Massac County, Illinois - Chapter 6: Political History, 1900

Chapter 6: Political History

TEEBITOEY - After the Revolution the colonies ceded their western territory to the Federal Government, which in 1787 was organized as the "Northwest Territory." From this successive ^ states were carved, until Feb. 3, 1809, Congress capital at Kaskaskia. Vandalia became the capital in 1820, and Springfield in 1837. Randolph and St. Clair counties constituted the territory. The government was ot the first grade until 1812, the territorial governor, John Boyle, succeeded by Ninian Edwards, was appointed by the President and in connection with the judges, constituted the "Legislative Council." The governor appointed all the ofiicers; in 1812 the second grade was established and the people elected a legislative council of five members and a house of representatives of seven members, also a delegate to Congress.

In 1809 there were but two counties, St. Clair and Randolph. The first territorial legislature increased the number to five by the addition of Madison, Gallatin and Johnson, in (1812); and Jackson, (1816): the four latter constituting Southern Illinois.

Congressional History

Shadrach Bond, Benjamin Stephenson, and Nathaniel Pope succeeded each other as territorial delegates to congress, (1809-1818). When Illinois was admitted it constituted one

Congressional district, from 1818-1833. This period was covered by the sixteenth tO' twenty-second congresses, inclusive. Daniel P. Cook of Kaskaskia, a Democrat, represented the State in the XVI., XVII., XVIII., and XlXth Congresses from 1818 to 1827, when Joseph Duncan, Democrat, of Jackson and Morgan counties, succeeded him and served during the XX., XXIst and XXIInd Congresses, 1872-1883.

February 13, 1831, the state was divided into three districts and an election ordered on the first Monday in August, 1832. Gallatin, Pope, Johnson, Alexander, Union, Jackson, Franklin, Perry, Randolph, Monroe, St. Clair, Washington, Clinton, Bond, Madison and Macoupin counties formed the First district. Massac was not yet formed. Charles Slade, Democrat, Belleville, was elected, soon died and was succeeded by John Eeynolds, Democrat, Belleville, who continued through the XXIIIrd and XXIVth Congresses, 1833-1837. Amos W. Snyder, Democrat, Belleville, was chosen during the XXVth Congress, (1837-'39), and Eeynolds then succeeded him through the XXVIth and XXVIIth congresses, 1839-'43.

March 1, 1843, the state was redistricted, and Massac having been formed, Feb. 8, 1843, was included in this apportionment. Along with thirteen other counties of Southeastern Illinois it constituted the second congressional district, there being seven in all. John A. McClernand, democrat, Shawneetown, represented this district from 1843-'53.

August 22, 1852, the state was divided into nine districts, Massac with seventeen other counties in Southern Illinois, constituted the ninth. Willis Allen, Democrat, Marion, served from 1S53 to 1855; Samuel S. Marshal, Democrat, McLeansboro ,1855-'59; and John A. Logan, Democrat, Benton, 1859-'62; April 4th, 1862, Logan resigned, entered the federal army and was succeeded by W. J. Allen, Democrat, Marion.

April 24, 1861, thirteen districts were constituted, and Massac, with fourteen other Southern Illinois counties, constituted the thirteenth district. An error was made because the state was entitled to fourteen Congressmen, hence the first case of a Congressman-at-large, or elected by the vote of the whole State. William J. Allen was re-elected in 1863, and served till

B. Raum, Republican, Metropolis, 1867-'69; John M. Crebs, Democrat, Carmi, 1869-'73; and John A. Logan had been returned as Congressman-at-large as a republican, 1867-'71, when he resigned and took his seat in the Senate.

July 1, 1872, there were constituted nineteen districts in the state, Massac county with nine other contiguous counties forming the eighteenth district. Isaac Clements, Republican, Carbondale, served from 1873-'75 ; William Hartzell, Democrat, Chester, served 1875-'81; when John R. Thomas, Republican, succeeded him from Metropolis and served five terms successively, 1881-'91.

April 29, 1882, the state was divided into twenty Congressional districts and Massac, with nine others, constituted the twentieth. John R. Thomas served three terms under this apportionment and was succeeded in 1889 by George W. Smith, Republican, Murphysboro.

June 9th, 1893, the number of districts was increased to twenty-two and Massac placed in the twenty-second. This is the last apportionment, but will be changed, 1901, by the legislature and the number increased under the census of 1900. George W. Smith, Republican, Murphysboro, has represented the district for six successive terms,1889-1900. He is his party's nominee for the seventh term, subject to the election in November. L. O. Whitnel, Democrat, Vienna, is his opponent. It will be seen that every Congressman until 1865, was Democratic, when the Republicans elected A. J. Kuykendall. Successes alternated until the first election of John R. Thomas, Republican, over William Hartzell, 1879, since which time the Republicans have remained in power.

Judicial History

The constitution of 1818 established a supreme court of one chief and three associate justices. Inferior courts were subjects of legislation.

various counties was repealed. By act of Jan. 8, 1829, the General Assembly had been directed to elect one circuit judge to be assigned to a circuit north of the Illinois river. In addition to this the act of 1835 created five more circuit judges to hold court in the counties to which they might be assigned. This number was increased from year to year until by an act of Feb. 10, 1841, the whole judicial organization of circuit judges was wiped out of existence and the General Assembly by joint ballot directed to choose five additional associate justices of the supreme court, who were to preside in connection with the three associates and chief justice then in office. Nine judges performed circuit duty in the nine circuits reorganized by the same act and continued to do so until the changes wrought by the constitution of 1848.

The constitution of 1848 established a supreme court of three judges - ^one" elected from each of three divisions of the state for nine years. Nine judicial circuits were also established, subject to change in number by legislation. Each judge served six years, and required two termis at least of circuit court annually to be held in each county.

The constitution of 1870, created a Supreme Court of seveu judges, elected by the people and to serve nine years. The state was divided into seven supreme divisions. Appellate Courts might also be created by legislation. The Legislature accordingly created four appellate courts in 1877. The Supreme Court assigns the duty of holding appellate court in each appellate division to three circuit judges - one to preside - for a term of three years. Circuit courts - "The People's Tribunal" - were also constituted by the constitution and have original jurisdiction of all causes in law and equity arising between man and man. They also have appellate jurisdiction over cases from the inferior courts. Perhaps 95 per cent of all causes never go beyond these courts. Each county shall have two terms, at least, annually. Circuit judges serve six years.

The legislature in 1873 divided the state into twenty-six judicial circuits, outside of Cook county, and ordered the election of one judge to each circuit. In 1877, the number of circuit judges was increased by creating thirteen circuits of three judges each, twelve of whom were assigned to appellate duty upon the organization of those coui'ts. In 1897 a new apportionment of judicial districts was made, constituting seventeen districts instead of thirteen. The salary of a circuit judge is 13,500 annually.

Early courts for people of this section were held in Benton, Jonesboro, Vienna, etc. When Massac county was organized in 1843 the first term of circuit court convened on the third Monday of October, 1843. The judge, however, did not arrive until Tuesday, and the record says, "Present, the Hon. Walter B. Scates, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois, and presiding judge of the third judicial circuit of said state." Judge Scates continued to preside until the October term, 1847, when he was succeeded by the Hon. William A. Denning, associate justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Denning was relieved at the June term, 1854, by Hon. W. K. Parrish, a circuit judge, in and for the third judicial circuit. Hon Wesley Sloan, commissioned judge in the nineteenth circuit, March 19, 1857, succeeded Judge Parrish at the April term, 1857, and presided continuously until the November term, 1867, when Hon. John Olney succeeded him. Judge Olney presided until the May term, 1869. Hon. David J. Baker succeeded him. Judge Balver successively presided through the long period reaching to the November term, 1877, which was held by Judge John Dougherty. Judge Baker resumed this bench in the following April term, 1878. Judge Monroe C. Crawford held the November term, 1878, Judge Oliver A. Harker the April term, 1879, when Judge Baker again resumed the bench of Massac county, continuing until April term, 1884, during which year Judge O. A. Harker was the presiding judge. During the April term, 1885, Judge David J. Baker again presided. At the special August and regular November term, 1885, Judge Eobert W. McCartney presided and continued until the November term, 1891, except the November term of 1888, when Judge George W. Young presided.

Hons. Joseph P. Robarts, Oliver A. Harker and A. K. Vickers were elected judges for this, the first circuit, June 1, 1891, and re-elected June 7, 1897. During this time they have each

Legislative History

When the first territorial legislature was elected, Oct. 9, 10, and 12, 1S12, there were five counties, St. Clair and Rau- -dolph, created 1795, and Madison, Gallatin, and Johnson, or- _ganized Sept. 14, 1812. This legislature comprised five councilmen (Senators) and seven representatives. Pierre Menard was president of the council. Thomas Furgeson was the councilman from this territory then comprised in Johnson county. He held the position from 1812- -the first session - until the of the early session, 1816, when John Grammar, then of Johnson county, succeeded him, having previously been the representative. Grammar was a member of the council when the state was admitted. Joseph Palmer was the representative from Johnson county from 1816 to 18l8 and Samuel Omelveney became a member, of the last session from the newly formed county of Pope.

By the constitution adopted upon the admission of the .state, 1818, the number of representatives must not be less than twenty-seven, nor more than thirty-six until the population equaled 100,000 inhabitants, the senators were to be at least one-third the number of representatives and not more than Massac county being a part of Johnson and Pope counties until 1843, was represented in the General Assembly of Illinois by the Senators and Representatives from the districts in which they were apportioned. From 1818 to 1848 the adoption of the second constitution, Senators from Pope were Lewis Barker in the first, second, third and fourth assemblies (1818-'26); Samuel Alexander, fifth, sixth, seventh and part of eighth, (1826-1833); John Raum, part of eighth, and succeeded by James A. Whiteside in ninth and tenth; J. Woiiihington Gibbs, the eleventh and twelfth; George Waters, the thirteenth and fourteenth; Thomas G. 0. Davis, afterwards of Massac county, and a member of the constitutional convention of 1848, the fifteenth. The Senators from Johnson county were "Thomas Roberts of the first; Milton Ladd of the second and third; John Ewing of the fourth and fifth; ^^'illis Allen of Franklin county, afterward State's Attorney in Massac county, served during the fourteenth and fifteenth sessions.

The Representatives from Pope county up to 1848 vi^ere Hons. Green B. Field; Robert Hamilton; William M. Alexander; Edward Robertson; Samuel Alexander; James A. Whiteside; William Sims; Charles Dunn; Jonathan Dainnan; John W^. Read, afterwards Sheriff of Massac county; George T. Waters; Philip Vineyard; ^Villiam Rhodes; Joseph Diarman, and Wesley Sloan.

The constitution adopted in 1848 gave the senate twentyfive members and the house of representatives seventy-five until the population should reach one million, when the number in the house could be increased to 100. By section VII., the state was divided into twenty-five senatorial districts.

Alexander, Union, Pulaski, Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin comprised the first senatorial district. This apportionment stood until 1854. The Senators were William Y. Davis, Johnson county, sixteenth session; Andrew J. Kuykendall, Johnson county, seventeenth and eighteenth. The senatorial district did not, as now, coincide with the representative districts. Thus Massac, Pope and Hardin were allowed one representative and they were as follows: W^esley Sloan, Pope county, during three successive terms - the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth. Judge Sloan proved a most effective member in the statutory revision.

February 27, 1854, Alexander, Union, Johnson, Pulaski, Massac, Pope, Hardin and Gallatin constituted the twentyfifth senatorial district until 1861. Andrew J. Kuykendall of Johnson county served during all this time. Pope, Hardin, and Massac formed the second representative district as before and George W. Gray, Massac, W^esley Sloan, Pope; W. H. Green, Massac, served during the time, Hon. W. H. Green serving two terms.

By an act of Jan. 31, ISGl, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin,Gallatin and Saline were formed into the first senatorial district and continued so until the adoption of the constitution, 1870. Hon. W.H. Green, Massac, served as Senator in the twenty third and twenty-fourth General Assemblies. He was the last democratic senator, being succeeded in the twenty-fifth and sixth by Hon. Daniel Munn of Alexander, now of Cook county. During this time Massac, Pope and Johnson continued as the second representative district and was represented by Hons. Thomas B. Hicks, Massac; William A. Looney, Johnson; I'hil G. Clemens, Pope; and Jonathan C. Willis, Massac.

By the constitution of 1870, the twenty-seventh General Assembly, convening Jan. 4, 1871, there were fifty senators from twenty-five districts. Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Union, Pope, Johnson, Gallatin and Saline made the first district. Simon K. Gibson, Gallatin, was chosen Senator and soon after died. He was succeeded by William G. Bowman, Alexander. The other Senator was T. A. E. Holcomb, Union. Pulaski and Massac sent one representative to this assembly, William B. Brown, who was the most influential member in making the ai)- portionment under the new constitution. Beginning with the twenty-eighth General i^.ssembly, which convened Jan. 8, 1873, there were by virtue of the apportionment of March 1, 1872, under the new constitution, fifty-one senators, each representing a senatorial district containing the number of people obtainable by dividing the population of Illinois by the census of 1870, by fifty-one, which number of senators is fixed by the constitution and is unchangeable. The senators serve for a term of four years and the districts were numbered from one to fifty-one, beginning at Alexander county and ending with Cook. This was only for the numbering of the districts under the first apportionment, which is done every ten years. The even numbered districts, however, elected new senators in 1872 and the odd numbered in two years following,thus having what is termed "hold-over" senators in each assembly, insuring experience in legislation in that body. Hon. Charles M. Ferrell, Hardin, Democrat; Samuel Glassford, Johnson, Republican;

By the same apportionment of 1872 each senatorial district elects three members of the lower house in each General Assembly eA'ery two years, "^^'hat is termed minority representation was also established by the constitution, which seeks to ffi-ve the party having a majority of voters in a district two representatives and the party having the minority vote one representative in the lower house. Each voter may, therefore, vote, one vote each, for three candidates, two of one party and one of another. Instead, however, if the voter's party has the two candidates, he may vote his three votes for the two, giving one and one-half votes each or he may give all three votes to one candidate. This is termed "plumping." In several districts three candidates of one party have been elected. The members of the lower house during the twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth and thirty-first assemblies, representing the fifty-first senatorial district comprised of Pulaski, Massac, Johnson, Pope and Hardin were as follows: James L. Wymore and Francis Mc- Gee, Johnson county, and Newton E. Casey, Pulaski, in the twenty-eighth; Benjamin 0. Jones, Massac, James R. Steagall, Pope, and Lewis F. Plater, Hardin, in the twenty- ninth; ^V. S. Morris, Hardin, Alonzo D. Pierce, Pope, and E. B. Watkins, Pulaski, thirtieth; James H. Carter, Johnson, Henry H. Spencer, Pulaski, and Thomas G. Farris, Johnson, who soon died, and William V. Eldredge succeeded him in the thirty-first; William A. Spann, Johnson, W. S. Morris, Hardin, and J. D. Young, Massac, in the thirty-second.

Under the apportionment of 1882, Saline, Gallatin, Hardin, Pope and Massac formed the forty-ninth district until the apportionment of 1893. During this time William S. Morris, Republican, of Pope, served four years; John Yost, Republican, Gallatin, four years, and Thomas H. Sheridan, Pope, four years, as senators. During this apportionment, the Republican members in the house were Robert W. McCartney, Massac, and William H. Boyer, Saline, in the thirty- third ; James M. Gregg, Democrat, Saline, John Yost, Republican, Gallatin, Simon S. Barger, Republican, Pope, and W. V. Choisser, Democrat, in the thirty-fourth; William G. Sloan, Republican, Sa- liue, Simon S. Barger Republican, Pope, and J. F. Taylor, Democrat, Pope, in the thirty-flf th ; William G. Sloan, Republican, Saline, Royal R. Lacey, Republican, Hardin, and Hugh C. Gregg, Democrat, Gallatin, in the thirty-sixth; Fowler A. Armstrong, Republican, Massac, Thomas R. Reid, Republican, Gallatin, and Geo, B. Parsons, Democrat, Gallatin, in the thirtyseventh; H. R. Fowler, Democrat, Hardin, F. A. Armstrong, Massac, A. W. Lewis, Saline, Republicans, in the thirty-eighth. June 15th, 1893 the counties of Pulaski, Massac, Johnson, Pope and Saline were formed into the fifty-first senatorial district, and Hon. P. T. Chapman, Johnson, has been the senator continuously. Fowler A. Armstrong, Massac, and Richard M. Johnson, Pulaski, Republicans, and C. A. F. Rondeau, Democrat, Pope, represented the district in the thirty-ninth ; Joseph W. King, Pope, and William H. Parish, Saline, Republicans, F. A. Trousdale, Massac, Democrat, in the fortieth ; Geo. E. Martin, Pulaski, and Oliver J. Page, Massac, Republicans, and A. G. Dabney, Democrat, of Saline, in the forty-first. The Republican candidates nominated July 8th, 1900, for the fortysecond General Assembly at the Senatorial convention in Mound City were S. B. Kerr, Massac, and C. P. Skaggs, Saline. The Democrats have nominated L. H. Frizzell of Vienna, Johnson county, as the minority candidate for the forty-second Oeneral Assembly.