Mercer County, Illinois - Chapter 4: Geology, Mixes, Temperature, Etc, 1914

Chapter 4: Geology, Mixes, Temperature, Etc

Mercer County is hilly, with many valleys not only on the larger streams, but on the small creeks. This insures excellent drainage for the whole county, with the single exception of the flat lands along the Mississippi River. The county is well watered. Edwards River enters the county at Township 15 north and takes a course a little to the south of west until it reaches Mannon, where it turns almost directly south and enters the Mississippi a short distance below New Boston. Pope Creek is the next largest stream. It enters the county not far from the line dividing Townships 13 and 14 north and thence flows nearly west but a little south and finally joins the Mississippi at Keithsburg. It has numerous small branches, a few of which have been named. The southern tier of townships is partly drained by North Henderson Creek and its branches. The northern tier, except Eliza Township, is drained by Camp Creek, which has numerous small affluents. Eliza Creek drains the northern portion of Duncan Township and a considerable portion of Eliza. The western part of New Boston and Eliza townships have a number of small streams and lakes which drain that section of the county. The stream known as Edwards River was called by the Indians Chi-koshse-poo. In ascertaining the meaning of this term the question was referred to Dr. William Jones, a Sauk Indian, connected with the American Museum of Natural History. He answered as follows: "That part of the word Chi-kosh-se-poo, in the last two syllables, se-poo, means river. It is not certain what Chi-kosh is. It might mean the refuse and dregs, or it might mean onion. The first meaning, then, might be an unclean stream or river of dregs or filth. The second meaning might be onion river, that is, wild onion river. This would be my guess." As Edwards River in no sense can be considered an unclean river, it must.be inferred that the meaning of the term as applied to this stream was wild onion. It is not known whether Pope Creek was designated by any special Indian name or not.

Mercer County has about five hundred and fifty square miles and the fourth principal meridian runs along the eastern border. It embraces Townships 13, 14 and 15 north and Ranges 1, 2, 3, 4 and parts of 5 and 6 west. The highest point in the county is in Preemption Township and is 849 feet above the level of the sea. Aledo is 737.8 above the level of the sea.

A large portion of the county was originally prairie. The socalled barrens are along the streams where the water has cut deeply into the drift deposits. The soil generally is a black or chocolate loam with a yellowish or dark brown clay subsoil. That is the soil of the prairie generally. The soil of the barrens is the same, but has a lighter color and is not as deep. On the bluffs the humus and other valuable soil constituents have been largely drained out by the rains and streams and hence the soil there is not as fertile as that of the level prairie. The black soil in some places is covered by the yellowish subsoil which comes near the surface in places on slopes and bluffs. In several places the black soil has been wholly washed away, leaving the subsoil exposed, and this is usually yellowish in color. The soil along the Mississippi and at frequent places along Edwards River, Pope Creek and even the smaller streams, is alluvial and very rich in plant food. The Mississippi Valley in this county is from two to five miles wide. There are numerous swamps, lakes and bays cut with ridges of sand and loess.

The first settlers sowed much wheat, which at first returned a large and profitable crop. After a few years it was found that the yield per acre had become greatly reduced; so much so that the wheat crop was largely abandoned and corn was planted in its stead. At first the farmers did not understand why this should be so, but now it is clear that they exhausted certain vital constituents in the soil needed by wheat, and did not replace the same with compost or any other substance. It is now known that phosphorus and potassium are vital articles in the growth and development of the wheat crop. Hence, if the farmers now will supply the food constituents needed by wheat, they can raise as large crops of wheat as they formerly did. All of the streams in early times were heavily timbered, but now much of it has been removed. There were the following varieties: White burr, black, red and laurel oak; red and white elm; blue and white ash; hickory, maple, cherry and occasionally black walnut. In the bottoms were also found locust, sycamore, cottonwood, box elder, plum, crabapple and occasionally pecan and buckeye. Wild grape vines grew abundantly. In early times the excellent water-power on Edwards River and Pope Creek was utilized by numerous sawmills and grist mills erected for the convenience of the early settlers.

The surface soil of the county embraces the quaternary alluvium loess and drift. The alluvium deposits of greatest extent are in the Mississippi River bottom. This land in New Boston and Eliza townships is much cut up by swamps, lakes and bayous. It is low, but usuallv rich, and makes excellent meadow and pasture. Through this low land extends a number of sand ridges which have been washed up from time to time by the river. The loess deposit is found on the top of the Mississippi bluffs and varies in thickness from five to forty feet. It is brown or buff in color and is a marl. Frequently it contains a considerable quantity of bleached shells from fresh water. The drift deposits cover the entire surface of the county - above the bluffs of the Mississippi. Scattered over the valleys of water courses are the igneous rocks, composed of granite, hornblende, cyanite, feldspar, quartz, green stone, porphyry, trap and limestone. The drift deposits vary from nothing in a few places to over two hundred feet in others. Thus nearly all the soil used by the farmers of Mercer County was brought here by glaciers from distant points to the northward and was dropped or deposited where it now remains when the glacier melted upon reaching the warm climate to the southward. The permanent formations here, then, that were not brought here but were formed here are, first, the Paleozoic formations and constitute the coal measures which extend over the entire county above the Mississippi bluffs and embrace various strata of limestone, sandstone, clay, shale and coal, all aggregating the thickness ranging from a few feet to approximately two hundred feet; second, limestone to be found at the mouth of Edwards River which has been placed with the Kinderhook group of the Lower Carboniferous period. Tyler McWhorter thought it was Devonian limestone. It is an important fact that when the deep well, over three thousand feet, was sunk at Aledo it was found that all the older formations, such as Silurian, Devonian and Lower Carboniferous, are beneath the coal measures and perhaps extend over the whole countv. The principal groups of the Carboniferous rocks are the St. Louis, Keokuk limestone, Burlington limestone and the Kinderhook, all of the Lower Carboniferous age. With one exception all the sandstone strata found in the county belong to the coal measures. Many quarries of this stone have been opened and worked in different parts of the county and immense quantities have been used for building roads and for other purposes. It is soft when first mined, but becomes hard and firm upon exposure to the atmosphere, and is then a valuable building material. Fire clay and potter.'s clay are found in profitable beds in several portions of the county. A short distance south of Aledo is a bed of potter's clay. This has been mined, marketed and used in the manufacture of earthenware of various kinds.

The greatest source of wealth from the mines of Mercer County are the coal beds. The supply is enormous and will not be exhausted for hundreds of years to come. There seem to be, according to the authorities, three seams of coal in the county. The seam known as No. i Lower supplies the largest part of the coal now used by the county. This bed is from three to five feet in thickness and covers a large part of the county. In fact, its extent is not fully known yet. It has been extensively worked in Greene, Mercer, Preemption, Richland Grove and Duncan townships. No. 2 seam likewise covers a large portion of the county and has been mined in North Henderson, Suez, Ohio Grove, Rivoli, Greene, Mercer, Millersburg, Richland Grove, Preemption, Perryton and Duncan. This seam varies in thickness from one and a half to three feet; No. 3 seam has been opened in Greene, Rivoli and North Henderson townships. This bed ranges from three to five feet in thickness. Since the earliest settlement the presence of coal. has been known and a few mines were opened at a very early day and others were added as time passed and timber became scarce. The coal beds of the county are immensely valuable, which fact is appreciated by the inhabitants. The time will come when much of the coal can be and will be exchanged for cash. William A. Marsh has taken special pains to collect the fossil flora of the Carboniferous seams in this countv. He has found over five hundred distinct specimens of fossil fauna and flora. Tyler McWhorter likewise made a similar collection of coal measure fossils which he presented to the university at Champaign. In recent years the shell industry has been developed and button factories were put in operation at Keithsburg, New Boston and elsewhere, and a large number of persons were employed. While some gathered the shells from the river, others were employed in cutting them into buttons, etc. A few pearls of great value have been found.

The weather from season to season is an important matter, and in recent years a record has been kept to show the rainfall, minimum and maximum of heat and cold, etc. Destructive floods of the Mississippi have occurred in the years 1828, 1844, i8qr, 1858 and 1881.

Probably the Hood of 1851 was higher than any of the others. A description of that flood may be found herein in the chapter on Keithsburg. The flood of 1 88 r was extremely sudden and rapid, rising in a few hours and catching and destroying large numbers of live stock. It remained for nearly two months before the river went down. Fields with half-grown corn were covered with it and ducks appeared by the millions. It was estimated that forty thousand ducks were killed and shipped from this county to the cities during the season. The flood of 1858 was one which affected the whole county, and not merely the Mississippi River. In May and June it rained six weeks almost incessantly, and all streams were far above their banks, and a large amount of damage was done. Almost every bridge in the county was washed away.

In March, i860, a large wolf hunt took place in Millersburg and Mercer townships. The hunt was planned on the 2d and took place on the 17th. Nearly all of the two townships were surrounded and then the march to the center began. Thomas Clifford was chief marshal and the prairie south of Alexander Brown's residence was the central point where the circle converged. So far as known not a wolf was secured. In early times prairie fires were often very destructive. The grass grew high, and when dead and the wind blew, a fire once started would travel almost as fast as a horse. In the early '60s mad dogs appeared in every township of the county east of Aledo. Several persons were bitten and much excitement resulted. Late in the autumn of i860 and early in January, 1861, there were five weeks of fine, uninterrupted sleighing.

Another big wolf hunt occurred February 20, 1864. The meeting for this organization was held February 13th, at Marsh schoolhouse. Richard Kiddoo was made president of the meeting and William A. Marsh, secretary. A chief marshal and two assistants were appointed to organize the line. The men were divided into four bodies to be stationed on four sides of the track to be covered. This track will be understood by the following description: North line - center, Millersburg bridge; east end, Walnut Grove; west end, Kirk's Mill. West line - center, Universalist church; north end, Church's Farm; south end, Glancey's Mill. South line - center, John Ditto's home; east end, Judge Hays' farm; west end, A. Dodson's farm. East line - center, McKee's farm; south end, KimmeH's mill; north end, Bartlett's farm. It was ordered that each man should be at his post at 9 o'clock A. M. and must start promptly at 10 o'clock. All lines were directed to make their central point on the prairie east of John Love's farm. The marshals of the north line were Henry Dool, Thomas Clifford and John Beatty; west line, Jacob Braucht, John T. McGinnis and John Jackson; south line, James Brown, Josiah Willits and Samuel Cabeen; east line, Wesley Volentine, David Braucht and Henry Huffman. The hunt came off duly and was a grand affair, but not a wolf was captured or killed.

By act of February 15, 1865, George Brittenbanner, John H. Wilson, W. S. Streeter and Samuel C. Plummer were incorporated as the Banner Coal and Oil Company, with power to enter into the coal and oil business in Mercer, Henry and Rock Island counties. The capital stock was fixed at $500,000.

About the year 1874 a mastodon tooth was found in a slough on the farm of S. C. Anderson, two and a half miles west of Aledo. It was one of the molars and weighed one and a quarter pounds. A year or two later the tooth of a mastodon was found about a mile northwest of Viola, in Greene Township, and passed to the possession of Dr. J. V. Frazier. It was t) JX3J4 inches on the face and weighed two pounds and thirteen ounces.

In June, 1875, the Edwards Valley gopher hunt occurred at Sugar Grove. Several hundred men were engaged in this destructive hunt, with the following result: Striped gophers, 1,178; gray gophers, 346; barn rats, 475; rattlesnakes, 17; total, 2,016.

From December 1, 1877, to April 24, 1878, 121 wolf scalps were presented to the county clerk for the bounties due thereon - $10 on each of 8 old animals and $3 on each of 1 13 young ones. They came from the townships as follows: Richland Grove, 26; Eliza, 15; Rivoli and Perryton, 14 each; Greene, 11; North Henderson, 9; Millersburg and Duncan, 8 each; Mercer, 7; New Boston, 6; Preemption, 3. John Watson had killed the largest number - 14. Within a week twenty more scalps were presented.

It would be a difficult thing to specify and describe all the coal mines opened and operated in the county in early years. The best that can be done is to note the number at different times with the quantity of coal taken out, the number of men employed, etc. The following is the report of William McLaughlin, inspector of mines for Mercer County in 1878:

For the year ending September 1, 1879, the number of mines operated was 29. Amount of coal mined, 64,232 tons ; number miners employed, 176.

During the year ending September 1, 1880, there were mined in the county 82,953 tons of coal. There were 7 mines in Richland Grove Township; 11 in Greene; 4 in Preemption; 3 in Mercer; 3 in Duncan, and 1 in Perryton; total, 29. The number of mines was 231 ; thickest vein, 4'_» feet; thinnest vein, 2 feet.

Local Mixes Temperature

The shipping coal mines operated in 191 1 were 3, the number men employed, 436; and the coal mined, 239,740 tons. Total mined, 318,070 tons, much being sold for local consumption. In 1912 there were 3 mines, 471 men, and 318,070 tons. The Alden Coal Company operated at Mathersville and shipped 100,653 tons- 1 ne Coal Valley Mining Company was located at Sherrard and shipped 111,800 tons. In 191 2 there were 2 mines at Aledo, employing 16 men and turning out 7,848 tons. At Cable there were 2 mines, 7 men and 1,400 tons output. At Mathersville were 2 mines, 296 men and 206,270 tons output. At New Windsor was r mine, 7 men and 1,644 tons output; at Preemption was 1 mine, 8 men and 3,500 tons output; at Sherrard was 1 mine, 175 men and 111,800 tons output; at Viola were 3 mines, 12 men and 2,200 tons output; Thomas Hudson was mine inspector in 191 1. In 1912 there were 12 mines operated in the county, with 521 men and a total output of 334,662 tons. The twelve companies were as follows: At Sherrard, Coal Valley Mining Company; at Mathersville, Coal Valley Mining Company and Alden Coal Company; at Aledo, W. H. Riddell and W. P. Williams; at Preemption, Docherty Brothers; at New Windsor, R. W. Peterson; at Viola, C. W. Essley, T. C. Dodds & Son and James Blain; at Cable, B. B. Peterson and A. H. Wahlberg. Total, 18 mines; 458,472 tons output; and 769 men employed.