Livingston County, Illinois - The whole text, 1878 (part 5 of 25)

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same term, be elected as follows :

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

[ * The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.]

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-Piiesident, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of them.

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have powei- to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses against the United States, ex-cept in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; ai)d he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive amlDassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ; between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of different states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in' which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shali have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdicf.on of the crime.

No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged .from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of the C6ngress.

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eiofht shall in anv manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

Constitution Of The United States

bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the same.

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

Geo. Washington Asd Its Ajviendments

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects Against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from twothirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a major- ity, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice- President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress mav by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Electors Of President And Vice-President

Note. - It is generally assumed tliat the gross weight of Hogs dimini^ihed by 1-5 or 20 iit-r cent, of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by K or 25 per cent, of itself equals the tcross weight.

To find the net weight or gross price. Multiply the given number by .8 (tenths.) To find the gross weight or net price. Divide the given number by .8 (tenths.)

Rule. - Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by 6308, and point off one decimal place - the result will be the correct answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel.

NOTE -In estimating corn in the ear, the quality and the time it has been cribbed must be taken into consideration, since corn will shrink considerably during the Winter and Spring. Tins rule generally holdi good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided It is sound and clean.

Rule. - Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (all . in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off one decimal place - the result will be the contents in barrels of 31i gallons.

Rule. - Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length (all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under the TENS ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point off one decimal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons. ^^

Rule. - Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and divide the product by 12 - the result will be the contents in square feet.

RuLE.-^Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together (the width and thickness in inches, and 'the length in feet), and divide the product by 12 - the result will be square feet.

Rule. - Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the product by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal places if there is a remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths.

Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches thick ; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar, but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space.

Miscellaneous Infokisiation

To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the width of the building by .56 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6 (tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths) ; at one-half pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be taken into consideration.

NOTE. - By X or ]4 pitch is meant tliat the apex or comb of thereof is to be X or )^ the widtli of the building liigfher than the walls or base of the rafters.

Rule. - Level the grain ; ascertain the space it occupies in cubic feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to the left.

If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of eai corn to make 1 of shelled corn.

In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any given plot in square 3'ards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the number of rods and acres.

The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now, an ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes.

To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walking, keep these objects constantly in line.

Farmers and others hy adopting the folloiving simple and ingenious contrivance, may always carry ivith them the scale to construct a correct yard measure.

Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of the left hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink.

To find hoiv many rods in length loill make an acre., the width being given. Rule. - Divide 160 by the width, and the quotient will be the answer.

Rule. - Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference in inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by 144. Deduct 1-10 to 1-15 according to the thickness of the bark.

Rule. - The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point one place to the left ; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three places to the left.

Note. - The reciprocal of the rate is found by inverting: the rate ; thus 3 per cent, per month, inverted, becomes 3i of a month, or 10 daj's.

Rule for converting English into American currency. Multiply the pounds, with the shillings and pence stated in decimals, by 400 plus the premium in fourths, and divide the product by 90.

U. S. Government Land Measure

A quarter section, half a mile square - 160 acres. An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter of a mile wide - 80 acres.

The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The description of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of the south-west quarter of section 1 in township 24, north of range 7 west, or as the case might be ; and sometimes will fall short and sometimes overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.

Surveyors' Measure

A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said to be a league.

How To Keep Accounts

Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business, should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic manner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunitj' of acquiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended, and well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics and laborers.

Cass A Mason

Multiplytlie jjridcipa! (amount of money at interest) by the time reduced to days; then divide this product by the gitofif (It ol)tainpd by dividing 360 'the number of days in the interest year) by the per cf (it. of interest, andt/ic qxiotient thus obtained will Ije the required interest.

Miscellaneous Table Miscellaneous Information

Virginia. - The oldest of the States, was so called in lionor of Queen Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made his first attempt to colonize that region.

Florida. - Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter Sunday, and called the country in commemoration of the day, which was the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or "- Feast of Flowers."

Kentucky is the Indian name for " at the head of the river." Ohio means " beautiful ; " loiva, " drowsy ones ; " Minnesota., " cloudy water," and Wisconsin., " wild-rushing channel."

Miscellaneous Information

Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States.

State Laws

A PERIOD of time which would be considered remote in the records of the civilization of Central Illinois, would be regarded as recent in the annals of the Eastern or Southern States ; and in the history of a county which, less than fifty years ago, was inhabited only by the aborigines, it will not be expected that an undue flavor of antiquity will pervade the pages ; still, the pages of few histories, either ancient or modern, furnish more instructive lessons than are to b* found in the record of the pluck, perseverance and success of the early settlers of this county.

The facts pertaining to the early settlement of the county have been gleaned from the few old pioneers who still survive ; and the writer desires especially to acknowledge his indebtedness to Hon. Woodford G. McDowell, who came to the Territory and settled in what is now Livingston County, forty-six years ago, for much valuable information, without which it would have been impossible to record some of the most interesting facts and incidents in the history of the county.

Of the colony which settled in Avoca Township, in the year 1832, Judge McDowell, his brother; John and James, and a sister, Mrs. Joel Tucker, still survive and are living in this county. It is fortunate for the historian that the colony reckoned the McDowell brothers among its numbers ; for they were not only fully competent to do so, but did take a deep interest in preserving the more interesting details of the progress and development of the county.

The work of writing this history has been begun none too soon ; as, by far, the greater number of the early settlers have passed away ; and age and decrepitude are clouding the memories of some who remain ; and, had the work been deferred for a few years, a considerable portion of the history would have been lost.

This work is not written for the purpose of recording panegyrics on any ^ man or set of men ; and, if an individual receives prominent mention, it is because his history is interwoven with the history of the county, in such a manner as to render it necessai'y.

So far as writing up the official and political portion of the work is concerned, care has been taken to follow the official records, so far as there were records to follow ; but, beyond that, the writer has been forced to hunt his facts wherever he could find them throughout the countv.

Settlement And Population, And Avhence Derived

Livingston County contains 1,035 square miles of territory, extending west from the north part of Grand Prairie, and having most of the characteristics of that district ; and it was among the last counties of the State to attract immigration.

For many years after the first settlers located, our broad prairies failed to induce c^eneral settlement, as immigrants seemed to prefer the more rolling lands, of the northern and western counties, or the timbered regions farther south. It was not until the building of the Illinois Central Railroad, which passed through many miles of similar country, and brought its peculiar characteristics into favorable notice, and the construction of the Chicago & Mississippi Road, which passed directly through the county, that immigrants generally began to discover the value of the lands of this hitherto neglected region.

Much of the land donated by the Government to the State, and, by the State transferred to the Central Railroad Company, lay in this county, and was put upon the market. This land rapidly found purchasers and occupants ; and the building of these roads, together with the construction of the Toledo, Peoria Warsaw Road, made it possible for producers to market their grain, and greatly enhanced the value of the land ; and the real settlement of the county dates from this era.

The historv of the county naturally divides itself into three epochs : First, the occupation by the Indians, from the discovery of the prairie country by the French, to the first white settlement, in the Fall of 1829. Second, from the first settlement of the whites to the building of the railroads, in 1854. Third, from that period to the present time. But, before the subject is treated in this order, a short statement of the derivation of our population will be given, and, also, the topography and geology of the county will receive attention.

The earlier settlers came, principally, from Indiana and Ohio, with only a few from the States further east and south, while a large portion of those who, during the third epoch, reduced the virgin soil to cultivation, were immigrants from foreign lands, or from the older and more populous counties of this State. These last mentioned Avere attracted hither by cheaper lands and by a wider range of pasturage. Nearly all of these were men of small pecuniary means, but possessed of courage, industry and thrift, and found themselves benefited by their change of locality. The older counties of La Salle, 'Bureau, Peoria, Knox, Fulton, Tazewell and Woodford have sent us not a few of their young and active men. Many of our most esteemed and Avorthy citizens are natives of Ireland, Germany, Norway and Demark. England has contributed her share, and many freedmen are settled in the county.

But it is not to immigration alone, active and constant as it has been, that our great and rapid increase of population is to be attributed. There are no statistics to shoAv the number of births in the county previous to the present year, and speculation must be left to others than the historian. Fortunately, however, the law which requires the registration of births and deaths has been in force lono- enoucrli to give a few figures. Registration commenced in December, 1877, but it was not until late in January, 1878, that the full statistics could be obtained.

In four months, 318 births have been recorded, and it is believed that many others have occurred which, for various reasons, have not been reported. But this would make the number of births in this county (which contains a population of 40,000) about one thousand per year, or two and one half per cent, per annum. The number of deaths registered during the same period is seventysix, showing that the natural increase does not vary much from two per cent, during the year. The number of marriage licenses issued during this period is 140.

Topography

The county is bounded on the north by La Salle and Grundy Counties ; on the east by Kankakee and Ford ; on the south by Ford and McLean ; on the west by McLean, Woodford and La Salle Counties. It embraces Ranges from o to 8, east of the Third Principal Meridian ; and Townships from 25 to 30, north of the base line of the State, being thirty-six miles from cast to west, and twenty-four from north to south, with an addition of eighteen by nine and threefourths miles, lying south of the eastern half of the county. It contains twentyseven full Congressional Townships, namely: Reading, Newtown, Sunbury, Nevada, Dwight, Round Grove, Long Point, Amity, Esmen, Odell, Lnion, Broughton, Nebraska, Rook's Creek, Pontiac, Owego, Saunemin, Sullivan, Waldo, Pike, Eppard's Point, Avoca, Pleasant Ridge, Charlotte, Indian Grove, Forrest and Chatsworth ; and three fractional townships, to wit. Belle Prairie, Fayette and GermantoAvn.

In size, it is the fourth largest county in the State, being exceeded only by La Salle, McLean and Iroquois. It is principally prairie land ; but timber is found along the Vermilion River and its branches, and also in some fine groves of native timber, in various parts of the county. Round Grove, near the northeastern corner, originally contained 80 acres ; Oliver's Grove about 800 acres, situated near the southeastern corner; Indian Grove, near the soutliwestern corner, about 800 acres; and Babcock's Grove embraces 100 acres, standing on high ground near the center of the county ; Packwood's Grove, near this point, contains 20 acres ; and Five Mile Grove, near the head of the north branch of the Vermilion, closes the list. Each of these, with the exception of Round Grove, which is on a branch of the Mazon, stands at the head of a small stream' which, on leaving the timber, flows through the open prairie and empties into the Vermilion.

The timber land does not exceed six per cent, of the area. The different varieties of oak, elm, maple and walnut predominate, while ash, Cottonwood, whitewood and some other varieties are not uncommon, and a few cedars are found on the banks of the Vermilion.

The Vermilion River has its rise in the extreme southeastern portion of the county, and has the following tributaries : South Branch, Indian Creek, Turtle Creek, Wolf Creek, Rook's Creek, Mud Creek, Long Point and Scattering Point Creeks, most of which have their rise in the county. All of these streams are living water, fed by springs, affording ample Avater for stock, and splendid drainage for all parts of the county.

The Vermilion and the larger branches are well stocked with fish, of which the pickerel, bass and cat-fish are the predominant varieties. The Vermilion affords water-power for a few mills, the best point being at Pontiac, where Thomas Williams' fine grist-mill and saw-mill are located.

The Vermilion

The soil is principally the deep, black alluvial, common in this State. The surface is gently undulating, with broader stretches of level land than are found in the northern and western counties. The lands lying south, southwest and northwest of the center of the county are, for the most part, level, while north, east and southeast of the center, the land is more rolling, yet not so uneven as to receive any ill eifects from washing, while under the plow.

The chief advantage which land of this character has over a more rolling and broken surface is that, for many years to come, there can be no perceptible loss in its fertility, from washing while under cultivation.

Geology

The geological formations are not unlike those common to the Grand Prairie district, with the important diiference that, in this county, coal and stone are found in abundance.

For some years after the first settlement, and during the second epoch, the people lived in ignorance of the vast coal fields of the county. All residents then lived in or upon the skirts of the timber, and no fuel was needed, other than the forest supplied. It is true that the outcroppings of coal along the banks of the river, in the northwestern part of the county, were discovered and commented upon ; but the pioneer had no means of utilizing it, and considered it of no value.

About the year 18G0, Henry L. Marsh, who owned a large tract of land near Fairbury, had his attention called to the fact that the rapidly increasing population must necessarily require a more abundant supply and a cheaper fuel. There was not timber enough in the county to supply it for ten years, at the rate it was being consumed ; and, from his knowledge of coal formation. Marsh believed that it could here be obtained, by going to a sufficient depth.

At that day, coal mining, by deep, perpendicular shafts, was unknown in this bituminous district. La Salle, Peoria and Morris were sending out the few tons they were called upon to supply, and Coalville supplied a meager local trade.

The Wilmington coal fields were not yet discovered, and Streator, which now, from its various shafts, sends up its thousands of tons per day, was unknown to the Avorthy man whose name it bears ; and for a decade after Marsh's pioneer labors, the place was known only by the name of " Hardscrabble." To a man of less force, will-power and energy than Marsh, the idea of mining coal on the open prairie of Livingston County would have remained an idea, or it might have grown into a desire ; but he was made of the right material to push a gigantic enterprise to completion. He at once set about an investigation of the facts in the case, and, under his investigation, the possibilities steadily grew into a reality. The story of his struggles with adverse fortune, his heavy losses, his trials and failures, and his final success, would make an interesting and instructive chapter of history. Water, at various depths, so flooded his work and damaged it in various ways, that his friends and backers deemed the scheme impracticable ; but he was not discouraged, and, in the last extremity, he completed an invention of his own, by which the difficulty was overcome. At a depth of 180 feet, he struck a paying vein of excellent coal. The success attending Marsh's efforts incited others to like enterprises, and, in 1865, a shaft was sunk at Pontiac, another shaft at Fairbury in 1808, one near Streator in

1872, one at Cornell in 1875, and one at Cayuga in 1878. Cayuga, which is distant five miles from the river, is, thus far, the farthest point from the Vermilion at which a paying vein of coal has been reached in the county. The efforts to find coal at Odell and Dwight have thus far proved failures. The mining at Coalville is carried on by horizontal entries, and is not so expensive to the operators. The capital invested in coal mining in Livingston will not fall short of a quarter of a million dollars, and, thus far, the enterprise has proved far more profitable to purchasers than to the proprietors of the mines. Ledges of limestone, suitable for building purposes, are found along the banks of the Vermilion ; and at Pontiac and in the vicinity, inexhaustible quarries of calcareo-silicious stone are found. In sinking the coal shafts at Fairbury, a fine dark sandstone of peculiar color and quality was discovered. This stone is easily dressed, and is a superior stone for building purposes.

Indian History

When the white settlers first began to locate in the territory out of which Livingston County was formed, they found it in the possession of the Kickapoo and Pottawatomie Indians.

These tribes claimed the country by right of conquest, and their eventful history demands a far more extended notice than can be given to it in these pages. The final and decisive battle between the Kickapoos and the Pottawatomies on the one hand, and the Miamis on the other, finds no parallel in history, except it be the battle of "Chevy Chase" between the followers of Douglas and Percy. This " duel of the tribes," as it is called, will again be referred to.

This name means " Superior men " and did not apply to a tribe, but to a confederation of tribes, composed of the Peorias, Moinquienas, Kas-kas-kias, Tamaroas and Cahokias. In 1872, this powerful confederation had dwindled to forty souls, and these were living on a reservation southwest of the land assigned by the Government to the Quapaws.

Chicago was their great chief in the days of their glory. In 1700, this chief went to France, and was treated with distinguished honors. His son, of the same name, was also a powerful chief to the time of his death, in 1754.

Against this confederation, the Kickapoos, PottaAvatomies and Miamis combined for a war of extermination. After a long and bloody struggle, the Illini made their last stand at Starved Rock, in La Salle County, in the year 1774. The Illini suffered a disastrous defeat, and left their enemies in undisputed possession of the territory. But when the victorious tribes came to divide the domain among themselves, fresh difficulty arose, and they again resorted to arms.

In this struggle, the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies combined their forces, and made common cause against the Miamis. The war which followed was not of long duration ; but it was exceedingly bloody and fatal to the participants. In the year 1774, less than twelve months from the time that they had conquered the Illini, it was agreed that the Miamis should select three hundred warriors, and the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies a like number, and that these SIX hundred men should meet in combat and decide the (quarrel. The opposing forces met on the banks of Sugar Creek and fought from the rising to the setting of the sun, and at the close of the day there remained only- twelve men who were not killed or mortally wounded ; and of these, five were Miamis and seven Kickapoos and Pottawatomies.

The ballad of "Chevy Chase." with which every student of historv is familiar, and which records the only parallel of this conflict to be found in history, tells us that

But this people had no written language, and many of their deeds of noble -daring will perish with them ; but it would require but little imairination to quote further from the records of Chevy Chase, and apply it to this'conflict :

In this battle, the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies were declared the victors, and the Miamis retired to the east side of the AYabash River, leaving them in possession of the territory.

The victorious tribes then divided the land between them, and the Indian trail passing near Oliver's Grove marked the dividing line. East and southeast of this line belonged to the Kickapoos, and the remainder to the Pottawatomies.

Hon. Perry A. Armstrong, a gentleman of culture and natural talent, who resides at Morris, in Grundy County, has made the study of the history of these Indian tribes a specialty for the past twenty-five years ; and it is to him that the writer is indebted for valuable dates in this connection.

Armstrong says, in speaking of the Indian trail referred to : " It was very distinct when I last saw it, in 1845 ; and Avhen I first saw it, in 1831, it was, on an average, eight inches deep by fifteen inches wide." This trail was thedividing line between the two tribes up to the year 1835, when the Government moved them west of the Mississippi.

When the boundary line was established, the Pottawatomies retired to thevicinitv of Fox River, while the Kickapoos established their headquarters on Salt Creek, near where the town of LeRoy now stands ; and the vicinity was^ known to the first settlers by the name of Old Town Timber. The Pottawatomies would come up as far as Rook's Creek, on their hunting excursions, and' they frequently camped on the Vermilion River, in the vicinity of the present residence of Emsley Pope, in Newtown ; but the boundary line was respected,, and the two tribes remained on friendly terms.

In the Spring of 1828, the Kickapoos removed their headquarters within the present bounds of Livingston County. They erected a council house and built a villao-e on the east side of Indian Grove, and the tribe at that time numbered about 700 souls. They possessed all the ordinary characteristics of the typical American Indian - the copper complexion, black, straight hair, well-proportioned limbs and keen, black eyes.

The women Avere far more attractive in personal appearance than the generality of squaws, notwithstanding the fact that upon them devolved all the drudgery of domestic life ; and, while they remained at Indian Grove, the women cultivated the land, after a rude fiishion, and raised corn, beans and potatoes, Avhile the men devoted themselves to hunting and fishing, but the squaws were expected to dress all game after it was brought home.

In the Spring of 1830, they removed to Oliver's Grove, then known as Kickapoo Grove, where they erected a large and permanent council house, ninety-seven wigwams and several small encampments.

In the year of 1832, a pioneer Methodist preacher by the name of William Walker, who resided at Ottawa, 111., visited them and established a Mission. Father Walker was at the time an old man, and the journey was a long one for him to make ; but, under his ministrations, several of the tribe were converted to Christianity, among the number being a young man whom Walker ordained, and who held regular service every Sabbath when Walker could not attend- They soon came to have great respect for 'the Sabbath, and, at whatever distance from home they might be hunting during the Aveek, they ahvays returned to camp on Saturday night, so as to be in attendance at church on Sunday

Their prayer books consisted of Avalnut boards, on Avhich were carved characters representing the ideas intended to be impressed upon the mind. At the top of the board Avas a picture of a AvigAvam.

These boards were quite uniform in size and appearance, and were held very sacred, and were protected with the utmost care ; no Indian thought of retiring for the night without first consulting his board.

Each Sabbath they had a public dinner, of which the whole community partook. In the center of the ground in which their religious meetings were held, a fire was kindled, and over this the camp kettles were hung in a line. The men were grouped on one side of this line and the women on the other; at one end gathered the children, and at the other end stood the preacher. Two men stood near the children to see that perfect order was preserved; and no congregation, even in the days of the Puritan fixthers, was more decorous than were these newly Christianized Kickapoos. While the minister preached,, the dinner cooked ; and when the religious services were over, the kettles were removed from the fire, and the dinner was served out into Avooden bowls and trenchers, with ladles and spoons of the same material. The dinner generally consisted of venison, coon, opossum, turtle, fish, or any other animal food they coukf obtain, together with corn, beans and potatoes, all boiled together.

Hon. Woodford (x. McDowell, on whom we have largely drawn for information, says that a dinner of this kind "generally left a quantity of soup, which was highly flavored and quite nutritious." It is natural to suppose that such would be the case.

The Kickapoos remained at this point until September, 1832, when theywere removed by the Government to their lands west of the city of St. Louis.

Shabbona, the friend of the whites, with whom many of the earliest settlers were acquainted, was neither a Kickapoo nor a Pottawatomie, but an Ottawa Indian. After the death of Pontiac, after whom the county seat of Livingston County is named, the Ottawa tribe became merged into the Pottawatomies ; but many individual members of the tribe clung to the old name, and cherished with pride the history of their descent from this superior stock. Of this number was Shabbona, who was very sensitive on the question of his origin. If he was called a Pottawatomie, says Armstrong, he would immediately and invariably reply: "Me Ottawa Indian ; me no Pottawatomie."

The history of the great chief Pontiac is interwoven with the history of the nation ; yet it has remained for Hon. Perry A. Armstrong, of Morris, to give to the world a reliable account of his last days.

The last event recorded in his career, in the commonly received history, is his attack on Capt. Dalzell, who, at the head of three hundred men, was marching to the relief of Detroit, about the last of July, 1763. Says the national historian : "Subsequent to this period, we have no reliable history of the Great Sachem of the Ottawas." Armstrong says : " He was a great brave, who had enemies and rivals, who finally caused him to be assassinated. He was invited to a war dance on a dark night, solely for this purpose. He was warned to stay away, or if he attended to take with him a strong force of braves ; but aspiring to be the leader of all, he knew that if he showed fear on this occasion he would be forever disgraced; he started alone, and was waylaid and murdered before he reached his destination." This event occurred is 1772, near where East St. Louis stands,

Early Settlement And Incidents

V. M. Darnall and Frederick Rook were the first white men to locate in the territory now embraced in Livingston County. Darnall erected his cabin in the southern part of the timber known as Indian Grove, in the Fall of 1829, soon after the Kickapoo Indians had exchanged this locality for Oliver's Grove.

At or about the time that Darnall made his settlement at Indian Grove, Frederick Rook located five miles west of Pontiac, on the creek which still bears his name ; and, soon after, Isaac Jordan selected his location. Rook removed to Missouri at an early day, and the exact date of his settlement here cannot be obtained. These three men, Avith their fiimilies, Avere the only white persons, in this locality, who saw the " great snow " Avhich fell in the Winter of 1830-31. This fall of snow was phenomenal, and its like, probably, had never occurred before, and certainly has not since within the limits of the State. In a dead calm, it fell to the depth of four feet. This was followed by a drizzling rain, which soon turned to sleet. Then the weather became intensely cold, and the whole face of the country was covered with a sheet of ice, overlying a field of snow that was four feet deep on the level.

This storm was very destructive to game of all kinds, and it was several years before it again became abundant. Deer, by the hundred, starved to death, and birds, such as grouse and quail, perished in great numbers. Squire L. Payne, of Eppard's Point, who at that time resided near Danville, informs ihe writer that deer, showing no signs of fear, would stand and eat the branches from a fallen tree while the woodman was chopping and splitting the body of the same. He further says that, after the snow had continued for some time, the deer were not molested, as they were so emaciated as to be unfit for food, and were only occasionally killed for their skins.

At this period, the Kickapoo Indians had a village at Oliver's Grove, and they, as Avell as the few white settlers, suifered severely from the intense cold and scarcity of food. During the continuance of the snow, they used their largo council house as a common kitchen for all. Their camp kettles were kept constantly boiling, and into them were thrown such animal food as they could procure. A starved deer was a welcome addition to their larder, and, when -other supplies failed, a pony was sacrificed, and horse soup dished out.

Frederick Rook and Isaac Jordan found their stock of provisions failing, and thev conceived the idea of manufacturino; snow-shoes from boards and going to Mackinaw for supplies, for it was impossible for them to travel with a horse. They accomplished the journey on their snow-shoes, and Avhen they reached that, to them, Egyptian storehouse, they were so fortunate as to receive, each, a bushel and a half of corn. They placed this on hand-sleds and drcAv it home, arriving there on the evening of the fourth day. This corn they pounded into meal, and, by careful husbanding, made it last them till further supplies could be obtained.

When the snow began to fall, jNIajor Darnall was over on the Mackinaw, his wife and four small children being at home in Indian Grove, with a scanty supply of prodsions. He waited during the night for the storm to abate ; but, at the early dawn, he mounted his horse, which Avas an excellent one, and taking the half of a deer before him, without guide or compass, he started across the trackless snow-field for his distant home. It was a perilous undertaking and, at times, it seemed useless to ti-y to proceed, as the horse would sink to his saddlegirths in the snow ; but horse and rider persevered, and, just as the sun was setting, he espied the smoke curling from the chimney of his little cabin, which was half buried in the snow. Imagination can paint the blissful meeting of husband and wife on this occasion ; and there have been few happier family meetings than the one gathered around Major Darnall's hearthstone on that memorable evening.

Major Darnall still resides in the vicinity of Fairbury, possessed of a competence, honored and respected ; and it is worth something to hear him recount the history of the early days of Livj ^-ston County.

Durins: the vear 1830, Andrew/ »IcMillan and Garret M. Blue located on Rook's Creek, and their descendant - are numerous. Blue's name and those of his sons frequently appear in the political annals of the county.

On the 5th day of May, 1832, William McDowell, i"rom Sciota County, Ohio, with his five sons, John, Hiram, Woodford G., Joseph and James, and his two daughters, Betty and Hannah, settled in what is now Avoca Township, on the Little Vermilion. Their nearest white neighbor on the south was one Philip Cook ; but they could call around on Frederick Rook, Isaac Jordan or William Popejoy, almost any time, by going a distance of from five to fifteen miles.

The elder McDowell displayed excellent judgment in selecting this location, for after forty-five years' continual farming, the soil is still rich and productive.

The McDowells at once proceeded to erect their cabin. The principal tool used in its construction Avas an axe. They brought with them a few panes of glass for a window, and, in this particular, they had the advantage of their neighbors. The boards which furnished the material for the door and window casing of this primitive dwelling, were purchased of the Kickapoo Indians, and were brought from Oliver's Grove with an ox team. The Indians had hewn them out for some purpose of their own, but were induced to part with them for a small s.upply of ammunition.

The Black Hawk war Avas then in active operation, and this settlement Avas within a short march of the headcpiarters of this terrible chief. This same year, Wm. Popejoy, John Hanneman and Franklin Oliver located, and soon took an act- ive part m the affairs of the settlement. Black Hawk maintained his position, and the situation of the settlers became alarming, as it was not known what attitude the Kickapoo Indians (numbering 030) at Oliver's Grove, would assume ; and, on the 20th of May, they were waited upon by a deputation of whites for the purpose of ascertaining their intentions.

At this meeting, the venerable Franklin Oliver presided. On their return from the council, the members of the deputation stopped at the McDowell cabm and took dinner, and they advised the settlers either to abandon their homes or proceed to erect fortifications. The latter scheme was impracticable, for the reason that there were but two rifles in the whole settlement, and very little ammunition. On the 27th of May, all the white men in the settlement held a council, and it Avas then and there decided that the best thing that could be done, under the circumstances, was to retire to the white settlements in Indiana ; and, on the evening of the 28th, the entire white population camped in and around the McDowell cabin, preparatory to a march the next morning.

This company consisted of the McDowell family, and William Popejoy, Abner Johnson, Uriah Blue, Isaac Jordan and John Hanneman, and their families - thirty-one souls in all. In speaking of this party, Hon. Woodford G. McDowell, who was one of the number, says : "I feel sure, if the entire outfit ^ had been required to raise twenty-five dollars among them, or be scalped by the

On the morning of the 29th of May, the whole company of seven families, in six wagons, took up the line of march and left the embryo county in possession of the Indians. Darnall must have retreated some time previous, as his name is not mentioned in this exodus ; and as far as Oliver is concerned, he came and went among the Indians at his own pleasure, and without fear of molestation. He thoroughly understood their character, and was accounted a favorite among them ; and, in fact, an Indian chief was called after his name.

Durin^r the march to Indiana, several interesting incidents transpired. The more timid were in hourly anticipation of an attack from Black Hawk, and could scarcely be persuaded to regulate their pace with the ox teams which drew the women and children. On the second day of their march, the Avife of Isaac Jordan presented him with an infant daughter ; and James McDowell, then a young man of 17 years, together with another youth, walked to a grove of timber four miles distant to procure wood enough to build a camp fire. On their return, they found the camp in great commotion. A couple of Indians had been seen on a ridge overlooking the camp, and then to disappear in the tall grass. Women and children were crying, and even some of the men were badly frightened, and counseled an immediate flight, as they supposed the Indians they had seen were scouts sent out by Black Hawk. Others were less excited, and proceeded to light the camp fire and prepare their supper, the elder McDowell remarking, as he held his frying-pan over the fire, that " he did not propose to be scalped on an empty stomach." It was soon ascertained, however, that the Indians Avere two friendly Kickapoos, who had come to bid their white friends farewell ; but the incident proved the different material of which the company was composed, and had not a little to do with the estimate in which they subsequently held each other's character.

The next day, the mother and child were left at the house of Philip Cook, before mentioned, as this Avas considered sufficiently remote from the seat of war to be safe ; and the remainder of the party pushed on to Indiana. A. B. Phillips and James Spence, with their families, had taken refuge within a fortification on the Mackinaw. But, in the Fall of the same year, nearly all of the persons mentioned in the exodus returned to their claims.

We have seen how near the daughter of Isaac Jordan came to being born in the limits of the county, but the first white child actually born within the borders of Livingston, Avas a son of A. B. Phillips. He grew to manhood, and when the hour of his country's peril came, he was one of the first to answer her call, and he gave his life to maintain her honor. Thus the county literally gave her " first born for a sacrifice." All honor to such men !

The second birth in the county was J. W. Darnall, noAV 47 years old, and a worthy and respected citizen. When the settlers returned from Indiana, Avith them came Nathan Popejoy, and located a fcAv miles east of Pontiac. At this period. Judge McDoAvell informs us that there Avere but tAvo young ladies within a distance of fifty miles up and doAvn the Vermilion, but this condition of thino-s did not long exist, for the year 1833 saAV a considerable influx of new families. In this year. Dr. John DaAis settled near the present residence of Philip Rollins. He Avas the first physician in the county, and had the medical practice, without a rival, for some time. About the same time came Daniel RockAvood and the Weeds, Henry, E. F. and James, also John Recob, John Johnson, the Murry family, Squire Hayes, John Chew, Daniel Barackman, John DoAvney, Joseph Reynolds and his brothers. The Government had just removed the last Kickapoo Avest of the Mississippi, and Franklin Oliver, this year, permanently located at Kickapoo Grove, Avhich, since that date, has borne his name. The Indian trouble Avas now forever settled, so far as this county Avas concerned, the hardest trials were past and a brighter day was daAvning ; but the old settler never groAvs weary of talking about this period, and of recounting his trials and exploits. Among the number Avhose recollection is perfectly unimpaired, is John Johnson, of Rook's Creek. He Avas born in Ontario County, NcAv York, and came to ShaAvneetoAvn, in this State, as early as 1821. There Avere only some fifty Avhite persons in the county Avhen Johnson settled here, and he kncAv them all. He calculates that he and his sons have killed over a thousand deer within the limits of the county. In the Fall hunt of 1834, they killed seventy-five and took the skins and hams to Ottawa, and received for them the sum of sixty dollars - a large amount of money in those days. Franklin Oliver, although in his ninety-second year, still retains his faculties in a wonderful degree, and is a walking encyclpp?edia of facts pertaining to the early settlement ; also Emsley Pope (whose history will receive further mention), together with James and Woodford G. McDowell and Major Darnall are still with us, their minds and memories unimpaired. Frederick Rook, the old pioneer, after whom Rook's Creek Township is named, is described by James- McDowell, as a well-made, fat-faced, easy natured and accommodating German? and not at all such a character as has been described in later days. He had a wife and family, and, at the date of his departure, his eldest daughter, Mary, w'as seventeen years old. He frequently deplored the lack of facilities for giving his children an education, and it is stated that this was the cause of his removing from the county at an early day. He was a capital sliot, a generous provider for his family, and altogether a worthy man ; and the aspersions cast upon his character are without any foundation in fact, and may be considered as false.

The nearest post office at this time was at Bloomington ; but, as James McDowell says, they did not take a daily paper or write many love letters in those days ; they managed to live with a post office even at that distance. They took their grain fifty miles, with an ox team, to a mill owned and run by John Green, on the other side of Ottawa ; and, after hauling it that distance, they frequently had to wait a day or two for their turn, and it never happened that a man went to mill, called round by the post office and returned home on the same day.

Among some of the earliest settlers were Truman Rutherford, John Foster, James Holman, William K. Brown, .Judge Breckenridge, Amos Edwards and Andrew McDowell, of Long Point ; Walter Cornell, Andrew Sprague, Joel B. Anderson, H. Steers, Isaac Burgit, John Darnall, John Travis, J. W. Reynolds, Charles Jones, Philip Rollins, John Marks, James Demoss, Benjamin Hieronymous and the Garner brothers.

It was several years before the pioneers erected a church edifice, but they were not heathens. For miles around, the community would, on a Sunday^ assemble at the house of John Terhune, who possessed a book of sermons, and who would read to them on these occasions. Terhune was a man of education^ who quietly came among these pioneers, and, after remaining a few years, departed as he came. His destination was not known, and the date of his departure is not fixed ; and, as he was of a retiring and unobtrusive disposition, but few facts concerning him can be obtained.

In 1884, William Royle, a Methodist preacher, established a mission in this locality ; but, as his circuit embraced such distant points as Waupansee, Ottawa and Mazoii, he could only hold service here on a week day ; yei men w^ould

In the Fall of the year, the whole community - men, women and children - - would yoke ujx their ox teams and go over to Mackinaw to attend camp meeting. This was considered the event of the year, and was eagerly anticipated by the young people, who had not many opportunities of enjoying each other's society and forming new acquaintances. Joseph C. Morrison, of Avoca Township, and now one of the wealthiest and most respected citizens of the county, was, at this period, one of the rising young men of the community. He says that the enjoyment of these trips could only be appreciated by a community placed in like circumstances.

Yet these pioneers were not without their amusements and recreations ; but; they generally contrived to combine business with pleasure. James ]McDowell came twelve miles, with his father, to assist in raising the first cabin that was erected in Pontiac ; and he remembers it as a day given to pleasure.

Another popular amusement was to assemble the community for the " grand circular hunt." Having selected the territory, which embraced as large a tract as the number of hunters could command, they placed themselves in a circle, on the outside, and drove the game toward a common center. The gams thus encircled consisted mainly of wolves and deer, which were always captured or killed in great numbers. The hunt, and especially the closing up of the circle, wa& exciting in the extreme, and no small amount of skill was displayed in the manner of disposing of the animals as they attempted to break through the lines of their persecutors.

On one occasion, while Nicholas Hefi"ner was both Sheriff and Tax Collector for the county, and Washington Boyer was School Commissioner, Heffner was taken sick, and requested James McDowell to go to Springfield for him and make a settlement with the State, and the School Commissioner^ learning that he was about to make the trip, called on him and requested that he should bring back with him, from Springfield, the amount due the county from the State school fund.

McDowell mounted his horse and, taking a huge bag of legal tender, in the shape of wolf scalps, before him, set out on his journey, and, arrived at the State Capital, he not only paid the entire amount due the State in wolf scalps, but exchanged a sufficient number of the remainder with the State Treasurer, to cover the amount coming to the county from th3 school fund. Notwithstanding this remarkable instance of the profit derived from rearing wolves, their propagation is now entirely neglected in this county, and a wolf found occasionally iS' viewed as an object of curiosity.

James McDowell still flourishes in his pristine vigor, though upward of 60 years old. He owns over 2,100 acres of choice farming land in the vicinity where he first located, and is enjoying the competence he has so justly earned.

It is a matter of wonder to many now living in the county, how the pioneers managed to live and rear large families where there was no money in the country, -and no market for produce. In the first place, they did not go in debt, for they .could not do so ; then game was abundant, and if it Avould not bring a price, it .filled a very important place in the household economy. They raised their own .coffee, which was prepared from parched corn ; they made their own sugar, and :as for store tea, that was dispensed with. Then, again, a dealer from some of the -earlier settled portions of the State, would occasionally ride through this region on horseback, and purchase a few steers at a very low price, but a little money went a great way with the fathers. Deer skins and the skins and furs of smaller animals always brought cash when they could be got to market, and occasionally a pioneer would collect these and push through to some distant point and, disposing of them, return with their value in money.

The introduction of a few sheep by Maj. Darnall helped matters very much. Tlie carding, spinning and weaving Avere done at home, and cost no money. This industry was first introduced into the community by the good wives of Maj. Darnall and A. B. Phillips, and was soon copie(J by other matrons. Taxes swere very low ; and if a settler of this period received from all sources an income of §15 or $20 per annum, he had sufiicient to pay his cash expenses. The amount of money now paid for a new bonnet, or a Spring overcoat, would .have sufiiced to support a family at that time for six months." There were few schools for the children, and they were required to help carry on the farm work, .and everything was made to count for what it was worth.

But what was already a difficult financial problem was made doubly so by the general crash which the year 1887 brought to all business and monetary affairs.

During the very year that saw our county legally organized, the State Legislature passed the bill for internal improvement at public expense ; and on the passage of this suicidal law, near ten millions of dollars Avere appropriated for building a network of railroads all over the State, and work was actually commenced on them at various points. The scheme bankrupted the State, and, for nineteen years, Illinois paid neither principal nor interest on her indebtedness.

Emigrants avoided a State thus incumbered ; and one cliief source of ready money (that brought by new comers) Avas denied to us. But the pioneers of Livingston, in this extremity, showed pluck and energy worthy of record. There being no market for anything in the interior of the State, they, with their ox-teams, hauled their produce to Chicago, and even drove their hogs across the pathless prairie to that point.

Joseph C. Morrison, who frequently made the trip with a drove of hogs, tells us that it Avas accomplished in the foUoAving manner : A number of farmers Avould collect their hogs and start on the journey, agreeing to feed the hogs at night by tarns, each in succession returning to his home for a load of corn, from which the hogs were fed upon his again coining up with the drove ; and thus, by relieving each other, they accomplished wliat would otherwise have been an impossible task.

When the slaughter house was reached, the hogs were dressed for the offal, and the dressed hogs were put upon the market : tliose weighing 200 and oveV generally selling at $1.50 per hundred, and those weighing less at $1.00 per hundred. A farmer made but one such trip during the year, and brought home with him the absolute necessaries of life.

The first mill erected in the county was run by horse power. It was built by Garrett M. Blue, near his residence, in Rook's Creek Township, This was justly considered by the early settlers, as a most valuable acquisition to the institutions of the county. The bolting was done by tacking a yard of fine muslin on a frame, and through this was rubbed, by the hand, small portions of the crushed wheat.

John Foster, who resides with his son Robert, at Pontiac, is the oldest settler in that part of the county. He reached that point from Cayuga County, New York, in 1836. Two deserted cabins were then the only buildings on the site of the now^ flourishing city. The land was then considered too low and swampy to be habitable. Foster saAv the toAvn laid out, and took the contract for building the first Court House, the price agreed upon being $800. The building is still standing near the M. E. Church, and is owned by Jacob Streamer and leased to the city for various purposes. Foster also kept the first hotel, and, in the early days, he entertained the Judge, attorneys, juries and litigants to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.

In order to maintain his reputation as a landlord, he would, when a term of the Circuit Coui't was approaching, go out into the country and borrow bedsteads, beds and bedding, and what crockery there was to loan. This manner of procedure worked very well for a time, but on one occasion, the portly Judge David Davis, who had perhaps retired to rest with a heavy case on his mind, occupied one of the borrowed bedsteads, and he quashed it. The Judge was rescued from the debris by friendly hands ; but the bedstead, as a bedstead, had lost its usefulness, and thereafter Foster found some difficulty in inducing his neighbors to loan furniture.

Foster, on these occasions, entertained Douglas, Lincoln, and other distinguished lawyers, for the attorneys follow'ed the judge from county to county. Lincoln, during one term of court paid his hotel bill by attending to a suit, in which Foster, as Constable, was concerned in the replevin of some goods "taken on execution. Lincoln gained the case, and Uncle John formed a high opinion of his new boarder. Foster's recollections of these early days are vivid and interesting.

The amounts of revenue levied and collected during the first four vears of the county's existence, commencing with the year 1837, are as follows : First

When it is recorded that the levy in the county for the year 1877 is about $400,000, the figures in the former years are as astonishing as the figures in the latter year are astounding.

No inconsiderable number of letters came to the office unpaid, and such was the scarcity of money that some of them would remain in the office for weeks and even months, before they could be taken out and paid for.

Martin A. Newman was the first Route Agent. He traveled on horseback from OttaAva to Bloomington, by way of Pontiac and Lexington, and made a trip in two weeks.

The first Court House was erected in 1839-40, by Henry Weed, Lucius Young and Seth W. Young. It Avas accepted from them, and a bond of $3,000 surrendered, in which they had stipulated to erect the house at their own expense, provided the county seat was located on the land selected by them.

The second Court House was erected under the county judgeship of Billings P. Babcock, and was as good a building as could be erected at that time for the money expended. Judge Babcock gave the same particular care to every item of its material and construction that he displays in his own financial affairs.

The previous year. Judge Henry Jones erected, at Pontiac, the first brick building ever erected in the county. It is the one that has recently been remodeled, and is now occupied as a residence by Joseph P. Turner. The brick of which it was composed were purchased at Bloomington and hauled to Pontiac ; and, in stipulating with the contractors, Judge Babcock required the brick to be of as good quality as the material used in the building of this house. This opened up a new industry, and the first bricks were made during the same year.

The building was two stories high, having offices for the Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Sheriff and Treasurer on the first floor, and the court room and jury room on the second floor. In 1871, a fire-proof vault, in an added wing, was completed.

The present Court House was erected the following year, and was completed in the month of December, and dedicated by the first Old Settlers' meeting. This structure is one of the finest in the State. J. C. Cochrane, of Chicago, was the architect, and the contract for building Avas awarded to Colvin, Clark & Co., of Ottawa.

To the Building Committee of the Board of Supervisors is due an honorable mention for the honest and satisfactory manner in which they discharged their duty, in this connection. The names of these gentlemen Avere Jar^es E. Morrow. Edson Wilder, Jacob Phillips, E. G. Greenwood, Wm. S. Sims and J. B. Parsons. The entire cost of the building and furniture Avas |75,000.

The first jail was built at Pontiac in 1866. Previous to that time, the prisoners of the county were kept at Joliet, Ottawa or Blooraington, where such conveniences of civilization existed. In that year, a good substantial stone jail was erected at a cost of $18,000.

The first County Commissioners and the first Sheriff" performed the duties of their offices without any authority from the State, and, as they are all dead, the manner in which they obtained any authority to act will, perhaps, remain a mystery

The ancient archives of the county contain no certificate of election or other evidence that they held their offices by virtue of either election or appointment. The records of the Secretary of State, have also been ransacked to discover, if possible, a clue to the matter ; but nothing appears to indicate that either these or any other officers, previous to 18oS, were legally qualified to act. In this year, Nicholas Hefner was duly elected and qualified to act as Sheriff".

It is known, however, that the form of an election had been observed, and that Joseph Reynolds had been declared Sheriff", and the Board of Commissioners had appointed him Collector of Taxes ; and as no one desired to hold office in those days, no investigating committee inquired into the irregularity. The first marriage license issued in the county was made out by H. W. Beard, Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, and it was, no doubt, intended to authorize Mr. Williamson Spence and Miss Mary Darnall to solemnize a marriage ; but so far as the record goes, it only authorized the marriage of Williamson to Miss Mary Darnall ; so that, so far as the record has anything to do with the matter, the descendants of Spence are all Williamsons. It is not improlxxble that this clerk - H. W. Beard - was an old bachelor, and took delight in mutilating marriage licenses ; for the next license authorized Simeon Mad, instead of Simeon Madden, to marry Elizabeth Rutherford.

Samuel C. Ladd came to Pontiac from Connecticut in October, 1842. Only two houses remain in Pontiac, which had been erected previous to his coming. One of these, is the old Court House, and the other is the building now occupied by Samuel Mossholder as a dwelling. Seth W. Young Avas the fii'st man to erect a house on the site of the city of Pontiac. He died at this place, as also did his brother, Lucius Young. They were interested with Henry Weed in securing the location of the county seat at this point, and after their death, C H. Perry, Henry Stephens, Samuel C. Ladd and some others became interested

C. H. Perry brought the first stock of goods to the county, b^ before he was established in business, S. C. Ladd bought him out. About this time, Mr. Ladd entered into partnership with Willet Gray, and they purchased James McKee's interest in the mill. Their store stood on the banks of the river near where Robert Aerl's feed yard noAv is. Ladd soon after erected a frame business building on the present site of Gunsul's livery stable; and, for several years, he and Gray, were the only resident merchants of the county. These merchants secured the services of John A. Fellows as salesman, and he was so popular that it was said of him that "he drew all the trade of the Vermilion Valley, and would have drawn more if the valley had been longer." C. H. Perry was then the capitalist. He brought to the place the first piano, the first "store carpet " and the first looking glass. His residence was a log cabin, and it used to be told how a horse once walked in at the open door, and stood surveying himself in Perry's looking glass, while he fought flies with his natural protector. The piano remained the only musical instrument of its kind in the county until Perry removed to Iowa and took it with him, and it was many years before its place was filled.

Samuel C. Ladd was, at once, an able and popular man. He has held the offices of Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Recorder and Postmaster ; and, in later years, he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue and filled the office acceptably, from 1863 to 1869.

Emsley Pope, the pioneer of Newtown, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in the year 1797, and removed with his farther to Champaign County, Ohio, in 1810. His father enlisted in the war of 1812, but was prevented from serving by sickness. Young Pope, then but 15 years of age, begged permission to go as his father's substitute, and, permission being given, he shouldered his musket and served during the war.

When peace was restored, he resided with his father until 1836, when he was married and came to this State, and located upon the identical piece of ground upon which he has ever since resided. His house, a double log cabin, erected forty-three years ago, still serves him for a residence ; and, with the exception of repairs to the roof, it has remained without alteration from the date of its erection to the present time. The only tools used in its construction were an axe, a saw and an auger. The boards composing the roof are held in place by logs upon them, through Avhich wooden pins are passed into the rafters. The flooring is also secured by wooden pins, as are also the door and window frames. The flooring and ceiling were hewn out ; and the chimney was built of stone taken from the stream near by.

For a number of years after his arrival, his family, together with the families of Daniel Barrackman, Samuel Brumfield and Amos Lundy constituted the entire community. Their market was Chicago.

In the Fall of the year, Pope, Brumfield, Barrackraan and Lundy would form a company for mutual benefit and protection ; and each man, with his rifle and ox-team drawing a load of corn, would start for this distant market, making calculations to be absent from home for ten or twelve days. On the route, the company camped where night overtook them, and they never slept under a roof from the time of their departure to the time of their return. There was at that time not even an Indian trail leading from that point to Chicago, but these pioneers took their way over the unbroken prairie, guided by signs and indications which never led them astray. Thirty bushels of corn was their average load; and for this, on their arrival at market, they received 12| cents per bushel, and only on one or two occasions did they receive as high as 15 cents. They rarely made more than two such trips in a year ; and the $6, $8 or $10 which they thus received was all the money they handled during the year, and most of this was spent in purchasing supplies in Chicago.

Pope was intimately acquainted with old Shabbona, the Pattawatomie chief, and holds his memory in great respect, and says that no white man was more welcome at his cabin than this Indian.

This kindly feeling was doubtless reciprocated on the part of the red man, for he frequently pitched his tent near Pope's cabin, on his hunting excursions along the banks of the Vermilion.

Wild turkevs and deer abounded, and when Chief Shabbona was successful in the chase, the spoils were generously divided with his white friend ; and his coming was looked forAvard to with pleasant anticipations of a good time, and his departure was regretted.

On one of these occasions, Shabbona and the twelve Indian hunters who accompanied him, killed fifty deer, within a circuit of three miles, taking Pope's cabin as a center. This Chief must have been, in many respects, a remarkable man, as every pioneer who Avas acquainted with him bears witness to his character for upright and lionorable dealing. This speaks volumes for Shabbona, as the whites at this time were not disposed to regard the Indians with a favorable eye. Pope is still a hale and active old man, and will tell you, in speaking of the early period, that the pioneers enjoyed themselves fully as well as people do at the present day. His early friends and neighbors have long since passed away, while he remains, a link connecting the present with the past. He is cheerful, hopeful and perfectly contented with his lot. He is the father of fourteen children, many of whom are living and are honorable members of societ3\ Pope is much i-espected in his neighborhood, and he will doubtless spend the remainder of his days in the county which he has seen transformed from a wild(rness to one of the finest agricultural districts in the State.

Martin A. Newman, of Newtown, justly claims to be the pioneer merchant of the county. He was born in Vermilion County in 1818, and removed to Ottawa in 1838. In the year 1847, he made a tour of discovery through Livingston County, and found that there was not a store of any kind within its borders. He returned' to Ottawa and fitted up a peddling wagon, filling it with a great variety of merchandise, from a needle to a wash tub, and, with this traveling establishment, he visited every family in the county, once in every month of the year. In exchange for his goods, he took from his customers deer-skins, mink-skins, ginseng root, feathers and many other articles. He was a great favorite, and soon built up an extensive and lucrative business. When he was on his rounds, couriers would be sent out to ascertain when he would be at a particular point, so that the products of the country might be gathered, in readiness for exchange.

In the Fall of 1847, he purchased of John and Theodore Popejoy the skins of fifty-four deer, which they had killed in Avoca Townshij). In July of the same year, Joseph C. Morrison, who has before been mentioned, and who was the young man of the period and the leader of fashion, gave Newman an order to bring him, from Ottawa, a full suit of real linen clothes. It was strictly stipulated that the clothes should be delivered by the 3d, as there was to be a grand ball in Avoca on the 4th, and the dress suit was ordered for that occasion. Newman made the trip, executed the commission, and duly arrived in Pontiac on the 3d, Morrison was so well pleased with the fit and the price that he gave Newman an invitation to the ball ; and his attendance was most opportune, for the violinist hired for the occasion got tired, and Newman had to fill his place, which he did, to the satisfaction of all parties. When Newman now meets one of his old customers, it is pleasant to see the kindly look and hearty handshake that passes between them as the recollections of the past are called up.

There was Nelson Buck, who loved his profession as he did his life ; and Jacob Streamer, who has long been a resident, and is well known throughout the county. He has collected all local statistics and incidents sufficient to fill a volume. 0. B. Wheeler commenced business by buying a steer for |5, taking it to Chicago, dressing it and selling the meat for |7.50. This started him in business, and he is now one of the wealthy men of the county.

The mention of Morgan L. Payne must not be omitted, as he was an old and well known resident. He was Captain of a company in the Black Hawk war, and performed distinguished service. He was a Texas Ranger when the war between Mexico and this Government was declared, and was in the first battle under Gen. Taylor, on the Rio Grande. When the time of his enlistment as a ranger expired, he returned to Greenboro, Indiana, and raised a company of militia ; and returning to Mexico, he served during the war. He was at the taking of Monterey, and the battle of the City of Mexico. He received an honorable discharge, and afterward filled many positions of public trust. When the war of the Rebellion was inaugurated, he raised a company of men in this county, was again elected and commissioned Captain, and served l)js country faithfully. This hero. of three wars died at Pontiac, of cancer, in

1878. He was a man of fiery and impetuous energy that overcame all obstacles with which he came in contact. He had many warm personal friends, who cherish his memory.

Isaac Wilson, who is still living, is distinguished as one of the litigants in the first law suit in the Circuit Court. William Strawn, who resides at Odell was a personal friend of Old John Brown, whose " soul goes marching on." Strawn fought by his side in Kansas. He was one of the charter members of the "underground railroad" through Livingston County, over which many a negro traveled on his way to Canada.

Pontiac has grown to be a beautiful city of near four thousand inhabitants. A few of her old stagers still remain, but, in the course of nature, they must soon pass away. Their view of the present situation is best expressed by the