an act to prevent extortion and unjust discrimination in the rates charged for the transportation of passengers and freight. The act authorized the railroad and warehouse commissioners to make schedules of reasonable and maximum rates for the transportation of passengers and freight, and gave to persons who were injured by any violation of the act, a right of recovery for three times the amount of the damages sustained and attorneys fees. The case was tried in the circuit court of Knox county. Judge Glenn of -Monmouth presiding, and a judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiff for $2,868.60 and $1,200 attorneys fees. The case was not finally disposed of in the supreme court of Illinois until 1894 because of transfers back and forth between the state and federal courts, when the judgment was affirmed in an opinion by the supreme court of this state establishing the validity of the statute and the control of the state over common carriers.

A history of the trial of judicial matters in Knox county would be incomplete without reference to two judges of the supreme court of the state and a circuit judge who resided in Knox county during their terms of offices. In 1864 Charles 'B. Lawrence, then a judge of the circuit court of Knox county, was elected to the supreme bench. His record as a nisi prius judge has not been excelled in the state for wisdom and accuracy. His opinions in the supreme court are contained in volumes 36 to 67 and are very concise models of legal literature and learning. They leave no doubt as to the law therein laid down.