Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 46: A Look Backward, 1912

Gen. Z. M. Pike's Narrow Escape from Death in Madison County - Some Noted Ex¬ plorers - Gershom Flagg's Pioneer Letters - The Old Cabin - Not a Successful Pol¬ itician - Reminiscences of Gaius Paddock Family - Madison County's Pioneer Sur¬ veyor.

In the year 1805 an Englishman, a "Mr. J. H.," of Cornwall, crossed the sea to America and made his way over the Allegheny moun¬ tains into the valley of the Mississippi where he led an adventurous life among the Indians and in voyaging in his canoe on the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Missouri and other rivers. Thirty-eight years later, in London, he related to Mr. George Catlin, the great interpreter of Indian life and painter of Indian portraits, an incident of his western career in which he saved the life of Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike, the renowned explorer. The incident took place in what is now our own county of Madison. The story is a long one and I necessarily must condense it. In the year 1806 "Mr. H." was in St. Louis and concluded to pay a visit to his friend, Daniel Boone, then living up the Mis¬ souri at the mouth of the Femme Osage. He spent several weeks with his old friend and then proceeded to St. Charles, following an Indian trail on horseback. Intending to re¬ turn to St. Louis in a canoe he sold his horse on his arrival there. Before he was ready to start he learned that his friend, Lieutenant Pike, who has just returned from his expedi¬ tion to the Rocky Mountains, where he dis¬ covered Pike's Peak, had passed up from St. Louis to a settlement a short distance below the mouth of the Missouri, on the east bank of the Mississippi to attend a wedding which was to take place the very evening of the day Mr. H. received the information. The groom, it seemed, was also a friend of Mr. H., and he at once resolved to attend the wedding, also, although not invited, knowing that he would have been had the groom known of his being in that part of the country. He endeavored to get a canoe but could not obtain one for love or money. But, resolved to be present, he lashed together two logs of wood lying at the landing in front of the village, and procuring a paddle launched forth on the muddy stream, straddling the logs. His embarkation was a short time before sundown. Drifting down on the swift current, often narrowly escaping shipwreck by collision with snags in the dark¬ ness, he at length, after a voyage of some twenty miles entered the broad expanse of the Mississippi and soon perceived on the east bank the lights in the cabins of the settlement where the wedding was to take place. Strug¬ gling with all his might to guide his clumsy craft to the shore he suddenly became aware of dark objects gathering around him in the gloom and recognized them as a party of In¬ dians in canoes. There were no squaws with them and he knew it to be a war party. All were armed with bows and war clubs. Mr. H. said

"They gave the signal for silence as one of them, a tall, powerful man, seized me by the collar. Having partially learned several In¬ dian languages I understood him when he said in the Ioway language: 'Not a word, if you speak you die.' Finding that I understood the language he made a sign to the other canoes to fall back a little while he addressed me in a low voice. 'Do you know the white chief (Pike) who is visiting his friends this night on the bank yonder where we see the lights?' To which I replied: 'Yes, he is an old friend of mine.' 'Well," he said, 'he dies tonight and all those wigwams will be laid in ashes. Stetenoka was a cousin of mine and Quetunka was a good man, and a friend of the white people. The pale faces hung them like two dogs by their necks, and the life of your friend, the white warrior, pays the forfeit this night, and may be the women and children will die by his side.' I explained to him as well as I could that my friend, Lieut. Pike, had had no hand in the execution of the two Indians ; that they were hung below St. Louis when Lieut Pike was on his way home from the Rocky Moun¬ tains. I told him also that Pike was a great friend of the Indians and would do anything to aid or please them ; that he had gone over the river that night to attend the wedding of a friend, and little dreamed that among the In¬ dians he had enemies who would raise their hands against him.

'My friend,' he said, 'You have said enough; if you tell me that your friend, or the friend of or enemy of any man, takes the hand of a fair daughter on that ground tonight, an Ioway chief will not offend the Great Spirit by rais¬ ing the war cry there. No Ioway warrior can spill the blood of an enemy on the ground where the hands and hearts of man and wo¬ man are joined together. This is the command of the Great Spirit and an Ioway warrior can¬ not break it. My friend, these warriors you see around me, and myself, had sworn to kill the first human being we met on our war ex- cursion ; but we shall not harm you. So you see I give you your life. You will therefore keep your lips shut and we will return to our village which is far up the river. We shall do no harm to any one. We shall hereafter meet our friends, the white people, in the great city (St. Louis) as we have heretofore done. My face is now blackened and the night is dark so you cannot know me - but this arrow you will keep - it matches with all others in my quiver, and by it you can always know me, but: the meeting of this night is not to be known. He gave me the arrow, turned his canoe and, with his companions, was in a moment out of sight. Finding that, by this time, the current had drifted me a mile or two beyond the place where I designed to land, and that it was im¬ possible to return with my two awkward logs of wood I continued on down to St. Louis, where I arrived safely."

Mr. H. in continuing his narrative related how he afterwards met the Indian in St. Louis at an audience with Gov. Clark and was recog¬ nized by him, the mystic arrow being the means of identification. They became fast friends, and Mr. H. was adopted into the tribe as Bobashela, or brother.

The wedding party proceeded undisturbed, and the danger they had been in was never made known to them as Mr. H. promised not to reveal the matter on condition that the war¬ rior carried his purpose of revenge upon inno¬ cent parties no further.

Nearly forty years later, in a foreign land, there was a strange sequel to this well-nigh tragic incident: In 1845 Mr. Catlin was in Europe with a party of Ioway and Ojibeway Indians. The warriors gave exhibitions in London and Paris in connection with Mr. Catlin's displays of Indian portraits and specimens of their handicraft. The royalty and nobility of both countries attended these exhibitions. At one of these, in London, a venerable war¬ rior suddenly caught sight of a face in the audience that caused him intense excitement.

With a wild whoop he made his way to the man he recognized and crouching before him exclaiming "Bobashela!" Mr. H., for it was he, responded " Yes, Bobashela !" and there was a joyous reunion. But Mr. H. had lost the mystic arrow, the seal of their friendship by the sinking of his canoe in the Cumberland river, which misfortune he explained. After the dance the seal of secrecy was removed and, Lieut. Pike being long since dead (he was killed at the siege of York in the war of 1812, then a general) the tale was told for the first time by either party. General Pike never knew of the peril he escaped on his visit to our county.

Nothing seems to be known of the settle¬ ment which so narrowly escaped destruction. That it was in Madison county, a short dis¬ tance below the mouth of Wood River, is plain, as the Missouri then entered the Mis¬ sissippi nearly opposite what is now Maple island. That the village soon became extinct is equally plain, and the spot where it stood was long since swept away by the encroach¬ ments of the river. The story, which is re¬ corded by Catlin in his works, is an illustra¬ tion of Indian chivalry or superstitution of which I have never read the parallel. Mad¬ ison county had its instances of Indian massa¬ cres, in those early days, but this incident of the escape of one of its early settlements from Indian vengence, is known to few. The rea¬ son given by the Indian chief for sparing it opens a new phase of Indian character and the alleged revelation of the Great Spirit which controlled it.

It is of interest to note the connection of Madison county with the four greatest of early American explorers of the far west in the early days of the nineteenth century. For in¬ stance Mr. Catlin, after a year spent among the Comanches and other tribes of the south¬ west returned to Alton in the fall of 1834 to rejoin his wife who had remained in that city with friends during his absence. His letters written from Alton, relating to his latest ex¬ pedition, appear in his published works. He left Alton late in 1834 for the Gulf coast for the benefit of his health which had been shat¬ tered by his late privations and exposures.

The connection of Gen. Zebulon M. Pike with the county is related above and the won¬ derful way in which his death was averted on our soil and his life preserved for still more distinguished service to his country is one of the strangest tales of the border.

The history of the Lewis and Clark expedi¬ tion to the upper Missouri and thence to the Pacific coast, under orders of President Jef¬ ferson, is known to all, but it is not so gen¬ erally known that the expedition encamped during the winter of 1803-4 i*1 Madison county, at the mouth of Wood river, imme¬ diately opposite the mouth of the Missouri. There the explorers were prepared and fitted out for their expedition, starting from the mouth of Wood river and entering the Mis¬ souri on the 4th of May, 1804. Captain Lewis was the private secretary of President Jeffer¬ son and Clark was a captain in the regular army, and a younger brother of the celebrated Gen. George Rogers Clark who, by his capture of Kaskaskia, on July 4, 1778, and his subse¬ quent capture of Vincennes, extended the do¬ main of the colonies from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi during the Revolutionary war. Clark was subsequently governor of Missouri territory and it was from him that Catlin learned of the famous Mandan Indians of the upper Missouri with which the great portrait painter spent the year 1832. Lewis was made governor of Louisana territory in 1807 and died two years later, near Nashville, Tennes¬ see. He took his own life while temporarily insane through illness brought on by the hard¬ ships he endured during his explorations.

Lewis as one of the great explorers of the western country, though entering upon the work some ten years later. He was a native of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and was born December 30, 1784. He was graduated from Dartmouth college and later entered the U. S. Engineer Corps. Being promoted to the rank of major in the corps of topographical engineers in 1816 he was assigned to the work of western exploration. In this service he continued for many years and his services in this capacity were longer continued and covered more ter¬ ritory than those of any other government of¬ ficial. Long's peak in the Rocky mountains was named after him. He was a man of the highest scientific attainments and was a pio¬ neer in the work of railroad construction, act¬ ing as chief engineer of various roads. In 1861 he was promoted to the position of chief of topographical engineers, U. S. A. He made his home in Alton and died there at a good old age. He is buried in the Alton City cem¬ etery. He was a devoted Christian and an official of St. Paul's Episcopal church of Al¬ ton. His descendants still reside in that city.

The Illinois State Historical Society lately issued a pamphlet containing the Pioneer Let¬ ters of Gershom Flagg, edited, with introduc¬ tion and notes, by Prof. Solon J. Buck. Ger¬ shom Flagg, descendant of an old colonial and Revolutionary family of Vermont, was born Nov. 26, 1792, and emigrated to Illinois in 1817. His letters, written to his relatives in his old Vermont home, are of rare interest, and some extracts therefrom are given below to show the condition of the country in pio¬ neer days :

To Artemas Flagg, September 12, 1818 - Ed- WARDSVILLE, MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS TER¬ RITORY, 12 Sept. 1818 - Dear Brother: Your letter of the 31st May mailed June 8, I re¬ ceived, the 23d July which informed me that you were all well at the time. May this con¬ tinue [to] be your good fortune and may these lines reach you as they leave me in good health. As you may wish to know something of the Country in which I live I will write a few lines respecting it. The Territory of Illinois contains nearly all that part of the United States Territory east of the Mississippi and N. W. of the Ohio & Wabash Rivers. The late law of Congress enabling the people to form a Constitution & State Government makes the boundaries on the S. & W. Ohio & Missisippi Rivers on the East by Indiana State N by 420 30' N. Lat. The conjunction of the Ohio & Missisippi Rivers is in Lat. 3 y° N so that this Territory is 350 miles in length. The face of the Country is very level without any mountains and but few hills. It is not ex¬ ceeded by levelness [or] richness of soil by any in the United States. The prairies are very large while the timbered land is con¬ fined almost wholly to the intervales and low rounds. Where ever the land is high and dry enough for the fire to run in the spring & fall the timber is all destroyed. The Soil is of such an alluvial nature that the water courses cut out deep chanels from 6 to 20 feet deep generally. Where this is the case the streams do not overflow.

"We have all kinds of soil from midling poor to the very best. It produces Corn & Wheat better than any other Country I have seen. It also produces hemp, flax, Mellons, Sweet potatoes, Turnips & all kinds of veg¬ etables except Irish Potatoes as good as any other Country. Cotton is raised sufficient for domestic use a very small piece of ground pro¬ duces enough for a family.

"We have plenty of Apples Peaches &c in places. Grapes & of several kinds and several kinds of Wild plumbs & Cherries in profusion also Dew Berries Black Berries Strawberries The bottom Prairies are covered with Weeds of different kinds and grass about 8 feet high. The high Prairies are also thickly covered with grass but finer & not so tall. The prairies are continually covered (in the summer season) with wild flowers of all colors which gives them a very handsome appearance. These high Prairies are smoother than any intervale & not a stone, log, or anything but grass & weeds to be seen for miles excep[t] where they border the timber there is generally a thicket of plumb bushes, hazel grape vines, &c &c. The Roots of the grass are very tough it generally requires 3 yoke of Oxen or six horses to plough up the prairies & the plough must be kept at a keen edge by filing often, the steel not being hardened, but this is all that is to be done excep[t] fencing to raise a crop. After one year the ground is mellow and re¬ quires but a light team to plough it. The tim¬ ber in this Country is very different from any you have seen. The most Common timber is White, Black, Spanish, post, Chincopin, Pin, and Burrh Oak, Walnut Black & White, Bass¬ wood, Cherry Button wood Ash, Elm, Sassa¬ fras, Sumach, Elder, Honey locust, Mulberry, Crab Apple Thorn of different kinds Red-bud, Pecon, Hackberry Maple, Cotton Wood, Paw¬ paw which bears a fruit larger than an apple. The timber is not so good as I have seen, gen¬ erally, the fire kills & checks the growth every year. When the fire gets into high thick grass it goes faster than a horse can Run & burns the Prairie smooth.

"The situation of this Territory is good for trade having the advantage of Water carriage on all sides the Missisipi on the West the Ohio & Wabash S. E. & the Kaskaskia and Illinois in the interior of the Territory. The Illinois which is about 400 miles in length heads near Lake Michigan. A branch of the Illinois heads within 4 miles of the head of Chicago a short River which empties into Lake michgon [i'fc]. In freshe[t]s boats pass this portage the waters being connected. They are made shallow for the purpose. I have seen them at St. Louis Landing, Miss. I think there will be a canall cut to connect the waters of Illinois & Chicago at no distant period. From informa¬ tion the expense would not be great. One hun¬ dred thousand acres of Land, is appropriated for this purpose. This done we have a water communication from almost any part of the Territory to the states of Indiana Ohio & Pennsylvania on either side of those stat [e] s. Also with New York by the way of Lake Erie & an easy Communication with the Ocean by New Orleans. One steam Boat Run from St. Louis to Louisville Kentucky the last season and another from St. Louis, to New Orleans. One of them came up to St. Louis the 1st January last and returned but the ice generally covers the River in January & Febuary That is, drifting ice, for the Missisipi was not shut over last winter at St louis tho' it sometimes is. The Missouri was frozen over last winter. There are 8 or 10 steam boats on the Ohio and Missisipi Rivers and more build¬ ing there was two built in Cincinnati last sum¬ mer, & one at the Rising Sun and one at New Albany below the falls of Ohio. The Trade from St. Louis to Orleans is very considerable there are in St. Louis between 40 & 50 mer¬ cantile Stores.

We have a great plenty of Deer, Turkies, Wolves, Opossoms Prairie hens, Eagles, Turky Buzzards, Swans, Geese, ducks, Brant, sand hill Cranes, Parokites & with many other small Animals & birds. Gray squirrels are as thick here as I have ever seen stripeid [ffc] ones in Vermont. There is more honey here in this Territory I suppose than in any other place in the world, I have heard the Hunters say that they have found 8 or 10 swarms in a day on the St. Gama & Illinois Rivers where there are no settlements (Truly this must be the Land of Milk & honey.) The Climate is not so hot as might be expected there is almost a contin¬ ual breeze blowing from the large prairies like the breezes on large Lakes & ponds. The country is so open that it is considerable cold in Winter the ground freezes very hard There being generally but little snow. The past summer has been very hot more than common

I am told. The Thermometer on the hottest day stood at 98°. I learn from the News Pa¬ pers that the Weather has been very hot in different parts of the United States.

I he Stock of this Country consists princi¬ pally of horses, horned Cattle & hogs. Sheep will do very well here if they can be kept from the Wolves but this cannot well be done in the newsettled parts the wolves are so very nu¬ merous. Hogs will live & get fat in the Woods and Prairies. I have seen some as fat upon Hickorynuts, Acorns, Pecons & Walnuts, as ever I did those that were fat [t] ed upon Corn. All that prevents this country being as full of Wild hogs as of Deer is the Wolves which kill the pigs when the sows are not shut up til the pigs are a few weeks old. There are places in this Territory where Cattle & horses will live all winter & be in good order without feeding, that is upon the Rivers. Most of the people cut no hay for their Cattle & horses but this is a foolish way of theirs they either have to feed out their Corn or their Cattle get very poor. Cattle & horses do very well in this Country they get very fat by the middle of June. They do not gain much after this being so harrassed by swarms of flies which prevent their feeding any in the heat of the day. They are so bad upon horses that it is almost im¬ possible to travel from the 15 June til the 1st Sept unles a horse is covered with blankets. Where ever a fly lights upon a horse a drop of blood starts. I have seen white horses red with blood that these flies had drawn out of him. As the Country becomes settled these flies disappear.

"It appears from the returns to the secre¬ tary that there is in this Territory upwards of 40,000 Inhabitants. The Convention which met the first mondy [ffc] in August have formed a Constitution but it is not yet pub¬ lished as soon as it is I will send you a Copy. The Gov. is to be Chosen for 4 years as also the senate the members of the lower house are chosen once in two years the Legeslature to set biennally. I have delayed writing for sev¬ eral days to hear whether Simeon Manuel was in St. Louis but can hear nothing of him. P. P. Enos formerly of Woodstock Vermont now lives in St. Louis and he tells me he knows no such man there.

"I have not been able to get any employment in surveying The Lands haveing been princi¬ pally surveyed in the winter of 1816-7. There was then upwards of 80 Companies employed upwards of 4 months. They surveyed the Mil¬ itary Bounty Lands and most of the other Lands where the Indian title was extinguished, 3V2 Millions of Acres of Bounty lands were survd between the Missisipi and Illinois Riv¬ ers. There is now considerable surveying to be done but the Surveyor General, Rector, has so many connections that are Surveyors that it is not possible for a stranger to get any Con¬ tract of any importance. Government Gives 3 dollars a mile for surveying all publick lands. Some who are not Surveyors (but fav¬ orites) make Contracts for surveying and then hire it done. I was offered 25 dollars a month last winter to go with another surveyor but did not choose to go under a man who did not know as much as I did myself.

"I Entered 420 Acres of Land near this place and about 25 mils from St. Louis and 10 or 12 from the Conjunction of the Missisippi and Missouri Rivers ' and 18 or 20 from the Mouth of Illinois nearly in Lat. 38° 30' North.

I now own only 160 acres haveing sold the re¬ mainder for $285. dollars being double what I gave for it. The quarter Section which I now own is on the trail which leads from Edwardsville to fort Clark which is at the south end of Illinois Lake a dilation of the Illinois River 210 miles from its mouth following its meanderings. This fort was built in the time of the Late War. This with the forts at Chi¬ cago and fox River which empties into green bay, Macinau, Prairie des Chien, and fort Ed¬ wards on the Mississippi below the mouth of

Rock River serve to regulate the Indian trade and protect the Frontiers from the savages. The United States have also garisons upon Red River, Arkansaw, and Missouri Rivers.

"The people of This Territory are from all parts of the United States & do the least work I believe of any people in the world. Their principal business is hunting deer, horses hogs and Cattle and raising Corn. They have no pasture but turn every thing out to run at large and when they want to use a horse or oxen they will have to travel half a dozen miles to find them through grass and weeds higher than a man can reach when on horse back and the grass and vines are so rough that nothing but their Leather hunting shirts and trowsers will stand any Chance at all.

"These kind of People as soon as the set¬ tlements become thick Clear out and go fur¬ ther into the new Country. The method of Raising Corn here is to plough the ground once then furrow it both ways and plant the Corn 4 feet each way and plough between it 3 or 4 times in the Summer but never hoe it at all. Wheat is generally sowed among the Corn and ploughed in sometime in August or first sept. There are no barns in this Country peo¬ ple stack all their Wheat and thresh it out with horses on the ground. We have not many good mills in this Country.

"The price of Corn last harvest was 33 1/3 cents in the spring 50 cents in the summer 75 cents Potatoes are from 50 to 100 cents a bushel oats 50 cents Wheat one dollar Beef from y/2 to 5 dollars per hundred Pork from 4 to 7 dollars a hundred. Dry goods are get¬ ting very Cheap the country is full of them we have more merchants than any thing else. Boots and Shoes sell the highest here of any place I was ever in Iron is 75 dollars a hun¬ dred salt 3 dollars a bushel Butter from 12^2 to 50 cents a pound Cheese generally brings 25 cents and very little to be had at that price, for there is none made except by Eastern peo¬

"As soon as you Receive this I wish you to write to me. As soon as I can make it any way convenient I int[end to] come and see you all for I bel[ieve] you [MS. torn a]nd the rest of the young men [in the] vicinity [can] not leave your mothers long [enough] to come [here].

"I think I shall go by the way of New Or¬ leans and New York or Boston It being the easiest and cheapest route to go from here to Vermont. Give my love to all my friends. By your letter, I learn that you are all [MN. torn\ married I expect in about 10 or 15 years when you have about a dozen Children each you will begin to think about moving to the westward. I have seen more old, than young men moveing. If you have any Idea of ever seeing the Western Country you never will have a better time than the present but if you are contented there you can live as well there as here. I send you my best wishes my respects to my Parents and remain your af¬ fectionate] Brothe[r] for ever

The old cabin was really two cabins with their gables towards each other, perhaps six¬ teen feet apart and the space between them was roofed over. The north cabin was built first of unhewn logs and covered with oak boards "rived" with a "fro" from oak logs and held in place, in default of nails, by other logs laid parallel with the eaves. When more room was needed the south cabin was built of hewn logs laid about two logs higher to give more room above stairs, and roofed with the space between the two cabins. The south cabin was floored with unmatched boards (if I am not mistaken) ; the north was floored with puncheons four or five inches thick, made by splitting large oak logs as straight as could be found and hewing the upper sides. The upper floors of both cabins were unmatched boards. The doors were batten doors with wooden hinges and latch. The windows were long steamboat windows sliding horizontally.

The cooking was done by the large open fire-place in the north cabin ; the baking in "reflectors" and bake ovens which stood on the hearth. The boiling was done in kettles hung on a crane which was hinged to swing out over the hearth. A kitchen was attached later to the west side of the north cabin and a "rotary" stove installed. A bedroom was also attached to the west side of the south cabin.

The roofs of the cabins and passage way were extended twelve to sixteen feet and a floor laid on the ground below, making a long and pleasant verandah. We do not remem¬ ber ever seeing this closed up.

As luxury increased with wealth, the logs were taken off the old cabin, new and shorter boards were rived from straight-grained oak trees, a new roof put on with nails and the logs left off. The roof which had been im¬ pervious to rain under the logs, began to leak badly and Mrs. Flagg had to apply the most obvious remedy ; a tin pan under each leak. She was inclined to reproach her husband for taking the logs off the house. Under her re¬ proaches he is reported to have said he "did pity poor people who had no tin pans to put under their leaks."

We present (p. 231) facsimile of the Whig ticket of 1846 now in possession of Hon. N. G. Flagg of Moro which indicates that he is a better politician than his grandfather. The vote for legislative candidates was as follows : Democratic - William Martin, 1,312; Solomon

Gershom Flagg killed a bear about the time we came here. Panthers were also here when we came. One with four young killed by L. Jackson and Solomon Pruitt. One jumped at Volney Richmond about 1830. Wild cats were common : used to carry off pigs. One was killed on Paddock's creek about 1840 by Tom Buck. Spear killed a very large one on same creek. Case and others killed one about same time and place. There were wolves, black, grey and prairie-black not so common. One followed Mrs. Jane Flagg from Flagg cabin to the Paddock home. One gray wolf was killed by dogs in yard ; animals fought on gal¬ lery. Lou. Jackson had dogs attacked by them on Indian creek - one dog killed.

Man out hunting hogs was frozen to death in winter of 1820 or 1821. Lived down in timber. About 1820 or 1821 William Leggett and father came in; had come across from Jacksonville and got lost; had nothing to eat for four or five days: were first given mush and milk.

Charles Tindall found skeleton of rattle¬ snake whose ribs were as long as a man could span with thumb and forefinger. Killed an¬ other rattlesnake of enormous proportions.

Indians used to come from Ft. Clark (Pe¬ oria) on way to St. Louis. Their trail was under our (Paddock's) gallery and through G. Flagg's orchard, keeping on ridge. Ninian Edwards used to point out trail when going to Springfield.

"Metty," a Frenchman, was a noted agent and interpreter. He was a small man of un¬ common nerve ; used to stop here ; was a very polite man ; would turn out his horse and sit on woodpile and smoke until dark; raised his hat to all comers.

Farmers raised corn, wheat and oats. Cot¬ ton was raised by most families and spun ; everything made from it. Jimson, parsley, catnip, burdock and mayweed were not indi¬ genous, but came in after several years.

Women wore sun bonnets to meetings, made of printed calico; farmers made the men's shoes. Meetings used to be held at private houses. The preachers were Cumberland Presbyterians. Preacher Barber was here about thirty-five years ago (1825).

No sweet potatoes were raised then; Irish potatoes were better than now. Used to hear of Hoxey's farm when we first came. Wild fruits were about the same as now. Three kinds of wild plums. The cattle were mostly white. They were on the American Bottom. They were descended from cattle brought by the monks of Latrappe who settled on the great Cahokia mound in 1809. Wild hogs in the woods were dangerous. They would get

We used to go to mill near Moore's; also to Collet's and to Montgomery's and to Hail Ma¬ son's in Edwardsville. He did not "cheat the Baptists." There was a distillery for peaches on the road to Edwardsville.

Zenos Webster was the first settler above here; he came about 1820. Then came Elihu Palmer and Thomas Wood. Collet and West came in the fall of 1819, after we came in the spring. John Estabrook built his cabin before G. Flagg built his. John Newman came in 1820 to where Hill now lives.

At a meeting of the board of surveyors of Madison county held at the court house in Ed¬ wardsville May 6, 1867, Hon. Benaiah Robin¬ son of Corvallis, Oregon, was elected an hon¬ orary member, and the secretary requested to inform him of the action taken and to request from him a history of his professional services while surveyor of this county. The following answer was received:

"Corvallis, Oregon, July 29, 1867 - S. E. McGregory, Esq. - My dear Sir: Permit me to say that the receipt of yours of June 3d is with pride acknowledged. Still more proud is your servant of the honor conferred upon him by your very wisely organized society. For many years such an organization has been nec¬ essary, much more so now when the county has grown into so great importance and lands have risen to so great value. The surveyor has to be governed somewhat by the price of land ; otherwise, when land is nearly valueless, as it has been at times in Illinois, he would be left on the field to do the work himself at very scanty pay. But when the soil is in demand at a high rate he can afford to beat the kinks out of his chain and sharpen the points of his com¬ pass, and, withal earn something more than his daily bread. Such an arrangement as you have goes into, by the surveyors of a county, will do much to abolish that odious habit of too freely pulling up, without strong evidence of error, the corners placed by predecessors. But the judges of the circuit courts have said that there is less of that done in Madison than perhaps any other county in the state. And thus a considerable source of litigation would be cut off. Often, very often indeed, have T come across the lines and corners made by your most worthy president (D. A. Spauld¬ ing) and always found them fixed with judg¬ ment and care.

"Your servant was born, March n, 1796, in Lincoln county, North Carolina, ten miles southeast of the battle ground of King's moun¬ tain; was brought to what afterwards became Edwardsville, in 1809. In the year 1812, hav¬ ing become desirous of learning the use of fig¬ ures, I cut a large chip out of a walnut tree out of which a slate was formed; plank could not then be spared to make a black board. Began to learn what sine, tangent and angle meant in 1817. In the fall of that year I was made deputy under Asahel Enloe, who held the office of county surveyor under and by appointment of the territorial governor, Ninian Edwards. About the close of 1817 Mr. Enloe vacated the office by leaving the county. John Y. Sawyer then made applica¬ tion and, by the influence of Col. Benjamin Stephenson, was appointed county surveyor by Governor Edwards. Owing to an optical deficiency Mr. Sawyer could not fill the place. He made me deputy and exacted half the fees. In 1822 the legislature took part in making surveyors ; it made recommendations and the governor appointed and commissioned them. The first commission under this law was given to myself in preference to George Teas who was an application, through Joseph Burrough, a member of the house.

"In 1825 I left the county and therefore the office. Being out of the state it was unknown to me when Mr. Spaulding was commissioned, but most likely he took the position not long after my leaving. In 1835 the office was made elective by the people of every county in the state, and by the same law it was made the duty of the governor to commission the suc¬ cessful candidate.

"Your servant was the first surveyor elected by the people of Madison county in opposition to the late Gershom Flagg, a man of fine sense and great respectability. I was elected to four successive terms of four years each. The last of these expired in 1851, but was made through courtesy to extend through two more years when the Oregon fever set in and drove me across the Rocky mountains. Since that I have not kept step to the music of good old Madison.

"The first surveyor that was ever appointed for Madison after it was stricken off from St. Clair, was Martin Jones and the next was Asahel Jones, spoken of above.

Mr. Robinson speaks very modestly of him¬ self, but he was a man of note in public life as well as in his profession. He was a mem¬ ber of the constitutional convention of 1847.