Peoria County, Illinois - Chapter 15: Old Settlers' Union, 1880

Chapter 15: Old Settlers' Union

Since the time when Abner Eads, I. Hersey, Seth Fulton, Josiah Fulton, S. Daugherty, J. Davis and T. Russell, pitched their tents against the remnants of Fort Clark, in the early Spring of 1819, the years have been so full of change that the visitor of to-day, ignorant of the past, could scarcely be made to realize that during these years a population of more than sixty thousand has grown up within the limits of the county whose history we are writing. From a savage wUd this land has become a center of civilization, net-lined with fences, and checkered with the fairest fields of cultivation.

It is not strange that among the pioneer settlers of any new country a deep-seated and sincere friendship should spring up, that would grow and strengthen with their years. The incidents pecidiar to life in a new country - the trials and hardships, privations and destitutions - are well calculated to test not only the physical powers of endurance, but the moral, kindly, generous attributes of manhood and womanhood. They are times that try men's souls and bring to the surface all that there may be in them of either good or bad. As a rule, there is an equality of conditions that recognizes no distinctions. All occupy a common level, and as a natural consequence, a brotherly and sisterh- feeling grows up that is as lasting as time, for "a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." With such a community, there is a hospitality, a kindness, a benevolence and a charity unknown and unpracticed among the older, richer, and more densely populated commonwealths. The very nature of their surroundings teaches them to '- feel each other's woe, to share each other's joy." An injury or a wrong may be ignored, but a kind, generous, charitable act is tiever forgotten. The memory of old associations and kind deeds is always fresh. Raven locks may bleach and whiten : full, round cheeks wither and waste away ; the fires of intelligence vanish from the organs of vision ; the brow become wrinkled with care and age, and the erect form bowed with accumulating years, but the true friends of the "long ago" will be remembered as long as life and reason endure.

The surroundings of pioneer life are well calculated to test the "true inwardness" of the human heart. As a rule, the men and women who first occupy a new country - who go in advance to spy out the land and prepare it for the coming of a future people - are bold, fearless, self-reliant and industrious. In these respects, no matter from what remote sections or countries they may come, there is a similarity of character. In birth, education, religion and language, there may be a vast difference, but imbued with a common purpose - the founding and building of homes - these differences are soon lost b}' association, and thus they become one people, united by a common interest, and no matter what changes may come in after 3'ears, the associations thus formed are never buried out of memory.

In pioneer life there are always incidents of peculiar interest, not only to the pioneers themselves, but which, if properly preserved, would be of interest to posterity, and it is a matter to be regretted that the formation of Old Settlers' Associations, or Unions, has been neglected in so man)' parts of the country. The presence of such associations in all the counties of a common country, with well kept records of the more important events, such as dates of arrivals, births, marriages, deaths, removals, nativity, etc., as any one can readily see, would l)e the direct means of preserving to the literature of the country the history of every community, that, to future generations, would be invaluable as a record of reference, and a ready method of settling important questions of controversy. As important as these associations are admitted to be, their formation has not yet become general, and there are man)- counties in the Western country whose early history is entirely lost because of such neglect and imiifference. Such organizations would possess facts and figures that could not be had from any other source. Aside from their historic importance, they would serve as a means of keeping alive and further cementing old friendships, and renewing among the members associations that were necessarily interrupted by the innovations of increasing population, cultivating social intercourse, and creating a charitable fund for such of their old members as were victims of misfortune and adversity.

In the Summer of 1876, a few of the earliest settlers, actuated by the motives suggested in the preceding paragraph, determined to call a meeting of old settlers for the purpose of organizing an Old Settlers' Association. The meeting was held at the Courthouse on the 4th day of July, 1867. Hon. John Hamlin presided and Colonel Charles Ballance acted as Secretary.

After a full and free discussion of the subject it was resolved to organize a Society of Old Settlers, and Messrs. George C. Bestor, Edward F. Nowland and Charles Ballance were appointed as a committee to prepare a constitution and by-laws to be submitted to a future meeting to be held at sucii time and place as the committee should appoint.

Pursuant to the action of this committee, a general meeting of old settlere was held at the Court-bouse on the 27th of July, 1867, which was largely attended - Hon. John Hamlin presiding, and Charles Ballance, Esq., acting as Secretary.

For the information to be derived from social intercourse, and reminiscences of the settling of this part of the country, we, the undersigned, agree to form ourselves into a society to be called the " Old Settlers' Union of Peoria and Vicinity," under the following constitution, to wit ;

Articlk I. The officers of this society shall be a President, two Vice Presidents, a Recording and Corresponding Secretary, and a Treasurer, all of whom shall be elected by a majority vote of the society at the first meeting and at each yc.irly meeting of the society ; and they shall hold their oOiccs respectively until their successors shall have been elected and are ready to enter upon the performance of their duties.

Artici.k II. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all meetings of the society, and to call extra meetings upon the petition of any six members.

Article III. It shall he the duty of the Vice Presidents in case of the absence, resignation or death of the President, to perform all of his duties.

.Artici.ic IV. In case of the absence, resignation or death of the President and both Vice Presidents, any six members shall h.ive power to call a meeting, and in such case any meeting shall have power to elect a President fn ttm., which meeting so called and presided over shall be a.s valid as any other.

.\r ri' 1 K V. The Recording Secretary sh.ill keep n record of the proceedings of the society, which shall be subject to the inspection of all the members.

Article VI. It shall be the duly of the Corrcspomling Secretary to carry on any correspondence of intereit to the society, and promulgate the same at the yearly meeting.

Article VII. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to keep all moneys belonging to the society, and pay out the same upon the order of the society or any committee vested with the power to control the same, and he shall make report thereof at the annual meeting.

Article VIII. Every man having a good moral character and having resided in the State of Illinois for a period of thirty years prior to the date of this constitution, and for the last ten years in Peoria or its vicinity, shall, upon payment to the Treasurer of an initiation fee of one dollar, be eligible to become a member of this society. [At a meeting of the Union, July 4, i86g, this article was amended so as to read " that every person who has resided in the State of Illinois prior to A. D., 1840, who is now a resident of Peoria or its vicinity, shall be entitled to become a member of this society by signing the constitution and paying the initiation fee ; and the children of any person who is a member of the society shall be entitled to membership at any age.]

Article IX. The first meeting of this Society shall be held at the Court-house in the city of Peoria at two o'clock on the 27th day of July, 1S67, and forever thereafter at the same place, and at the same hour of the day, on the fourth day of July, and at such other times as may be appointed, as hereinbefore provided. [At the annual meeting of the Society, July 4, 1870, on motion of John Waugh, the time of meeting was changed to the loth of September, the anniversary of Perry's victory. At the re-union on the loth of September, 1873, the time of meeting was again changed, on motion of Alva Dunlap, and the second Thursday in September substituted.]

Article X. If at any time it shall be thought necessary to have by-laws to aid in carrying out the objects of this Society, it shall be competent for the Secretary, by a majority vote, to adopt such by-laws, and in the same way to amend or repeal them, when they .shall have been proved to be defective or injurious.

Article XI. It shall be competent for the Society at any yearly meeting to make any amendments to this constitution which a majority shall approve.

Hons. E. N. Powell, John T. Lindsay and John C. Flanagan, Esq., were appointed a committee to prepare a code of by-laws, to be submitted at the next meeting. On motion of Mr. Nowland it was unanimously

Month. Year

Came to the Illinois country in 1806. Died in Bushnell in the Summer of 1870. Took out first marriage license from Peoria Co. Bom in Peoria county. Died January 10, 1880.

*.Mr. Underliill's remains were first burieil at Austin, and subse<|uenlly taken up and bruu);lit lo I'mria ulicic they were re-intcrred with high Masonic honors, on Suiidav, April 18, 187$. fSon of Job Uruwii, inventor uf the Lever cum planter, in 1857.

Year

The second annual meetinp of the Union, a basket pic-nic. was hold in Flanapan's Grove, July 4, 1868, that well-known old settler hiiviiip ttMidond tlio use of his ]irfniises for that purpose. John Hamlin jiresided. This nieetinj; was largely attended and highly enjoyed. After dimnr and atttiidaiit festivities eame the election of oflBcers for the ensuing year. Soliu Hamlin was re-elected ])resident by acclamation, and the other officert) of the preceding yea: were llicn re-elected by one vote by acclamation.

Eacy Letter From An Old Sailor

Mr. J. C. Flanagan, corresponding secretary, presented a letter from Captain L. Coolidge, which was read and ordered to be engrossed in the records of the Society, and tiie original to be filed among the archives of the Union. The letter is herewith presented :

J. C. Flanagan, Esq. - Dear Sir : As Secretary of the Old Settlers' Society, I wish you to hand the underwritten to its committee. I should be happy to attend the meeting on the ensuing loth, but think it quite uncertain. I recall with pleasure the pleasant times, the long nights " when winter chills the darkened air," passed with Pinckney, Abbott, Thompson and Caldwell, choice spirits, whose genial dispositions and social powers crowned old Winter's head with flowers.

In accordance with the desire of the committee of the Old Settlers' Society, before it is presumed they will "shuffle off this mortal coil," that they should leave some little item pertaining to themselves, I am induced, principally that my example may be followed, to offer this as " something - nothing." I am very sensible there is a diffidence and reluctance in being the herald of our own exploits. It is hard to get acquainted with ourselves. We may have a distinct notion of what we are, and yet would prefer that somebody else would tell the world of it. But all reluctance in this respect is obviated by the intention that these sketches are to be exclusively as " tablets of memory" and references for the use of the Society. Few, indeed, have experienced more of the sad vicissitudes of life than myself. " Variety is charming." as Cowper says. Among its numerous favors was being shipwrecked once - "resolved into dew" in one zone, and congealed into ice in the other : on an uninhabited island fourteen months ; and a prisoner at Halifax eighty-four days in 1812. At the time of my discharge John Bull's short commons of pea soup and middlings had reduced me to an "anatomy or tailor's yard-stick." Being rather at variance with the ocean, I bid it farewell, and "cleared" for the Green Mountains of Vermont. Here I eventually bought a farm, and after residing on it nearly fifteen years, I was induced, by the persuasion of a farmer friend who had " moved' to Illinois, to leave the mystic grandeur and romantic beauty of the Green Mountains for the dull monotony of the Prairie Land, a contrast which took us a long while to reconcile with complacency.

years, when we had an opportunity of " selling out" quite advantageously, and removed to Brimfield. Here my son opened a farm about a mile E. by E. from French Grove, which, at present, consists of two hundred and forty acres of as good land as any in the county. *v***********-^*

I am every inch a Yankee or " round head," but forswear "barebones" and their potations; was born at the "hub" of the universe, or which is rather more refined; the " modern Athens," within a few rods of the Old South Church, as well known in all Yankeedom as St. Paul's to Londoners. ' Age has claw'd me in his clutch." I am now eighty-five ; enjoy comparatively good health, which, while I retain, makes life enduiable.

I devoutly hope that the last days of the Old Settlers may be their best days, serene and peaceful, with the precious attributes of an holy trust and confidence, so that when the time comes that they return to mother earth, the common mother of mankind, they may

A Request

After considering this letter and discussing various incidents in the life of the writer, on motion of Colonel Ballauce, it was resolved that each member of tlie Union be requested to furnish a sketch of his life, with any incidents of an interesting or historical nature, and deposit them with the secretary. The spirit of this resolution, it is to be regretted, has never been fully carried out.

Third Annual Meeting

The third annual meeting of the Union was held at Flanagan's Grove on the 4th of July, 1869, Hon. John Hamlin presiding. E. F. Nowland resigned the position of Treasurer, and on motion of Colonel Ballance, Louis Howell, Esq., was cliosen to the vacancy. With this exception, the old officers were re-elected.

The day was an enjoyable one, and in the greetings and interminglings of the old settlers, many incidents and happenings of the long ago were recalled and discussed, and for a few brief hours they seemed to live over again tlie times that tried their souls and powers of eudurance " when this country was new."

In May, 1870, the officers of the society received a communication from the lady manaeers of the Springdale Soldiers' Monument Association, conveying an invitation to the Union to atteiul the unveiling of the soldiei-s monument on the 30th day of that month. A call for a meeting of the society on the 18th of May was published in the city papers. The meeting was held at the ofBce of Hon. E. \V. Powell, Hon. John Hamlin presiding. The communication of the ladies having been read, Hon. J. T. Lindsay presented the following preamble and resolution, which were adopted without dissent :

Whereas, Our Society of Old Settlers has been honored with an invitation from the Springdale Soldiers' Monument Association to meet with them to commemorate the heroic deeds of the soldiers of the War of the Kebellion. and to witness the ceremonies of unveilinc of the soldftrs" monument on the 30th of May, instant ; therefore,

[A full account of the unveiling of this monument, with a full description of the same, will be found in an appropriate place in this volume.

The Day We Celebrate

Arrangements for celebrating the 4tli of July were discussed at this meeting, and it was finally agreed that it was best to delay action for the time being, and the President of the society was instructed to issue a call for a meeting to be held on the 30th to make the necessary arrangements for such a celebration. Pui-suant to the action of this meeting (of the 30th) the society was called to meet at the Court-house on the 4th of July. Hon. John Hamlin presiding, called the meeting to order, and announced that the first business was the election of ofiicers for the ensuing year.

A. W. Bushnell, Esq., moved that the officers of the previous year " be declared by acclamation the officers for the ensuing year." The manner of choosing officers, as defined by the constitution, was discussed at some length, but Mr. Bushnell's motion finally prevailed, and the old officers were declared elected.

Fourth Annual Reunion

The fourth annual meeting of the society assembled at Parmely's Hall, on Saturday, the 10th day of Sejitenilier, 1870, the anniversary of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. It had been intemlcd to hold an out-door meeting, but the weather was unpropitious, and hence the meeting in the hall mentioned. In consequence of a misundei-standing as to the place of the meeting, the assemblage was not large. The weather kept many people at home ; others went to the grove, where they expected the "old folks" to assemble, and finding no arrangement there for the meeting, returned to their houses. Those who a.ssenibled in the hall were well entertained. Several short speeches were made, and old times reviewed. Among the sj)eakers was Major A. E. Barnes, of Bushnell. His father, D. W. Barnes, came to Fort Clark with Capt. Jude Warner's fishing party, about the 10th of June, 181!). "He had looked forward to this reunion with a great deal of pleasure," said Major Barnes, "and had his arrangements perfected to visit his old friend, Blaiichai<l, and attend this gatliering at the same tri|), but death taiin- a few days too soon, aii<l he sleeps the sleep from which he will awaken to join his old friends in a reunion that will never break up."

July 4, 1871, at a meeting of the society held at the Court-house, the old officers were re-elected by acclamation. Committees were appointed to make arrangements for the annual reunion, to consider and recommend a day for adoption by the society, on which to hold its annual meetings, etc., after which the meeting adjourned.

Fifth Annual Eeunion

The fifth annual reuion of the Old Settlers of Peoria county and vicinity, was held at Central Park on the first Thursday, the 7th day of September, 1871, and was very largely attended by citizens from adjoining counties. An excellent dinner was served, and the afternoon was spent in recounting old-time incidents. Josiah Fulton, of Richwoods township, was presented with a mammoth pear of the Ohio Belle variety, measuring four and one-quarter inches in diameter. It was sent to the society with the request that it be presented to the oldest settler in the county. Of the seven men who came to Fort Clark on the 17th of April, 1819, Mr. Fulton is the only one who has maintained a continuous residence in the county.

Colonel George C. Bestor exhibited the kitchen furniture with which he commenced keeping house in Peoria. It consisted of three pieces - a Dutch oven, an iron dinner pot and a copper tea-kettle. " The tea-kettle," said Colonel Bestor, " was considered people of the present wanted to commence house-keeping with as much furniture as their parents left ofi^ with, and that they were astonished when told of the few and simple utensils, furniture, etc., with which their fathers and mothers had commenced the battle of life."

A map of Peoria in 1831, drawn in India ink, was on exhibition. It was executed by Mr. John Roberts, of Morton, on the 29th of August, 1831, and showed sixteen log cabins, all of them below Main Street. The view was taken from the opposite side of the river, and although many of the oldest settlers did not know it was in existence, they pronounced it to be perfect, and pointed out the respective residences of each family then in Peoria.

Colonel Peter Menard, of Fremont, seventy-three years of age, and the oldest native-born inhabitant of Illinois, was present. He was born at Kaskaskia, 2dth December, 1798.

July 4, 1873, as shown by the records, a meeting was held at the Court-house, John Waugh presiding. The election of officers was considered, but deferred to the regular meeting of the society, which, on motion, was fixed for the 10th of September.

Messrs. A. W. Bushnell, John Waugh and Samuel Tart were appointed a committee to arrange for the manner of reunion, and fix the place where it should be held.

The Sixth Annual Reunion

Was a basket pic-nic and was held at Central Park on the 10th day of September, 1873. A large number of the old settlers and their descendants were present. Dinner was taken at 12 o'clock, after which a business meeting was held.

On motion of Alvah Dunlap, of Radnor, it was resolved to hold all regular annual meetings of the society at Central Park on the second Thursday in September. The election of oflicers being next in order, Alvah Dunlap was chosen president; Lewis Howell, treasurer ; G. W. H. Gilbert, secretary. Then came speeches full of reminiscences of the olden-time by Judge Wellington Loucks, Hon. J. K. Cooper and Jolin Todhunter, of Peoria, and William Blanchard, of Hilton, Tazewell county.

The following lines were prepared for the occasion of this meeting by John Todhunter, Esq., who came to the county in June, 1834 : They were entitled

Seventh Annual Reunion

The meeting,' of tlie Old Settlers was highly iiitere.sting. It \va.'< held at Central Park, on the 10th of Septemher, 1874, Alvah Diiiilai) presiding. Among the visitors present was the venerable John Dixon, then nearing his ninetieth hirlhday. Although one of the earliest settlers at tort Clark, and intimately associated with the people and the public affairs of Peoria county in early times, he was an entire stranger to many of those present. lit was introduced to the assemblage by the president, and was greeted with three hearty cheers. "Speech! Speech I " was voiced from many mouths as soon as the cheers subsided. He declined to make a si)eech, but being iirgetl to tell how he happened to come to this country, essayed to answer in a few words, but as he referred to old times, slumbering memories were awakened, and catching the enthusiasm of the masses by which he was surrounded, lie made quite an interesting talk. His remarks were full of humor, and happily received. He relateil how he was chosen clerk of the County Commissioners' (^)urt, how he was elected clerk of the Circuit Court, and how he became a great office-holder, having more offices thrust upon him than he knew what to do with. He was clerk of the County Commissioner's Court, Circuit Court, Justice of the Peace, hotel keeper (^in his log cabin), and fanner at the same time.

Letters were reatl from Hon. W. J. Phelps, Col. T. J. Henderson and Hon. R. J. Oglesby, expressing regret at their inability to be present at this gathering of the old men and women, whose courage, enterprise and industry, made Peoria county a garden of beauty and productiveness.

the meeting was called to order at twq o'clock P. M., John Todhunter, an old settler, was introduced as orator of the day. His speech was replete with reminiscenses, and erabodied a complete review of life-experiences in a new country. Mr. Todhunter is a gentleman of versatile intellect, readj' tongue, retentive memory and varied experience, so that a better selection for orator could not have been made.

A short address was also made by Hon. John Hamlin, who was folio ived by John M. Roberts, of Moreton, who came from New York to Illinois, in the early part of 1832. Bloomington was the first place in the State where he found a settlement, and that settlement consisted of only a few log huts. Traveling on towards Peoria, he came to the log hut of Isaac Funk, who was the nearest settler to Peoria. Mr. Funk was sick in bed at the time with tlie prevailing disease of the countr}', bilious fever. At the beginning of the Black Hawk war, the speaker was the only iifer in his neighborhood, and he was enlisted to form a company- for that conflict, which was organized at Pekiu. He still lives upon the same land on wliich he settled when he came to the countr}'.

There is no written record of this reunion on the journal of the Unioii, and this sketcli is made from newspaper reports, which, with the exception of the address of Dr. J. T. Stewart, is necessaril}' brief.

Address Op Dr. Stewart

In the morning of life the sun shines brightest. In the mominp' of life the green earth puts on a deeper green. The rosy hues of the sky are more rosy. The sparkling dew drops are real gems. The twinkling stars are real diamonds. The flowery fields are more gorgeous, their fragrance more delicate. The rainbow comes and vanishes away, but the bow of hope never fades. In the morning of life we drink in all the surrounding sweetness, beauty and fragrance, and they are stamped on our minds forever. In later years we look back upon this period as an Eden from which we have been banished.

Those who in early life have lived and mingled together, with the same surroundings and under simil.Tr circumstances, can look back upon essentially the same picture.

We who are here assembled have had essentially the same surroundings, the same experiences, the same hardships to endure, the same bright hopes to buoy us up - the same joys, the same sorrows.

We have seen and lived in one of the fairest and richest spots of the earth, when it was in its pristine beauty; . we have with our own hands broken the virgin soil and laid the foundation of civilization in the wilderness. As nature is rough, wild, romantic, grand and free, so were we.

We found this country, as I said, in a state of nature, without a house, without a fence, without a road, without a bridge, without a town, without a city, without aschool, wifhout a church.

What did we have? for nature has her compensations. §he will not sufl'er any of her children to be deprived of all her blessings. What did we have? We had freedom. Many of the conventionalities that now trammel us were unnecessary and unknown. We had strong arms and willing hearts to battle with the elements, build our houses and provide the necessities of life ; we had unbounded confidence in each other, and that confidence was rarely misplaced ; we had a society that was democratic in the true sense of the word ; we had a warmth of feeling toward each other and a free-hearted, open hospitality that is to-day unknown.

We had unlimited pasturage for our cattle, and our meadows were bounded only by the forests; we had the land before us and could choose our own abode with none to dispute our right. I must here make one exception. The Indians had a prior claim on all this country and sometimes made us serious trouble.

In 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out. In Bureau county some families were butchered and others had to fly for their lives. In this county there was much fear but no serious danger. In Putnam county the settlers had to build forts and remain in them for safety during the war. I lived in one of them three months. I think that was the happiest three months of my life. liut alas for human happiness ! It is never unalloyed ; while we boys were at the very height of our enjoyments our worthy fathers employed a stray schoolmaster who happened to be in the fort and left us to his tender mercies, while they went in squads with their guns, their plows and hoes to work their corn fields, first to one farm and then to another; we also had a stray pracher in the fort by the name of McDonald. He served as chaplain and made himself generally useful as well as ornamental. A mile and a half from this fort was a log meeting house; we being piously inclined went to this house on Sundays and held religious service. A guard was left at the fort, and the rest of the men with their guns and what women and children could go went regularly to church. I well remember going repeatedly to this place and hearing McDonald preach with a guard placed outside and the guns of the male members of the congregation stacked in the corners of the church.

thus needlessly expose thenoiclves. their wives and children to ihe dangers they did, has always been a mystery to me. The only theory that to my mind gives any rational solution, is this : They had such implicit faith in Providence they could not believe any harm would befall ihcm while they went up to the house of God to worship. And not only that, I believe they thought it gave ihem additional security during the week. They evidently thought it was their duly.

.\ soldier in the line of duty may brave any danger and not falter ; but when he thinks he is not doing bis duly, the moment he is exposed to d.ingcr he is a coward.

For the Indian!) I wi-.h to say a word. In time of peace they were, as a rule, friends of the settlers and did them many acts of kindness. They trealcfl the settlers better than the settlers treated them. Their word was unimpeachable. Put them on their honor and you could trust them with any thing you had. If they found one in distress they never failed to u-e all means in their power to relieve that distress. They would give the last moriel of food to a hungry man. They would go any distance, night or day. to guide one home, who was lost. If it were necessary to stay with them over night, they would give him the best they had, and his life and personal effects were safer than they are to-day in any house in Peoria. If a man was sick they would give him their simple medicines, sometimes hunt all day in the woods for something they thought would relieve him and travel for miles to bring it to him.

Notwithstanding their degradation and their many bad traits, it is sad, very sad for us who have known their kindness and their many good qualities to think of them as a dying race. But the laws of nature arc inexorable. Men have their period nf existence and must die. Races have their period of existence and must die. The Indian race has fulfilled its mission in the world and is now going out of it. Their "days are in the scar and yellow leaf," yea, even the autumn of their life is passed, t'lc pitiless Winter is upon them, whose drifting snows will bury them out of sight forever.

My personal history is of little moment, but taken in connection with the early settling of the State may be of some interest. .My father moved from Southern Ohio to Bond county, Illinois, in 1820, two years after the tenitory was admitted into the Union as a State. Then all north of a line drawn from a few miles north nf St. Louis, east, with the exception of a few settlers in the vie nity of Beardstown, and a very few in the vicinity of this place and Pekin was an unbroken wilderness. South of that line were a few thousand immigrants chiefly from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina.

My father took a piece of land six miles north of Oieenville, the county scat, and twenty miles from Vandalia, then the capital of the State. This was not a fortunate move for him. The land was flat and poor, and in those days in that locality the horse-flies were so bad that it was almost impossible to work corn or drive a team across one of those prairies during that lime of the year.

lie improved Ins farm as best he could, lived upon it twelve years, and then sold 11 with all the improvements, including a bearing orchard, for just twenty dollars more than he paid for the land in the land office. I have heard him say that this was the best trade he ever made in his life, for he moved to Putnam county, where he obtained more land of the best quality and in a dry, healthy locality.

It was during his sojourn in Bond county, in 1824, I was born. I have no very distinct recollection of that event, but the fact of its occurrence is well authenticated.

.Vmong my earliest recollections is, of ray father shooting a wolf from his very door yard; of him bringing in deer and wild turkeys he had killed, and the savory dishes they made ; of visiting a c.inip of Imlians near his house, of his feeding a half a dozen of ihein at his table ; of his telling us " if it were not for you, children, I would go to the lead mines and get rich." The Galena lead mine excitement was then at fever heat. Of old Black Kanny and her broadsword. Fanny was a runaway slave from Kentucky, who carried a veiy large sword to protect herself against any one who might attempt to captuie and lake her back i^to slavery.

This was actually attempted by a man by the name of McGoon, with a posse of men from Kentucky, but was defeated by her bravery ami the assistance of the neighbors. She lived there many years afterwards, was regarded a» a heroine, and was, withal, a very good woman. These are a few of the little incidents that reach back into the early twilight of my life.

In all the speeches I have heard at old settlers' gatherings I have never heard yet one word about the children of old settlers. From this uniform silence one might infer that they had no children; but ladies and gentlemen, 1 can assure you that would be an erroneous inference, and being one of them myself I have a word to say in their behalf.

They shared the privations of frontier life, e<|ually with their fathers and mothers. They sometimes suffered with cold and hunger. Many of them died from disease in consequence of insuthcieiit or unsuitable food, (.lothing and housing. Many of the means of amusement that are now common with us were to them unknown. The old settlers very generally held to the belief that a reasoiialile and sometimes an unreasonnble amount of rough usage was conducive to their happiness, as it w.is a soit of loughcniiig, hardening process that every child should go through to make it develop into a strong man or woman. This was a very serious error and sometimes with the feebler ones proved to be a fatal mistake. They pointed to the Indians who lived, as they said, in a stale of nature, as examples of health and strength, forgetting that they raised but few children, not enough to keep up their numbers, the feebler ones dying fur want of pioper care and exposure. Toys were lyi regarded as important, but as rather trifling things and not to I.e encouraged. This was also a mistake. The means of education were necessarily limited. I do not make these remarks to reflect upon the early settlers, or to insinuate that they weie wanting in alVection for their cliililrcn. That would be doinp tlicni a great injustice. They had as warm hearts as any pet jde that ever lived and would, and sometimes did, sactilice themselves to ilcfend and protect their children. Il arose fioni two causes F"irst, the circumstances in which they weie placed, remlering it necessary to devote most of their time and energies to obtain the necessities of life ; and, second, to erroneous theories in relation to the mental, moral and phyaical development of children.

Notwithstanding all these drawbacks and disadvantages, our lives liod al)ii;;hl side ; for, as I before said, nature has her compensations ; we knew nothing else ; we were unconscious of tlie existence of the things we were deprived of; we were like the beggar girl in New York who, with her mother, one cold night took shelter under a cellar door. She remarked to her mother, " Ma, ain't you sorry for the poor folks that have no cellar door to get under?" Knowledge is obtained by comparison. The Greenlander will not believe there are any fairer fields or greener hills than hisoA-n.

We had the green open fields for our playgrounds ; we basked in the sunshine and in the shade. No one who has not seen the primitive prairies can realize their beauty. In the Springtime they were spread with a carpet of flowers. I have time and again spent whole days on them. When I look back forty years I see them now as I saw them then in all their freshness and beauty, but never again except in imagination expect to see such a wilderness of bloom. In the Summer tliere was not such a profusion of flowers, yet they were many and varied ; and in the Fall, above tlie tall grass shone the asters, golden rods, phloxes, wild sunflowers, and a host of others - wh ite, light and deep blue, purple, red. flesh color, pink, crimson, scarlet, yell. )w and orange - all blending harmoniously together and with the deep rich green of the grasses.

We gathered the wild strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry, cherry and plum. Some of these were very abundant. I liave seen hundreds of acres literally covered with wild blackberry bushes loaded with (ruit. I have seen the finest of wild plums, so abundant they could be gathered by the bushel.

In the Fall we laid upa supply of hazel nuts, hickory nuts and walnuts for Winter. When old enough we often amused ourselves hunting and fishing. Children growing up under such circumstances, with such surroundings, naturally acquire more love for nature than art.

I believe children of strong physique and large brain, brought up on the frontier, are likely to develop into large r proportions and make greater men than those brought up and educated in the older States, but they are not apt to accumulate wealth - they have not had financial training. Those who come in later have the advantage in this regard, and usually surpass them in that line.

If I were to choose a p'ace for a child to be born in, I «'Ould choose a wild and romantic one, that is yet in a state of nature. 1 would give him the prairies and the forests for his playgrounds. I would have them in all their freshness, beauty and grandeur, Impressed upon his mind, while it is young and plastic. I would give him all the freedom that is compatible with civilization. A strong physical development is the foundation of mental power. When this was well developed and a love of nature made a part of his existence, I would throw him in contact with men. He has now a foundation on which to build. The rough corners will wear oft' while his strength remains. He will then have a freedom, a breadth of thought, and boldness of action that can be acquired no other way. It is a notorious fact that most of the great merchants, machinists, physicians, lawyers, ministers and scientists of our great cities were brought up in the country, and many of them on the frontier. In our great anxiety to refine and educate our children, we are weakening them. We are making them nice and precocious at the expense of their vitality. We must go back two thousand years, to the Spartans, and learn how to make men and women.

Fifty year» ago the few scattered settlers of this State had no conception of the greatness and grandeur of its future. They had no means of knowing. Perhaps they knew as well as we know what the condition of things will be fifty years hence. There is no period of time in which we can with certainty judge the future by the past. Had it not Ijeen for the introduction of railroads, their calculations would not have been so far wrong. That element of which they had no means of knowing produced a revolution. What new element may be invented and introduced in tlie next quarter or half a century that will still more revolutionize trade and the distribution of population, no one can tell.

From 1825 to 1S50 there was no great or marked change. The population increased, settlements were extended, immigrants penetrated all sections of the State. Thrifty villages sprung up in the interior, supported by the surrounding settlements ; but tlie chief towns were on the rivers and on Lake Michigan. All the settlements were on or near the borders of the timber, and the interior villages never dreamed of being anything more than villages. The great prairies lay undisturbed, except on their borders. No one any more thought of them bein.; settled than we think of the Desert of Sahara being settled. In looking back over those early settlements, one curious fact is worthy of notice. The different sects of religion were represented in the different settlements. Two or three Presbyterian families would strike out and form the nucleus of a new settlement. They would write to and visit their friends of the same faith and induce some of them to join with them. Their combined influence would draw in others, until, in a few years, they would have a large Presbyterian community. Ten miles distant there would lie a Methodist community gotten up in the same way, with perhaps not a Presbyterian in it. A little way in another direction would be a Baptist settlement. In a few sections there was a mixture of all, and some even without any church members at all. These .sects were not harmonious, no one of them had any love for the others, each wanted to establish its peculiar faith in the new country, and felt it a special duty to accomplisli that object. Their zeal was often greater than their knowledge. This sometimes led to disputes and quarrels in which a whole neighborhood became involved. As the settlements increased in numbers they became more mixed, and as they learned more of each other these asperities softened. Men began to suspect there might be some good Christians that did not belong to their sect, and that possibly there might be some good men who were not Christians at all. Christians are now more liberal, but less zealous, and I am sorry to say less honest. A man's word was then better than his note is now. Litigation was rare, arbitration common. In 1845 to 1S50 the whole scene began to change, and the change came so rapidly we old settlers could not well adapt ourselves to it ; we could not realize it; many were drifted ashore and left high and dry while the great stream of life flowed on ; others, with quicker perception and broader comprehension, kept in the current, keeping pace with the march of events.

The Illinois Central Railroad from Cairo to Galena and from Centralia to Chicago, making 691 miles of road, was built in a very short space of time. Almost simultaneously with this the Chicago and Rock Island sprang into existence, followed by a net-work of roads too numerous to mention. They penetrated all the great prairies, render- ing them aviiUble for s-Mbmrnt and brought with them » tidal w»ve of population ind business. It changed the currents of travel and cjmmercs. It diverted the travel from our river and most of its freight. It built up towns and ciiici ill the interior where before there wa'i' nothing but open prairie or small villages. It made a great city of Chicago. She made the great Northwest tributary to her, and in an incredibly short time developed into one of the chief cities of the world.

One local effect of the introduction of railroads should here receive notice. I'eoria was not fortunate enough to secure any important lines of road until she was belted round with them, her travel taken away, and her trade cut off in every direction. For fifteen years she virtually stood siill. While Springfield, Bloomington. Galesburg. and other inland (owns were building up, accumulating wealth and rising in importance, &he was hedged in. and but little more than holding her own. We knew from the natural advantage^! of our location we must in time make an important city, but " hope dcf<.-rred makelh the heart sick," and many became despondent and some left.

We finally got the T. P. & W. road through to the Stale line, but our connection there was with a road run in the interest of Chicago. We got another line east but its connection was controlled by the same interest. Ingoing east we were compelled to submit to annoying delays, or go round l)y Chicago. Travel and traffic coming west was forced round the same channel. Chicago held us in her hand and had no mercy on us. Finally Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Baltimore and Philadelphia saw that Chicago was not all the West and determined that all other interests should not be subservient to her':. They having the means and the will broke down these barriers and gave us free exit. Then our pro>perily began - then a new era dawned upon us. Now our railroad facilities are not surpassed, and our future is as bright as any other city in the West.

The contrast between our mode of living forty years ago and now, is very great. We enjoyed it then because not many of us knew anything else; but none o( us would like to go back to it again ; we lived in log cabins with puncheon floors and no carpets ; we wore the plainest of clothing, most of it home made. I have raised flax - pulled it, dried it, threshed it, rotted it, broke it, skutched it and hetched it. My mother has then taken it and made shins, pants and coals for me.

I have raised sheep and sheared them, washed the wool, hauled it thirty miles to a carding machine, and brought home the rolls. My mother has spun them into yarn, wove it into cloth, and cut and made up this cloth into winter clothing.

I remember, when a Utile boy, of my mother going, several limes, about two miles to a certain place where some quill wood grew. She brought home the canes, scraped off the outside bark, cut them into proper lengths, pu.shed out the pith, and m^ide empties of them. Upon these empties she wound the yarn with a reel, or made us boys do it, and made quills to put on the shuttle, to weave cloth with.

Years afterwards, when I studied botany, I wondered and wondered what that quill wood was, and was finally delighted beyond measure to find the identical thing growing on Kickapoo creek. It proved to be the hydrangia arborescence. I look a stalk of it and planted it in my garden, where it now grows and shall grow as long as the memory of my mother and old limes last.

It was a common thing to go to mill, ten and twelve miles (sometimes thirty). This I have done myself. I well remember going to mill one time wiih an older brother, with an ox team. We had to cross a prairie ten miles wide, without a house. In doing this we mired down three times and each time had to carry ihe entire load across the slough on our backs, and then gel the oxen and wagon out the best way we could. We finally made our way through, got our flour and returned safely home and, withal, had a very enjoyable trip.

I well remember seeing potatoes sold for five cents a bushel. I well remember hauling wheat from Putnam county to Chicago and selling it for fifty cents a bushel. I well remember of my father selling eight hundred bushcU of as fins wheat as ever grew for thirty cents per bushel.

The school house in which I was taught to read I could throw a cat through between the logs, and Ihe windows were tilled with oiled paper instead of glass.

The first church I ever attended had the ground for a floor and a fire built in the center without chimney or flue, true Indian fashion. Then we had a mail once in two weeks, and we paid twenty-five cents postage for a letter. Five letters cost just as much as an acre of land. No one complained of this. No one thought a letter could be carried for le^s money.

Now. a lawyer to be prepared for business, requires a ton or more of books ; then an armful sufficed with a corresponding amount of legal knowledge.

The Mclhodisl minister was prepared to prove that John Wesley was ihe greatest man that ever lived, and the doctrine of falling from grace, to disprove Calvaiiism, the doctrine of elections. God's foreknowledge and his decreet.

The Baptist never failed to prove that immersion wai the true and only mode of administering the rite of baptism, and that wiiliout it no one could be saved.

The Presbyterian could demonstrate to any rational man who was not blinded by sin, the truth of Calvanism, original sin, God's foreknowledge, his decrees, election, fore-ordination, baptism by sprinkling and the perseverance uf the saints.

The physician mounted his horse with his saddle-bags, which contained the following nrlicles, viz : a pound of a bottle of castor oil, a bottle of calomel and jalap, a bottle of tartar emetic, a lancet and a fly blister. This was his entire stock, and when that failed, the Lord help the patient.

I might go on and specify many other things, but this is enough to give an idea of the settlers and Ihe country at that time. Forty years have wrought a complete revolution ; yet foily years ago men were as happy as they are now. Times, manners and customs change, and we must change. The inarch of improvement is ever onward, and we must march with il. Wc may enjoy certain circumstances and condilinns, but when these have changcil, passed away, and new ones have taken their place, we can not go back and enjoy tliem again. We enjoy our childhood state, but when we are fifty year's oldlhe things that pleased and satisfied us will please and satisfy us nomore.

Ladies and gentlemen. I now bid you adieu ! I hope to meet you on many more occasions like this. The ranks of the original settlers are growing thin ; there is now but a remnant left ; the frost of age is upon them all, and one by one Father Time is bearing ihem away. May he spare them yet a little longer. May he remember their long and troubled lives ; have compassion on their gray hairs ; bear them gently down the sunset of life, and when he must claim them for his own. land them where there is a fairer clime and greener fields than ours, where trouble shall cease, where every tear shall be dried, where sickness, pain and sorrow shall be known no more forever.

Miscellaneous Remarks

At the close of Dr. Stewart's remarks, which were well received, Geo. H. Kettelle was called for, and in a fifteen minutes speech acquitted himself handsomeljs comparing the old and new. He was followed by Dr. Castle, formerly of Peoria, now of Stark count}'. Mr. Kettelle, at the close of his speech, presented, on behalf of Perry Frazier, a bread plate to Mr. Wm. Blanchard, of Tazewell county, being the widest settler in this portion of the State, and the first white man married in Peoria county, which took place in 1825. Mr. Blanchard returned his thanks in telling of what he found in Illinois on his arrival in the State in 1819. Dr. Castle was most complimentary in his remarks to the city of Peoria, stating that we have the handsomest and most healthy location he ever saw, and predicted at no distant day the old settlers of this count}' will meet in a city of an hundred thousand inhabitants instead of only 35,000 that we now have. He closed by giving many incidents of especial interest to the ladies and gentlemen who remembered as well as the speaker did the occurrences of the long ago.

Election Of Officers

The Rev. Mr. Hall followed Dr. Castle in a few appropriate remarks, and gave way for the election of officers, when the following gentlemen were chosen :

Samuel Tart, president ; John A. McCoy, vice president ; George Bestor, secretary ; H. B. Rouse, corresponding secretary, and L. Howell, treasurer.

Resolved, That the constitution be so amended that any person residing in the State of Illinois for more than thirty years previous to this time, be allowed to become members of this Association, upon signing the constitution and paying the usual fee.

The names of Mr. Isaac Underbill, Mrs. Morse, John Sharp, Mrs. Dunlap, Mr. Bristow and A. Beal were handed to the Secretary to be recorded as among the dead, having died since the last meeting.

Ninth Annual Reunion

The ninth annual re-union of the Old Folks, of which there is no written record, was held at Jefferson Park, on the 10th day of September. 1876. Addresses were made by Judge Weed, John T. Lindsay and others. The old officers were re-elected.

Tenth Annual Reunion

September 5, 1877, the tenth annual reunion of the surviving veterans of early times in Peoria county, was held at Spring Hill Park, the use of which had been tendered by Colonel Deane. The day was pleasant, and the attendance large and respectable. An abundance of substantials and luxuries had been prei>ared by the pioneer mothers, and dinner was served from one to three o'clock. Said the Transcript^ of the ' 6th : " Two long tables were spread just back of the fountain, and were presided over with the grace and efficiency that always characterizes the ladies when they undertake

After dinner the old settlers gathered "on the hill." wheie a speaker's stand had been improvised, and were called to order by President Tart, when the assemblage, led by E. A. Van Meter, Charles Crucknell, Miss Milliard and Miss Kent, joined in singing to the air of the Old Folks at Hoine, the following:

Old Settlers Song

Chorus : We, Old Settlers, come to greet you. Proffer heart and hand ; Krcathe, too, a fervent prayer to meet you Yonder, in the spirit land.

Chorus : Still, Old .Settlers, we come to greet you. Proffer heart and hand ; Breathe, too, a fervent prayer to meet you Yonder, in the spirit land.

Chorus : Where with welcome shouts they'll greet us. When we reach Heaven's strand ; Fling wide the golden gales and meet us. Brothers, in the better land.

After this song was rendered, the president introduced Rev. A. R. Morgan, pastor of the First M. E. Church, as orator of the day. The address of Mr. Morgan was able and interesting, but too lengthy to be re-produced entire in these pages, hence only the closing paragraphs, which were expressed in well chosen words, are here presented :

"Of those who first composed this society of Old .Settlers, many have enlere<l into rest during the year. I have buried two of your number. Other* will soon follow, and .soon not one will be left to tell of the events which this day calls to your minds. Gather ye, then, to your greetings with truest friclul^hip. He ever the friends of the good and true. He ever, with lenderest pity, the friends of ihc fallen, the ignorant and the helplcvt. Keep this day of thanksgiving in a genuine love. Let it be engraven deeply on all your hearts, an<l wear it there through all lime.

" I am glad to meet you. glad to see you so happy, so youthful in heart and .soul, while the shades of evening an: setting upon you. We separate ; another such a day will never come to us all. Lei me remind you, remind all, we journey to one goal, man's last resting place ! Happy if we march m it .iright. happy if, when the sands have run through the hourglass, when the last rugged march along life's dreary pathway shall have been trodden, when the last storm shall have beaten ujwn us, if the bow in the cloud for us

"Then let me call upon you to bury in the grave of to-day the wrongs, the proscriptions, the sorrows of a weary paat; bury the memory of wnmgs, every thing that corrupts, corrmles and destroys. Let every one join in tilling up the grave ; round it over. Now clasp hands once again with old and tried friends, forget ihc things th.u are behind and reach on to the future, renew your faith in God and plight in truth as pure as the heavens a love stronger than death, and go forward for whatever duty demands, whether labor or conflict, and soon you » ill hear the words of the Master as you enter upon your final rest, ' the lal>orer is worthy of his hire.'"

John W. Caldwell, of Tazewell i^ounty, followeil Mr. Morgan anrl matle i\^ characteristic speech. Flf alluded to the hardships of his early life, or what he considenl as hardships, as compared with the condition of the people of to-<lay. " lloininy was the principal article of food. The corn was pounded in a mortar, or hominy block. The finer part of the eriishing was sifted throiigli a wire sieve .mid luiidc into cuin bri'.-nl. and tlic coarser j)arl was used as hominy. There were two mills within twelve or fifti'i'ii miles. W(! would sometimes go to mill with a half bushel of corn to have it ground into meal.

Sometimes we had to wait two days to have it ground, there were so many others ahead of us. Perhaps our friends would like to know what kind of floors we had. Well, we had puncheon floors. Our whole family, strangers and all, slept on beds made on these puncheon floors, and we all slept, I tell you ! No matter where one went in those days, they were among fi'iends and were never turned away."'

Samuel King spoke next, and was followed by William Blanchard. Colonel Dowdall, of the National Deviocrat, was called, and in response, said he had not before wanted to be counted among the Old Settlers ; that lie wished to be recognized as being a young man, but the open prairie pn the top of his head admonished him that he was getting along in years. He came to Illinois in the stormy Winter of 1835. Privileges, comforts and luxuries were scarcer then than now. He was not in the war of 1812, but his father was. The speaker related an anecdote about going to mill once on horseback with a bushel of corn in one end of the sack and a rock in the other end to even it up, in accordance with a custom handed down from the fathers. As he returned home with the meal, he came across a wolf track, and concluded to have a wolf hunt. In the chase he lost the meal, and didn't get the wolf, and consequently returned home empty handed. His father forgave him for the loss of the meal, but threatened to whip him because he didn't get the wolf.

Samuel Tart, E. F. Nowland, John A. McCoy, and John Todhunter, of Peoria, and John W. Caldwell, of Tazewell, were appointed as a committee to look after the sick among the Old .Settlers, with power to relieve their necessities, where necessities existed. '

Eleventh Annual Reunion

The last annual meeting of the Old Fathers and Mothers of Peoria county was held at Spring Hill Park, on the sixth day of September, 1878, Samuel Tart presiding. "The attendance,'" said the National Democrat, of the 7th, was not as large as it should have been, not more than four hundred persons being present." Dr. George A. Wilson delivered the regular address, which was principally devoted to historical reminiscences of Peoria county. He did not claim to be the oldest settler, although that was not his fault. He was born in 1840, which was as early as he could settle anyivhere. He spoke of the early explorations of Marquette, LaSalle and Hennepin between the years 1673 and 1680. " The first houses were built in Peoria in 1778 and 1779, and numbei'ed, in 1779, about twenty-five. In 1780 Peoria first took its name from a tribe of Indians, the Peorins. In 1812 the French village was destroyed by order of Capt. Craig. Fort Clark was built by soldiers in 1813, and destroyed by Indians in 1819." The speaker then gave the names of the settlers who came here in 1819, also the settlers of 1822.

In 1824, Jacob Wilson, father of tlie speaker, Jesse Walker, John Stark, and others, and year by year down to 1836. He then referred to the earlj' history of Peoria county, the first persons elected to office, the organization of the citj* government, etc., and closed with a happy tribute to the pioneers and early settlers, whose enterprise laid the foundations of the county and city's present prosperity.

Doctor Boal, Hon. Washington Cockle, Dr. C. A. Roberts, of Pekin, and William Blanchard, also made short addresses. Miss Lou Deane, in a natural and effective manner, read Carleton's poem, " Nancy and I are Out," which was enthusiastically applauded. Letters were also read from Governor CuUom and Secretary of State George H. Harlow,

Geo. L. Bestor, secretary, being called suddenly away from earth in January of 1879, and President Tart being temporarily resident in Chicago, the vice-president, John Todhunter, and secretary- pro tern., G. W. H. Gilbert, and other members of the society, conferred as to the annual meeting and election of officers, and concluded to j)ass it over, in the hope that ere another Autumn the honored president would be returned to tliis city and his place in the Society.

One by one the old heroes and heroines are passing away. At each of their reunions there have been fewer hands to clasp, and the bending forms and hoary heads of those who are still spared, tell plainer than words can do. that soon, ver}' soon, not one of them will be left to tell the story of the struggles and triumphs incident to the settlement of the country of the Peorias, Kickapoos and Pottawatomies.