Sangamon County, Illinois - City of Springfield 563, 1881 (part 8 of 25)

"Rochester. Ill , July 30, 18Y9. " Friend Diller: - At your request, I will try and give you a brief synopsis of my experience during the primitive times of Illinois, when Sangamon county was in its infancy. I will commence with an item of chronology. The place of my nativity was Fassenburg, Addison county, Vermont, August 31, 1802. That of my husband the same, January 10, 1799. In the spring of 1832, 1 and my husband first made our advent on these broad savannas. Oh! what changes have swept over these people in the swift flight of time since that day. My first experience upon landing was not calculated to enliven or to cheer, for immediately upon our arrival, ere we had time to unburden our 'prairie steamer' of our little effects, my husband had to stand the conscription for the Black Hawk war. That was indeed a sad and gloomy beginning. What my feelings were under those trying circumstances, none can know. The mental anguish that I suffered, tongue cannot tell or pen describe. But I presume that it was a necessity to expel/ from this beautiful land the original possessor, who, by his numerous and cruel outrages had rendered himself obnoxious to the march of intellect and the vanguard of civilization. Ye of Sangamon of 1879, who prate of hard times, what, prithee, would you think, if you had to remain at home alone, a stranger, in this vast v»7ildernes8, while your husband went to St. Louis in a two-horse wagon to purchase corn to make meal of, to satisfy the craving of nature? There were days and weeks of agony, of fear and suspense - not knowing at what moment the aborigines, who were still in contiguous proximity to us, might descend and desolate our homes. Those, indeed, were days of action and of vigilance, for at that time I had five little children to guard, and the hoarse cry of the wolf was the only musical instrument Sangamon furnished to lull them to sleep. But those days are numbered with the years beyond the flood. Great and important changes have taken place since that period, and we are now no longer necessitated to array ourselves in habiliments of our own handicraft, but in that day all that adorned our persons were the fabrics wrought by our own industry on the loom. Mothers of the Sangamon of to-day, who bedeck your little ones in costly fabrics that outvie the floral landscape, think not that our little ones were less near and dear to us, who, fifty years ago, clothed them in the homespun of our own manufacture. There may be in this assembly, some fair exotics, that will smile in derision at this humble picture of past experiences of one whose sands are running low - whose fastidiousness may be horrified to think that the hardy pioneers of Sangamon had to do as I have many a time - go to the field, gather corn and grate it, then wait till the cows come up at night, to make food of it. And we pronounced it good; not only good, but very good. At that tune my husband plied his trade to get corn to live on while he raised his crop; and the first and most important order that he had was of one Robert Bell, for a pair of boots, for which he received the magnificent compensation of three pecks of corn meal. Thus did the early settlers of Sangamon learn habits of economy and frugality, and by patient industry their efforts have been crowned with success; for now, verily, the wilderness doth blossom as a rose. We have taken the bitter with the sweet, for adversity is a stern but wholesome teacher. We have suffered greatly at times from the malarious diseases incident to this latitude, and at that time our scientific resources were limited. The fell destroyer of mankind has visited us, and stolen from us several flowers of the group which we had gathered around us. Thus have we struggled on, looking forward and upward. We have seen old Sangamon in her infant wilderness; we now behold her in all her pride and grandeur, with her star of destiny still in the ascendant, and ranking wath those of the first magnitude. What the next turn of the kaleidoscope will bring forth for us, or for Sangamon, naught but the future will reveal."

Mrs. Robert Burns

"Mr. Diller: I have been too sick since receiving your request, to give my experience as an early settler of Sangamon county. PIoM'ever, I will give you a few incidents, and you can use them as you think best. We have been living here on this farm for fifty-four years next

October. I picked cotton out of the boll, then the seed out of it, carded and spun and wove the cloth in dresses ; also made shirts from it for Mr. Burns, and he wore them several years. The first dishes I purchased in Illinois, rode to Springfield on horseback, taking my cloth to exchange for dishes. When returning home the prairie was discovered burning. Mr. Burns left me to imt the tire out. My horse became frightened, threw me, and broke all my dearly bought dishes. There was not a fence or stump to get on, and I had to walk several miles. At last I came to a gopher hill and mounted again, rejoicing that I had escaped without seeing a wolf. We were here during the deep snow. Our house was so open that the snow blew in so much that we could track a rabbit across the floor. The bed would be almost covered in the morning. Prairie chickens were very plenty when we came. Mr. Burns made me a trap, and I amused myself during the day by catching and dressing the dainty game. The first table in the Grove was made of clapboai'ds, given me by 'Squire Moore, about six months after we came ; until then we ate off of a box. We had no chairs.

Mrs. Sarah P. Husband, Of Auburn

"Was born November 12, 1790, in South Carolina. Her parents moved in 1797 to Kentucky, passing by way of Crab Orchai'd Fort, stopping there a day or two for provisions, protection from Indians, etc., and going thence through Lexington to Christian county, where the family located. The journey from South Carolina to Kentucky was made on pack-horses, several persons riding on one horse. Sarah and another child rode with their mother on an old sorrel horse named 'Jack.' In 1811 she was married to Harman Husband (who died near Auburn, Illinois, February 15, 1848). The family moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in October, 1820. Numerous interesting incidents occurred on the journey, but only one will be mentioned, viz: While crossing the Ohio river a young calf jumped from the flat-boat; my husband seized the calf by one ear and held it until the boat reached the shore. The calf was brought on to Illinois and did its part in stocking the new county of Sangamon. Arriving in Sangamon county the family settled three miles east of Auburn, where the old lady still resides, aged eighty-nine yeai's, and still active and anxious to live to be one hundred years old. Among early incidents it may be related that the Indians erected on the homestead, their bark wigwams, etc., and hunted over the farm. The subject of this sketch frequently gave them corn bread, having no wheat bread in those days. While encamped on the farm, an Indian child died, and the Indians made a box of bark in which they put the corpse and suspended it from the top of a tall tree, thus keeping it until the tribe was ready to return to the burying grounds. Many other incidents occurred, but similar ones are familiar to all early settlers. Corn cakes were baked on a board before the fire, and 'hoe cakes ' were so called because they were cooked on an ordinary hoe, properly cleaned and greased, of course. Mrs. Habman Husbakd."

Springfield, 111., August 5, 1879. " Mr. Diller, Dear t>ir: - I came from Green county, Kentucky, arriving in Springfield May 5, 1822, and have resided in Sangamon county ever since, making fifty-seven years last May. The second summer we lived here the corn was killed by frost, and during the summer of 1823 we lived mostly on green corn, potatoes and bread once a day. I remember well the deep snow, and how we walked over stake and rider fences on the snow. At that time I lived three and a half miles southeast of Springfield, with my father, James Short. I was married to Andrew McCormick, and resided in Springfield since that time. I have attended several Old Settlers' meetings, and enjoyed them very much, and I intend meeting my old friends once more if the weather will permit.

"In the fall of the year 1828, in the midst of the soft and mellow Indian summer, the sj^eaker left his native county of Fayette, Kentucky, emigrating to Springfield Illinois, and traveling on horseback, in two days arrived at Louisville, and crossing the Ohio river struck the great highway to the West, running from Louisville to Vincennes and St. Louis, and at Maysville, Illinois, branching to Central Illinois, known then as the Sangamon country.

ward, whose mission was to subdue the wilderness, to found States, to carry forward the banner of civilization, and whose sons were to return, at no very distant day, in arms under the gallant Sherman, to save the Union from disruption, as under Hardin and Bissell they saved the field of Buena Vista - a race never yet defeated in battle, or if defeated, who never knew it.

"That moving mass was composed of every specimen of humanity, men, women, children, lilack and white, old and young, some highly cultivated and refined, others at the very lowest round of the ladder of intellect and cultivation, and of every intermediate grade. There was the man of middle age, who had filled a high social position in his native State, accompanied by a family cultivated and refined, on the way to the West, to retrieve his fallen fortunes.

" There were young girls, then obscure, unknown, and poorly clad, but destined to fill princely mansions, and to become mothers of a race of fair daughters and gallant sons. Young men and boys were there who in their new homes would fill high offices of State, make and enforce laws, and impress their names and genius on the history of States then springing into existence; or whose destiny would be to fell the forest, to reduce the prairie to cultivation, to siibdue the wilderness, and make it feed its millions of happy human beings; or would become lawyers, doctors, preachers, teachers and statesmen.

"All kinds of domestic animals, and of every age, were there, intermingled with men, women and children, following the family wagon or carriage. Every conceivable mode of conveyance; some were on horseback, or in carriages; others in wagons of every variety, and many on foot. Onward this varied mass moved by day, shouting, singing, laughing, jesting, cursing, cracking their whips, hallooing to their animals to press them forward. Merry they go, save here and there might be seen some serious faces of those who were thinking of their native homes and the friends they had left behind them.

"And to the traveler on horseback, belated in reaching his rest for the night, how enchanting the scene as he rides along. The camp-fires blazing everywhere, along the road, down every brook and every valley; the groups around the camj^-fires, and at the evening meal; the cattle and horses being fed at the wagon trough, or tethered, or wandering about browsing on grass or shrubs; the whistle, the song, the merry laugh, the bustle, the salutation to the passer-by, 'Where are you going, stranger?' All is anima- tion and joyous life; while over all shines the silver moon struggling to shed her silver light through the hazy Indian summer atmosphere. These road scenes, altogether made a spectacle never to be forgotten, and the like of which will never more be seen east of the Mississippi, and perhaps never again on this continent.

"Near Maysville, Illinois, the road separated, and the emigrant train divided, part taking the road for St. Louis, and part for Central Illinois. And now the Grand Prairie is reached. Pen cannot describe a large prairie; it must have been seen to be appreciated ; it was grand and peculiar; its nakedness of everything except long grass and weeds, seared by the autumn frosts, or feeding yon long line of fires, or waving in the breeze; its silence disturbed only by the noise of small insects, the whirr of the prairie chickens, or the sighing of the breeze; its boundless extent, appealing to the imagination; you fancied it like the ocean; its undulating surface resembled the waves; the wavering grass is the water, agitated by the w'ind; yon emigrant wagon, rising the distant hill, is the ship upon the crest of the wave; yon outline of timbers is the rock-bound coast; but the herd of deer, which, frightened at the approach of man, bounds gracefully away to yonder hill, and stands, with head and tail erect, gazing at you with large, bright eyes, dispels the dream.

" As I am trying to make a picture of things as I saw them, I would recall to the memory of old settlers some of the scenes they witnessed when first crossing this same Grand Prairie, if not on this, on some other road.

" Riding along the gently rolling prairie, now you descend into a valley, and your vision is limited to a narrow circle. That herd of deer has taken fright at your coming, quits its grazing on the tender grass of the valley, and, following that old buck as leader, runs off with heads erect, horns thrown back, their white tails waving in the air, has circled around until yonder hillock is reached, when, turning towards you, they gaze with their dark, bright eyes, as if inquiring why you have invaded their free pastures. As you ride along, the rattlesnake is stretched across the road, sunning itself, and the prairie wolf takes to his heels and gallops ofi: much like a dog, but slowly, as if to show you that he is not much f lightened. That flock of prairie chickens has taken wings, and with a whirr flies away, and now has alighted yonder.

and gaze around. As far as the eye can reach, and bounded only by the horizon, stretches the undulating prairie, covered with grass and resin weed. How grand, how beautiful the view! How like the sea with its rolling waves!

"And now again you have been overtaken by night; you reach that other hillock, and checking your horse, you again gaze around you. The prairie grass is on fire, here, there, everywhere, all around the horizon, and lighting up the whole heavens. The scene now, how unlike that other, but still how grandly beautiful! A vision of wondrous enchantment, the like of which is now gone forever. Few scenes on earth surpass such a prairie, either in the bright sunshine of day, or when in the night blazing with such fires.

"I have since stood at the foot of one of the Rocky Mountains, lifting its lofty head amid the clouds, its sides massive, rugged, treeless, without insect or fowl, silent as the grave. The scene of the mountains and of the prairie are widely different. The one grand and full of life, but impressing the first beholder with a sense of beauty; the other silent, grand, sublime, and impressing its first beholder with a sense of wonder and awe, but alike suggestive of the thought that none but God, One, Almighty, Allwise, could make them, and with wonder that anyone could doubt it, or believe that they came into existence by chance, by evolution or the aggregation of sentient particles of matter.

"The night of the tenth day of his journey the speaker passed at the house of Mr. Husbands, on Sugar creek, in Sangamon county, and early next morning was passing along the road through the Springfield prairie, and about where the junction now is. What a difference between 'now' and 'then!' Now may be seen by one, passing by the Junction, long lines of freight and passenger cars on the two roads crossing at that point from North to Sc^ith, and from East to West.

"There is the coal shaft, the noise and smoke of its engine, and the huts of the miners; there are in view the spires and curling smoke of the Capital City; all around are well cultivated farms, well stocked with fine cattle, and everywhere around are life, activity, and progress.

"Then all around was unbroken prairie, the home of the wolf, the deer, and the ])rairie fowl; unmarked by civilization or cultivation, except the scattering farms and houses along the timber. The dwellers in those houses, if then asked, would have informed you that these

IDi-airie lands would never be purchased of the General Government, that they were not worth the taxes and would ever remain pasture grounds for those owning the lands near the timber.

"Traveling thence north, nothing yet met the eye, except the wild prairie, and its boundary of timber, and on that boundary on the east, the farms of Washington lies and of Mason and Plank, and on the west, of Little and Linds^ay. At the distance of one mile the high ground was reached, the rim of the valley in which Springheld was situated, where new runs the South Avenue. Thence descending into the valley, the only additional improvements to be seen were the farms of Lanterman and Lanswell on the west, and of Charles R. Matheny on the east, w^here IVIrs. Robert Irwin now lives, and of Masters, in front of the traveler.

"Passing the Masters farm on the left (now Moran's addition), and the house of the Masters, near the residence of Mrs. Humphrey, and crossing the open prairie, the road running nearly where are now the residences of Mrs. Chestnut and N. W. Ed^\ards, to the grove afterwards known as Mather's grove, where the new State House is being built, and following the road west of Mather's grove, with the grove on the right, and on the left the corn-field of Major lies (now EdAvards & Mather's addition), to the eminence, where now stands the residence of the late Mr. Tyndale, the little village until then hid by the timber and brushwood along the town branch, first burst upon the view.

"Reining in the horse, pausing on that eminence, to take a survey, the eye rested upon a dense grove of Black Jack, and undergrowth, east and west, all along the town branch, covering the entire hill on which Mr. Lamb's house is situated, while in front lay the little village of Springfield, made up of a string of small houses, mainly extending three blocks, along Jefferson street, I'vom First to Fourth streets, with some few scattered elsewhere.

"The houses were generally small, unpainted, and some daubed with mud; the rain of the morning had given to all a dreary and cheerless look, bringing a fit of blues to one who remembered the pleasant home of his boyhood, and then surveying for the first time, the home of his manhood, which then promised so little and has proved so full of happiness.

"The village of Springfield was built in a valley about two miles wide ; it was drained by a stream, since known as the Town Branch, which heads in the southeast corner of the city, and runs west-northwest, and empties into Spring creek. Into the Town Branch on either side, in flood time, at intervals of three or four hundred yards, the water had washed deep gullies, or ruts, which drained the entire valley into the Town Branch, one of these wet weather drains ran from the northeast corner of the square to the southwest corner, and thence to the Town Branch, near the railroad bridge.

"This surface drainage has entirely disappeared, being displaced by the admirable underground drainage adopted by the city. On both sides of the Town Branch as high as Sixth street, was a dense forest of small trees and undergrowth, the harbor of deer and wolves. The remains of this forest may be seen in the yards of Mrs. Goodell, of the Governor's Mansion, and of Mr. Eastman. Parallel with the Town Branch are two ridges, the rims of the valley, at an elevation of from twenty to thirty feet above the branch. The North and South Avenues run very nearly upon the summit of these ridges.

"The central points of intercourse, at that day, in the Northwest, were St. Louis on the south, and the lead mines near Galena on the north; and the leading road of the Northwest was between these two points. The road from Vincennes by the way of Vandalia, united with this road at Macoujiin jjoint, and entered Springfield as above described, over the hill where the new State House is building, and running on First street, to Jefferson, and passing the Abrams Hotel, the principal hotel of the city, on the corner of First and Jefferson, continued on Jefferson to Fourth street, where the St. Nicholas now stands, there turning to the north, in a nearly straight line, to the present residence of Mr. Converse, thence to the Sangamon river, very nearly orr the line of the present road, and thence north by Music's Bridge and Peoiia to Galena. This was then called the Fort Clark road. The next road in importance was the road to Beardstown, which running west on Jefferson street and crossing the Town Branch at the tan-yard and old mill, foUow^ed very near the present line of road to Beardstown. The east and west road from Jacksonville, very near its present line, united with the Beardstown road at the Town Branch and passed thicugh Springfield on Jefferson street to the square, and thence east through an open prairie, and crossed Sugar creek, near Major lies' farm.

with the situation because it abounded with game and was a good hunting ground. He returned to North Carolina and induced his family connection to move, and in the year 1819 John Kelly built a cabin north of the Town Branch, near where it is crossed by Jefferson street, the present site of the residence of General Anderson. With John lived his father and several unmarried brothers. William Kelly built a cabin north of John, on a tract owned afterwards by Archer G. Herndon, now the residence of C. A. Gehrman, the merchant. Andrew Elliot built still further north at the place where he died, now Elliot's addition; all these cabins were near the timber of the Town Branch. These were the first settlers of Springfield, if not of Sangamon county. It may well be wondei-ed why those primitive settlers, having the choice of the whole country, should select these inferior sites for cultivation, rather than the higher and better lands in the vicinity. The answer is found in the wants, and opinions of that early day. They needed water and fuel, these were found on the Town Branch. They needed shelter from the wind, they found it in the timber of Town Branch; above all other things, they wanted a good hunting ground; that they also found on the Town Branch and Spring creek, one of the very best of hunting grounds, and moreover in the opinion of the early settlers, they Avho occupied the land bordering on the timber, would become practically, the owners of the outside prairie, as their pasture ground forever.

On the 28th day of October, 1828, he entered Springfield by First to Jefferson street. At the crossing of First and Jefferson, looking west, on the margin of the timber and Town Branch, stood the old horse-mill of John Taylor, then abandoned, and the tan-yard of William Procter, now living at Lewiston. Both of these buildings were on the north of Jefferson street, and intermediate between them and First street was a corn field. On the south side of Jeffei'- son, and west of First street, stood the houses of John Sherril, a shoemaker, and John Moor, who had married Mrs. Hawley, the estimable mother of E. B. Hawley and Isaac Hawley; and west of Moor were the cabins of Uncle Billy Fagan and of William Baker. Going thence east on Jefferson street, first stood the hotel of Mr. Abrams, on the south side, and adjoining was the dwelling and store of John Taylor, next the Buck Tavern, kept by Andrew Elliot, next the grocery and adjoining dwelling of William Carpenter, On the opposite side of Jefferson was first what was once the old tavern, but then the dwelling of Colonel Cox and family. Next east were five or six small two-room frame buildings, with ends to the street: the first occupied by Jessie Cormack in the front room as a tinner's shop, while Asa S. Shaw occupied the rear room as a justice's office; next was the store house of Mordecai Mobley; .next the grocery of Ebenezer Capps, and the two next on the corner were occupied as the store of General James D. Henry, with Philip C. Latham as clerk. Following east on Jefferson and across Second street, at the corner, on the right, stood the store where Elijah lies sold goods, and John Williams performed well the duties of clerk. The family of Major lies resided in the same house. Next was a two-story log house, in the lower room of which Jabez Capps had a shoemaker's shop, the upper room being the residence of his family. Opposite, on the north side of Jeffei'son, and on its corner with Second street, stood a small log house, occupied as a store and dwelling by Archer G. Herndon; next east was a two-room frame house, with end to the street, the front room occupied by Hooper Warren as a printing oflice, and the rear room as the dwelling of his family; next, and on an eighty-foot lot, stood a two-story house, with two rooms below, with a hall between, occupied as a residence by Paschal P. Enos and his family, except the east lower room, which was used as a land office. Continuing east on Jefferson, and crossing Third street, and as you looked south on Third, not far from the south end of the Chicago & Alton Depot, stood another two-room frame building, with end to Third street, occupied by a carj^enter named Fowler as a residence; next was Levi Goodin in a cabin on the south side of Jefferson, while on the corner of Fourth and Jefferson, on the south side, stood the residence of General James Adams. On the north side of Jefferson, between Third and Fourth streets, stood a double log building, the residence of Gorden Abrams. Next, on the corner of Fourth and Jefferson, stood the residence and shop of Dr. Jayne. This house still stands, and is occupied by Mr. Baum as a stone and marble establishment. Still going east on Jefferson, and crossing Fourth street to the right, on the eighty-foot lot on which the St. Nicholas now stands, was a two- story double log house, the residence of Charles Boyd, a tailor. On the north side of Jefferson, and opposite to Boyd, was the residence of Thomas Strawbridge and his sister, Mrs. Anderson. Jacob Plank resided in a tworoom frame house, on the corner of Sixth and

Jeffersou, and crossing Sixth street, on the corner lot of Jefferson and Fifth streets stood the blacksmith shop of John White, and his residence adjoining. On the opposite side was the cabin of the Tuckers, and these were the last houses on East Jefferson. Crossing to Washington street, and beginning again on First sti'eet and' moving east between First and Second and on the blocksouth and on the site of the present residence of Major Orendorff, stood a two-story frame house, the best in the village, the then residence of Dr. John Todd. This frame house was afterwards removed and still stands nearly opposite, across the street. Going still east on Washington near the corner of Washington and Third and near the present site of the flouring mill, stood a log cabin, the residence of Polly, a colored woman, and her family. Still east, on the corner of Washington and Fourth, stood a double frame house then occupied as a residence by Joe Thomas, afterwards purchased by and made the residence of Dr. John G. Bergen, while on the same block, and near the corner of Washington and Fifth, stood the residence of Asa S. Shaw. On the opposite block, and on the corner where now stands the Chenery House, there stood the cabin of a colored woman, called familiarly Aunt Creecy, and these were the only houses on Washington street. There were but two houses of Adams street, the blacksmith shop of Aleck Humphreys, and his residence adjoining, situated on the corner of Adams and Third, on the north side, opposite to the Episcopal Church, and the residence of Dr. Garrett Elkin, on the two lots on the south side of Adams, where it corners with Sixth street, now occupied by the magnificent stores of C. M. Smith and others, the very centre of business. Washington lies and family live in a two-room frame house on the corner of Monroe and Fourth sti-eets, the present site of the Second Presbyterian Church. Rivers McCormack, a Methodist circuit rider, had built and lived in a cabin on Monroe, on part of the Tyndale hill, but he had ceased to occupy it. Fronting the public square, on the corner of Sixth and Adams, stood a two-story frame building, the lower rooms of which were used as a court room, while the upper was used by Charles R. Matheny as a clerk's office. Fronting the public square on the west, and on the lot now occupied by Joel Brown as a book and drug store, stood another two-room frame hoiise, with end to the street, then occupied by Dr. Darling as a family residence. On the east side of the public square was the whipping-post.

I saw two men punished at the whipping post. The last was named Watson, who was sentenced to receive eighty lashes for an attempt to rob Mr. Bouge. General Henry, the sheriff", inflicted the punishment, and it was doubted by those who saw it, whether Henry or Watson suffered most. Henry was very pale, and I hope never to see another such a sight. I believe I have enumerated all the buildings in the village of Springfield; all north of Jefferson, all east of Sixth street, and south of Adams, except as above mentioned, was unbroken prairie, except that Charles R. Matheny and family lived on the corner of Sixth and Cook streets, now the residence of Mrs. Irwin, and there cultivated about forty acres; and Edward Mitchell resided with his family northeast of the public square, on a small farm, which afterwards was laid out into Mitchell's addition.

" The town of Springfield then had not exceeding five hundred inhabitants, and they were from every section and State in the Union, generally young people, except where the father or grandfather had come out with some younger branch of his family. They were, as a rule, poor, and had moved West to better their fortunes. It required some courage and nerve then to emigrate to the West, and therefore they were generally energetic and enterprising. They were persons who had come from good families East; had seen good society, and Avere as well educated, cultivated and refined as were the inhabitants of towns of the same size East or West. All had traveled more or less to reach Illinois, and some had come from the remote States. This gave them an advantage over citizens of the old States, in the knowledge of men and things which travel brings along with it. All were on equality, the only distinction arising from superior intelligence or better moral character. This equality rendered them social, hospitable and kind to each other, and ready to receive strangers with open arms. Their social intercourse was free from forms and restraint, which wealth and more extended social circles bring along with them. They met together on the street, in the offices, or around the family circle, and were happy in their intercourse with each other. The young lady who wished to have company in the evening did not send out elegant cards, but placed a lighted candle in her window; the young men, collected around the four corners at the crossings of Second and Jefferson, would see the light, accept the invitation, and assemble for social enjoyment. I remember well the first time this occurred after my arrival. Miss Clarissa Benjamin, now Van Bergen, placed her candle in the window of the parlor room, above the store of Major lies. Phil. Latham gave notice by exclaiming: ' Boys, Clarissa's candle is in the window; let us go over.' The young men assembled there, and found Miss Clarissa Benjamin, Misses Hannah and Margaret Taylor, the Misses Dryers, and Miss Jane Bergen. It was a pleasant, social evening, and these ladies were as handsome, refined, and entertained as well and gracefully, as the young ladies of the present day.

The people then in Springfield were moral and honest; there was little stealing or cheating. There was no occasion then to lock up the doors and bar the windows at night; they had no fear of sleeping with all open. The use of ardent spirits was perhaps more general then than now, but there was less drunkenness. To drink was then fashionable, and the wonder is that all did not become drunkards. I have remarked that all the early settlers of the town who habitually used ardent spirits, and especially those who used them to excess, have made no mark in the world, but died young, and are forgotten; while the sober men, as a rule, have become heads of large and respectable families, lived respectably, and contributed to the building up of the city and the advancement of all its social interests.

"Grouping the business men of that day, the lawyers were Gen. James Adams, Gen. Thos. M. Neale, Col. James Strode, Thomas Moffitt and Jonathan H. Pugh, men of mark then, but now all dead and forgotten, overshadowed by that brilliant galaxy of laAvyers, their successors, which adorned the Sangamon Bar between the years 1830 and 1840. The physicians were Dr. John Todd, Dr. Gershom Jayne, Dr. Garret Elkin, Dr. Ephram Darling. They were good l^hysicians in any country, were men of intelligence, estimable in all their social relations ; besides they were men of splendid physique, and able to endure the arduous labor of the practice of the day which required them to ride night and day, on horseback or in the sulky, for fifty miles around. The merchants were Elijah lies. Gen. Henry, Mordecai Mobley, John Taylor, Archer G. Herndon, while Ebenezer Capp kept the grocery ; they were all good men then, and enjoyed the confidence of the community. Charles R. Matheny was clerk of the Circuit and County coux'ts, and in fact filled all the oftices of the county. He emigrated from Virginia, was a lawyer by education and a Methodist preacher by practice. He had been Clerk of the House of Representatives, and a member of that body. I

He was a good and useful man, had a pleasant, smiling countenance, beaming with benevolence as if the light of Heaven was shining on him, singling him out from the others. Jonathan H. Pugh was born in Bath county, Kentucky; a lawyer by profession. Emigrating to the West, he settled in Bond county, Illinois ; removed to Springfield, Illinois, about the, year 1824, where he lived until his death in 1834. He was possessed of a remarkably pleasant address, and was, in the fall of 1828, the most prominent and popular man in Northern Illinois. He had a good and showy intellect, was brilliant in his wit, and sparkling repartee, and for his social qualities was beloved by his friends. He was ambitious, and was elected three times as a Representative in the legislature. He was a candidate for Congress in 1832, and defeated by Gov. Duncan. His mortification was so great that he surrendered to a habit which became his fatal enemy, died about the age of thirty-five years, and fills an unknown grave.

" General James D. Henry was a shoemaker by trade, which he followed at Edwardsville; removed to Springfield, and became a merchant; was sheriff of the county two or three ternm; was first a Colonel and then a Brigadier General in the Black Hawk war, and at the battle of Wisconsin proved himself the hero of that war. He was a man of good understanding, of fine person, brave and generous, of wonderful magnetic influence and power to attach men to him. He went to New Orleans in the spring of 1834 for his health, and died and was buried there. At the time of his death he could have been elected to any office in the gift of the people of Illinois, and the only question he debated, was whether in the election of 1834, he would be a member of Congress or Governor. He died aged about forty years, possessed of a good constitution and a bright future before him, the victim of the same bad habit. Asa S. Shaw was from the State of New York, where he had been a merchant and failed; settling at Springfield he became emphatically the Justice of the Peace, possessed of a very strong intellect, good judgment, and superior business qiialifications, and capable of great usefulness; but he, too, succumbed in the meridian of life to the same fatal enemy.

"I have singled out these three men because they were my friends, to whom I was fdncerely attached, and whose memory to-day, after the lapse of more than forty years, is still green and fragrant, and I mean no wrong to them when I would use this occasion to impress upon all, and especially upon the young, that ardent s})irits, habitually used, will soon become the master of the man; will undermine the strongest constitution; it will quench the brightest genius; blight the fairest prospects, and will dig for him an early, if not a dishonorable grave.

"No attempted picture of Springfield would be complete in which Major Elijah lies had not a prominent place. Emigrating from Bath county, Kentucky, to Missouri in 1818, and to Springtield, Illinois, in 1821, where he yet lives, at the age of eighty-seven years, when the site of Springtield was a prairie, with the exception of the cabins of the Kellys and of Elliott. He became a boarder in the cabin of John Kelly, and then repeatedly saw Elliott and one of the Kelly's return in the morning from hunting up the town branch, with a deer which had been shot near where the Governor's house now stands, and off which he breakfasted. He opened a store and sold goods for many years; was a Major in the Winnebago war, and a captain of a spy company in the Black Hawk war. He served the county of Sangamon two terms in the State Senate, and could have served longer had he not preferred to retire. He was one of the original proprietors of the town, and at that early day contributed largely to its growth,, while his home, presided over by his estimable wife, assisted by her graceful sister. Miss Benjamin, was the pleasant resort of the young people. By his sagacity and industry he has acquired a large fortune, without wrong or suspicion of wrong to any one. His name was without a stain - modest and unassuming, through his long life, he has had the love and respect of his friends, and now, amid the sorrows of his old age, has the respect and sympathy of the entire community.

"Sangamon county was settled originally, with some exceptions, by a class of men known on the frontiers as bee-hunters; men who were the advance guard of emigration, following fast upon the flight of the bees. These were a hardy and honest race of men, who loved adventure, the freedom and independence of frontier life, and did not love to be crowded by close neighbors, or offended by the accompaniments of civilization. This class would emigrate to a new country, establish a claim of some sort to a piece of land, build a cabin, raise corn enough to feed their horses and hogs, and for bread, and spend the leisure time hunting and fishing, and when a second and better class of emigration flowed in, would sell out their claims and move still further west to the still advancing frontier. That change, to a great extent, had taken place in

Sangamon in the fall of 1828, and was then going on. The bee-hunters were going west to Brown, Adams and Pike counties, Illinois; then to Iowa and Missouri, and are doubtless still hunting the frontier, if indeed there is now any frontier. Their place had been supplied, and was being supplied by emigrants of a different class, from almost every State in the Union, but principally from Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and the New England States.

"Those came mostly from the middle classes of society, which embraces the bone and sinew of every country. They were generally from the mountainous sections, and were large in person, moral, honest, and hospitable; the latchstring of their door was always out. They were manly, brave, generous, frank; when, with a warm smile on their face, they clasped their hands in yours, you instinctively felt the heart went with it. These early settlers of Sangamon were a race of good and noble men, worthy to be the fathers of our great country, and their sons should remember their ancestry, and never disgrace them.

"As the result of their labors, early toils and hardships, we have the great county of Sangamon, with its wealthy, thriving, peaceful and happy neighborhood. I say peaceful, and in proof, I would mention the fact that the law docket of Sangamon has always shown less litigation than other counties. It is sometimes said that the docket of a county is a very true index of its wealth and business ; not so with Sangamon, In wealth and business, and traffic, it will compare favorably with any other county in the State.

"It may be invidious to single out any of these early settlers, as all cannot be mentioned here, but as representatives of the wholf, I Avould mention the Darnells, the Wycoffs, the Mc- Gwins, the Morris's, the Kinneys, the Cloyds, of Lick creek; the Pattons, the Husbands, the Crows, the Fletchers, the Drennans, the Dodds, and Isaac Keys, of Sugar creek ; the Elkins, the Constants, the McDaniels, the Pickrells, and the Dawsons, of the North Fork ; the Casses, the Burns, the Lawsons and St. Clairs, of Buffalo Hart ; the Cantralls, the Councils, the Powers, of Fancy Creek ; the Irwins, the Cartwrights, the Carsons, the Purviances, the Andersons and the Harrisons, of liichland ; the Sims, the Mc- Coys, the Morgans, and the Earnests, of Spring creek ; and the Beckenridges, the Bakers, the Neals, and the Staffords and Sattlys, of Fork Prairie ; Samuel Williams, the Fouches, the Ellises, the Yates, the Wilcoxes, of Island Grove ; the lies, Charles R. ]\[atheny, Drs. Todd, Jayne and Elkin, Pascal P. Enos, John Taylor, Archer G. Herndon, Philip C. Latham, John Williams, Gen. Henry and Jonathan H. Pugh, and Peter Van Bergen, of Springfield.

"Further singling out, I would present to your memory as a fair sample of the whole. Captain John Durneil, a man about six feet in height, handsome and well-fomied, easy in his manner, because by nature a gentleman, frank, generous and true ; you felt in his presence as with one who was every inch a man.

" These early settlers, I owe them much, when almost a boy and a stranger they received me with open arms, and have, in a thousand ways, showered upon me favors beyond niy deserts; I owe them a large debt of gratitude, and Avould do all I might to honor their memories. Most of them are dead and gone, and I hojDe have settled for all time, in a better country, around the throne of God, and along the banks of the 'beautiful river.' Some few of us old settlers still linger on these coasts of Titne; one by one they are passing away, and those of us who remain are fast becoming strangers amid the new generations around us.

" We are taught in the story of the Cross, and we believe that a great scheme of redemption has been provided for our race by the Great Father, and if we do our duty here to oxtr country, our fellow men, and to our God, that somewhere in His great universe a heaven has been provided as our happy, eternal home, and the thought is a consoling one, that although fast becoming strangers here, yet, when we cross the great river of Time which divides that happy land from ours, we will meet more friends than we leave behind us; that we will know'them, and they us; and that then the reunion of old settlers will be jovous, complete, and without end."

By Dr. Alexander Shields

"It is said that I first breathed the atmosphere in the year of 1797, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Although I was there at the time, and took an active part in the affair, I have no recollection of the transaction, and have to depend on the declaration of others for the truth of my statement.

" I was brought up on a farm until about eighteen years of age; went to a common school in the winter; did all kinds of work that is done on a farm, and that, I believe, gave me a strength and vigor of constitution that has enabled me to resist the physical elements with which we are surrounded, and are at constant war against the functions of life. At eighteen, I became impressed with an ardent desire to acquire knowledge; went nine months to a Latin school; pursued my studies with a resolution that knew no failure, and at the expiration of seven years, graduated at the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In my literary pursuits, I read a motto that was placed over the door of a heathen temple - 'Genosko se auto' (Know thysell) - that made a strong impression on my mind. I became fascinated with the idea of knowing myself. Anatomy and physiology appeared to be the proper branches for that purpose, consequently I devoted myself to the study of medical science, and after the lapse of seven years, graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, in 183.3.

"During all these years I never thought of the ' mighty dollar,' only when necessity forced it upon me. It will appear from these statements that I did not creep in at the back door and foist myself on the profession, without, at least, making an effort to acquire a knowledge of the high and responsible duties pertaining to it. I devoted myself two years to my profession in Pennsylvania, and then directed my destiny toward the setting sun, in the Far West. Before bidding a long farewell to good old Pennsylvania, I will state a couple of incidents that occurred during my stay in Pittsburg. In 1824, General Lafayette and son visited Pittsburg, and the city became wild with enthusiasm. Of course he was tendered the hospitality of the city. The reception was grand and imposing. At least one hundred thousand people gave him an enthusiastic welcome. I, in conjunction with thousands of others, had the pleasure of shaking his hand. It is human nature to feel pleasure in shaking hands wnth a patriot like Lafayette.

"The other incident was a vnsit of Henry Clay, Secretary of State, under John Q. Adams. His reception was cold, and forbidding; in fact the people were bitterly o^jposed to him in consequence of his vote in fpvor of Adams against General Jackson. A few friends called to see him at his hotel, and being enlisted in his favor, induced others to call, until it became general; strange to say, he 'swallowed' all that called to see him. He remained four or five days, and visited our manufacturing establishments, and the tables were turned so much in his favor that a public dinner must be tendered. There were no public buildings suitable, and Henry Holdship was requested to give the use of his paper mill, one day for the purpose. Rapp, the head of a colony, eighteen miles below Pittsburg, sent up two or three barrels of wine for the occasion. The building was crowded to its utmost capacity. We had a feast worthy the city, and worthy the man to whom it was given. Many toasts were given and drank; finally, a toast was given in honor of Henry Clay, and his responding closed the feast. The toast was as follows, as near as I can recollect: ' Here's to Henry Clay, of Kentucky, who on his way home from Washington, stopped at Pittsburg, and had the power to stop Henry Holdship's paper mill one entire day, which never stopped before on any occasion.'

"He (Clay), boldly went over his political actions, in relation to Adams, and declared he would do so again under the same circumstances. Such eloquence I never heard; such enthusiasm I never saAv; perhaps the wine helped to increase it.

"Early in April, IS-iS, I got on board a steamboat for St. Louis; remained there a few days; wandered about seeing the country, and at last wound up my travels at Springfield, Illinois, on the 15th of May, 1835. The next day it commenced raining and rained about forty days and nights, until the prairie east of town was about a foot deep with water, and no outlet; the water disappeared by evaporation and sinking in the soil. The sidewalks were composed of mud about three inches deep, and when crossing the streets, we rolled our pantaloons above our boots and waded through. Disgusted with the mud, I went up north to a place called Tremont, a town of stakes and grass. A colony from the east had purchased of the Federal Government a quantity of land about three months before, laid out a town, and called it Tremont. A part of the colony were living in their stables which they buili first, and carpenters were busy framing their houses. They received me very kindly and expressed a desire for me to locate there, to examine the location of their town, and pick out a lot anywhere not already taken, I commenced taking a view of the place, and every few minutes a rattlesnake gave me warning to keep oft', and I abandoned the examination. They declared that their object was to settle the country and develope the resources of the soil; that speculation with them was out of the question. I made choice of a lot, perhaps the oneeighth part of an acre, on the northeast corner of the square. I applied to the agent for his terms for the lot. He proposed to let me have the lot for i5?200, twenty cash, give note for -I^ISO. drawing twelve per cent, interest, and bind myself to put a house on worth !^2,000. I denounced them as a set of speculators and gougers; mounted my horse; hastened to Springfield, regardless of the mud.

"When I returned to Springfield great changes had taken place ; the sidewalks and streets \^ ere dry and pleasant. The waters had subsided within the banks of the streams, and sickness to a great extent set in, in consequence of decaying vegetable matter; intermittent, remittents and typhoid fevers prevailed, and for a number of years that summer was known by the name of the ' sickly season.' I hung out my 'shingle,' and was called upon to see a sick family near Clear Lake, and had to cross the river at Denma's ferry,' about a quarter of a mile above Riverton ; after being ferried over three or four days, I concluded to ford the stream. I had a very spirited 'nag,' and strange as it may appear, I rode with a spur on my heel. When I reached the river a large drove of cattle were entering the water, and a man was mounted on a very large ox in froftt. I went into the water about twenty yards above. The water rose to the sides of my ' nag,' and I raised my feet to avoid getting wet; sunk the spur into her fiank ; she made a sudden spring forward, and pitched me over her head into the stream. I requested the man on the ox to come and take me on behind him ; he, with a grin and squeaking voice, informed me that his horse wouldn't carry double. There I v/as baptized a citizen of Sangamon county, and, by some superior power, have remained so to this time.

"In the summer of 1835, the State Bank and branches went into operation. We had State banks, local banks, and 'wild cat banks,' and paper money was as plenty as blackberries. Times were prosperous, and the people entered the public lands to a great extent with paper money, causing serious loss to the Government. In 1836, General Jackson issued a specie circular, requiring the lands to be paid for in specie. This caused a run on the banks, and in a little while all the banks in the country burst up and went to 'pot.' Our currency became worthless; distress and hard times came upon us; business of all kinds was depressed, and I bought corn in Springfield, delivered at five cents per bushel. The State also commenced building railroads. Every road must be completed at the same time; consequently, in a little while she became bankrupt in the sum of seventeen millions, and no roads. Another question enlisted the public mind. The temporary seat of government at Vandalia was about expiring, and the permanent location was agitated with a great deal of zeal by different parties. We had the celebrated ' long nine' to engineer our claims. They finally accomplished the end by Springfield giving a bribe, in the name of a bonus, of fifty thousand dollars to the State. The County Commissioners donated to the State the public square, and the building of a State House commenced. The legislature met in the churches and passed laws for the good of the people. Springfield numbered at that time perhaps six or seven hundred people, and being simply a corporation, it must be elevated to the name of a city. A charter is framed, and presented to the legislature for its sanction.

"The framers of the Charter found that there would be considerable opposition to it, when submitted to a vote of the people, inserted a clause excluding all unnaturalized citizens from voting for or against its adoption, when, at that time, persons that were here six months were entitled to vote, even for President of the United States. Colonel Baker was a member of the legislature, and, as I understood, voted for it, Avith this objectionable clause in it. That gave rise to a difficulty between him and me that has never been understood. He, being an Englishman, from the same country where two of my brothers-in-law came from, excluded them from voting. I, boiling over with indignation at the idea of his excluding his own countrymen from voting, declared that I would challenge his vote. He, being aware of the fact, came on the day of election prepared with his father's naturalized papers, which naturalized him, he being a minor at the time. When he came to vote, I challenged it, and that gave rise to a good deal of insulting language. At length, he used an ex- 2)ression that was not true, and I called him a liar. That ended the war of words. He then requested me to go out on the street, and he would 'lick' me as soon as he polled his vote. I went out and waited for him. When he came, he quietly asked what I said at the polls. I said he was a liar. Expecting him to strike with his right, he gave me a lick with his left fist, on tlie side of my head, that knocked me wild; then the 'ball' opened. I tried for some time to hit him, but he fended off so well that I was unable to touch him.

" His fist was soft; ray head was hard, and by the time he raised some five or six knots, his fist was useless. Unable to hit him with my fist, I changed my tactics, and commenced kicking. After two or three kicks he caught ray foot and hoisted me over; while falling I caught him and drew him down upon me, and then reached to get him by the throat, and my thumb landed in his eye. I concluded to let it remain there. The Democrats thought I might 'fight it out on this line if it took all summer,' but the Whigs thought differently, and pulled us apart, and that pulled my thumb out of his eye. This affair closed up by each of us paying fifteen dollars for fracturing the law. I can justly say that Colonel Baker was a most eloquent and formidable political opponent, and three or four months after, when our passions cooled down, we shook hands and made friends, and then I came to the conclusion we had both been a pair of great fools.

"The charter was adopted, and William May was elected Mayor of the city. Josiah Lamborn was States Attorney. At that time a man by the name of Archibald Trayler, as upright and good a citizen as can be found anywhere, lived there. William Trayler and his brother, with them a man named Fisher, came on a visit to their brother, Archibald Trayler, who lived near Captain Ransdell's Hotel. The captain had a niece living with him, and William Trayler had an inkling towards her, and the captain was bitterly opposed to hira, and set spies to watch their moveraents. Their movements were mysterious, as usual when a woraan is mixed up in the affair.

" Two of the Traylers and Fisher were seen going northwest into the timber and remained there some time; at length two returned, and Fisher was not with them; the next day the Traylers started for home, and took the same route through the timber, and, according to the spies, wound round in by-roads until finally they came into the Beardstown road. Four or five days after, the Traylers came back in search of Fisher. This gave rise to the suspicion that Fisher had been foully dealt with, and caused the greatest excitement among the people, William May and Lamborn engineered the matter; seized the Traylers, and had the timber searched for four or five days, in order to find Fisher. They soon found the place, where it was supposed Fisher was killed, and search was continued in order to find the body. In the afternoon of the third day, I went down in the timber, and met two men, who inquired if I had seen the place where Fisher had been killed, I replied that I had not; they then led me into the brush about fifty yards, where there was a circular spot, perhaps twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, cleared off, and near the center was a stump with a number of sprouts growing round it, and close by the stump there was an impi'ession in the soil, resembling exactly what the back of a man's head would make in falling wuth considerable force. Directly after, Dr. Merriman and six or eight others came into the circle opposite; some one wondered if there was any hair or blood about the stump; Dr. Merriman examined it critically on his hands and knees; no hair or blood was found, the next day quantities of hair, even the man's whiskers, were found about the stump.

"In the evening I went down town, and the street opposite the Mayor's office was crowded with people, and Lamborn among them. Being w^ell acquainted with him, he took me to one side, and informed me that he had told William Trayler that he had testimony to hang the whole three of them, and the only way of escape was to turn State's evidence; he became so alarmed that he was willing to give testimony to the killing of Fisher. The next morning, I and five or six others went to the lower road to see Hickox's mill pond opened, in order to find Fisher. When opposite the spot where Fisher should have been killed, a young man came running down, shouting 'they found plenty of hair, even the man's whiskers.' I informed him that game would not work, as Dr. Merriman had examined the spot the evening before, and no hair could be found. This circumstance led to the suspicion that a conspiracy had been formed to encompass the death of Archibald Trayler. Five or six hundred people met at the mill. William May mounted a log and made a speech, urging the necessity of drawing off the water, in order to find the body. It was a dry season, and water was valuable to Hickox. I opposed it, without first paying a just compensation. He then appointed a committee of five, Morris Lindsay, chairman, to wait on Hickox and ascertain the damage. Two hundred dollars were demanded. The committee reported, and May thought it too high, and sent them back with instructions to offer fifty dollars or nothing; so Hickox was compelled to submit.

"When the water was reduced about four feet, we went up to where the Beardstown road crossed the stream, and a number went into the water in search of the body; the crowd on the bank and Archibald Trayler, under bonds, stood off about forty yards from the crowd, a forlorn spectator of the scenes. I went to him, with the desire to find out what grudge May and Lamborn had against him; but he appeared so depressed that I gave it up and went back to the crowd on the bank. It so happened that I had lost an axe at that point, in getting ice, and I proposed to give a dollar to the man that would find it, and that they would be more likely to find the axe than Fisher. They looked ' daggers' at me, and a low murmur went through the crowd, and I discovered my imprudence when it was too late. About sundown we left without Fisher. When we arrived at Springfield, a doctor in the vicinity of Wm. Trayler's home, hearing of the excitement, was there declaring that Fisher was at home and well. They seized the doctor, declared him an accomplice, and demanded that Fisher must be presented in person. Archibald Trayler's partner and Mr. John Maxcy, I was informed, went for Fisher. They returned late in the evening, and the next day the trial came on. After an elaborate train of circumstantial evidence, together with Wm. Trayler's positive testimony, were given. Judge Logan, Archibald Trayler's attorney, stated that he would introduce just one witness. He made a sign, and introduced Fisher, to the consternation of all present.

"The result was that Archibald Trayler's usefulness was destroyed, and he wandered about like a person in a dream. About two years after, a messenger came for me at twelve o'clock at night, to see Trayler, w^ho w^as very sick; when I saw him he was exhausted, and in a few hours departed this life. The plain, natural and just solution of this mysterious affair appears to be simply this. Wm. Trayler had a great fancy for Capt. Ransdell's niece, and she had a fancy for him, and the Captain was i\itensely opposed to it. Trayler was determined to steal the girl, and she was willing to be stolen, and in order to be prepared for the theft, the three men went down into the timber to find if there were any by-roads that would lead into the Beardstown road ; then Fisher is sent home on foot, and arrangements made with the girl to meet him in the timber. When he departed for home he took that direction, and the girl being unable to escape the vigilance of the Captain and his spies, did not appear; after waiting a reasonable time, he then w^ent to the Beardstown road on his way home.

"This unfortunate affair had a good deal of truth and falsehood mixed up together, and demonstrates thatwdien people become greatly excited they lose all their reasoning powers ; that mobs and strikes and factions are developed in like manner ; that they contain more or less fanatics, and cannot possibly exist without leaders, and when political factions become strong in numbers they are dangerous to civil government.

" From the fourth of March, 18 i?, to the fourth of March, 1841, Van Buren was President. The State was sunk to the lowest depths of embarrassment; she could not pay the interest on her bonds; they depreciated to a mere nominal value; emigration ceased, and repudiation appeared to be inevitable. Governor Ford then made arrangements to call a convention, to amend the Constitution so as to provide for the payment of the interest and principal of the State debt. The convention provided that two mills on the dollar (twenty cents on the hundred dollars) of the State tax should be set apart for the express purpose of paying the interest and principal of the State debt. It was submitted to a vote of the people and adopted. The people declared, by their vote, we will pay the debt, to the last dollar, let it cost what it will. That act of the people fixed the destiny of the State; the bonds began to rise; emigration flowed in, and wealth increased to such an extent that Governor Matteson, in his last message to the legislature, declared that from the ratio of increasing population and wealth, the State of Illinois would not owe a dollar in 1868. The increase in population and wealth was even greater than Matteson's estimate. Notwithstanding, when 1868 came around we were millions in debt. It is said the State is now - 1881 - out of debt; but the people, failing to profit by experience, and getting railroads on the brain, have embarrassed counties and towns to a great extent.

"In 1840, the Democratic party nominated Van Buren a second term for President, and the Whig party. General Harrison for the same ofiice. In that campaign, the leading principles of the Whigs were ' coon-skins, log cabins, with the string of the latch never pulled in, and hard cider; two dollars a day and roast beef.' The side issues were the extravagance of the White House, with its gold spoons, and a high protective tariff on foreign importations. A member of Congress, by the name of Evans, made a speech in favor of protective tariff ; it was printed in pamphlet form, and sent broadcast over the country; the Whigs thought it a 'stunner,' and exulted to a great extent over it. There was a Democrat over the Illinois river, named Bob Burton, who had a mill, and the Whigs thought to convert him, if he would read the speech; after reading it carefully he made a new toll dish, according to the reasoning in the speech, double the size of the one he iised, and he called it Whig, the other he called Democrat. He placed them side by side, and when a Whig came he pointed out the two measures, and informed him that he would toll hi.s corn with the Whig measure because it was made according to Evans' speech, and that is, the bigger the toll the less you pay for grinding, and the more meal you get. It was said that he, by this practical illustration of the speech, converted a number of Whigs to the Democratic party. The speech appeared to be a tissue of sophistry, and the gist of it was simply this, the higher the prices, the more you paid for merchandise, the less it cost you.

"In this campaign, great excitement prevailed over the country. A man came to Springfield, announced himself as ' General John Ewing, from Vincennes, Indiana,' and challenged the whole Democratic party on the issues of the day, threatening to annihilate it by the power of his eloquence. The leaders of the party, Edwards, Stewart, Baker, Lincoln, and Logan, as talented men as Indiana or any other State in the Union could boast of, concluded to let this boaster try his hand. We had Douglas and Calhoun. We pitted Douglas against him. At that time there was no 'red taj^e,' as it is now, in our public meetings. The contesting parties arranged and timed their speaking. In this case, each one was to speak an hour alternately, and be timed by one from each party; to begin at eight o'clock, adjourn at twelve; meet at two, and continue to sundown each day, until the contest would be ended. At the close of the fifth day, 'General John Ewing, from Vincennes, Indiana,' threw up the 'sponge,' and a vigorous shout was given by the Democrats. On the northwest corner of the public square stood a market-house. There we met, and each speaker, mounted on a butcher-block, rolled out his eloquence. E. D. Baker, mortified at Ewing's defeat, mounted a butcher-block, and began to address us. We protested that that game of 'two pluck one' could not be tolerated. He persisted, and immediately the cry was raised, 'Pull him down,' 'Pull him down.' At length he yielded, otherwise it would have ended with a number of broken heads. General Harrison was elected; but the 'two dollars a day and roast beef,' promised the laboring man, never came.

"In 1844 1 became impressed with a strong desire to live in the country; I bought eighty acres of land, eight miles southeast of Springfield, and in the spring of 1845 moved on it, and then commenced farming and the practice of medicine; right here I made the great mistake of my life, when I left Springfield. It is thought by many, that if a doctor locates in the country, he loses all the brains and mental acquirements he ever had, as if location determined a man's ability, when, in fact, the most notorious 'quacks' that disgrace the profession, congregate in cities and towns.

"The National Democratic Convention nominated James K. Polk in 1844, under the operation of the two-thirds rule, and many Democrats were enquiring 'who's James K. Polk?' demonstrating the fact that an obscure man was put in nomination, and the prominent leading men ot the party cast aside. Having studied Thomas Jefferson's doctrines of a Republican form of government, his great fundamental principle, that the fairly expressed will of a majority of the people, expressed their sovereign vriU, and that the minority should yield imj^licit obedience to the will of the majority, I opposed the twothirds rule as a direct violation of his principles, and being a zealous and sincere friend of Stephen A. Douglas, I came to the conclusion that he never could be President under its operation. The South, being in a large minority, dictated terms to the North through its power, and the North yielded for the sake of power and control of the Government.

"In 1852, General Pierce was nominated, another obscure candidate, and Douglas' political head cut off. My zeal for Douglas carried me, a 'high private,' beyond the bounds of discretion, and caused me to offer a series of resolutions, in a county convention, denouncing the two-third rule as anti-Republican, anti-Democratic; and, to my utter astonishment, the friends of Douglas voted them down, and denounced them 'another firebrand.' The resolutions, seventeen, are recorded in the Sangamon Journal of October, 1852. I felt then that Douglas might justly exclaim, in the language of Julius Cfesar, 'May the gods protect me from my friends, and I'll take care of my enemies.' This action of mine brought me in 'bad odor' with a number of Democrats, and 'if I did not like the way they conducted political affairs, I was politely invited to leave the party.' I had, at that time, great faith in the party, and did not feel justified in leaving. In 1856, the National Democratic party nominated James Buchanan, one of the prominent leaders, who afterwards turned out to be a kind of a milk and water ' doughface,' but suited the South, as it was preparing^ to bring on a crisis. In 1860, it met at Charleston, South Carolina, and it was said that Douglas received a majority on the first ballot, but the twothird rule defeated him in getting the nomination. The friends of Douglas clung to him with

"The South was preparing for rebellion, and Douglas was too patriotic, too energetic, too firm a man to be at the head of the Government. The consequence was that the convention burst into two factions, the South and the North ; they adjourned to meet again in Baltimore. When they met there the friends of Douglas would not yield, and they burst up again, and each faction nominated its candidate; the South, Breckenridge, and the North, Douglas. It appeared to me, from the aspect of affairs, that it was impossible to elect Douglas, and when Lincoln was nominated, I then j)laced my hope in his election to save the Union, and bid a longfarewell to the Democratic party. Some men boast that they never changed, that is, they never split their ticket when a convention told them who they should vote for, and aspirants for office frequently use it as an argument in their favor. It is an old saying that ' wise men change, but fools and idiots never change.'' If a man discovers that he is in error, it is his right, it is his duty to change ; but if a man changes through sordid, selfish motives, he is dishonest and corrupt.

"The Republican party had a grand rally on the eighth of August, 1860, in honor of Lincoln, and a procession said to be eight miles long was formed. Mr. Armstrong, a manufacturer, had a platform on a wagon and a loom with a web in it; in passing Lincoln's house, a tailor took his measure ; cloth was woven, and a pair of pantaloons made and presented to him on the return of the procession. In that procession I carried a banner with the motto: 'Free labor elevates, Slave labor degrades ' "

Pioneers And Pioneering

The following is a portion of a lecture delivered by William H. Herndon, shortly after the close of the rebellion. In the Life of Lincoln, by Mr. Holland, the biographers used these words: " When inefficient men become very uncomfortable, they are quite likely to try emigration as a remedy. A good deal of what is called the pioneering spirit, is simply the spirit of discontent." Mr. Herndon combats this idea in this address, which was re-delivered at Sweet Water, Menard county, Illinois, at the Old Settlers' meeting, August 31, 1881:

"There have been four distinct and separate waves - classes of men, who have followed each other, on the soil we now daily tread. The first is the Indian. The second is the bee and beaver hunter, the embodied spirit of western and south western pioneering; they roam with the first class, nomads, wandering Gipsies of the forests and the p.ains. The third class, with sub-classes and varieties, is composed of three distinct varieties of men, coming as a triple wave. The first is the religious man, the John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness; the second is the honest, hardy, thrifty, active and economical farmer, and the third class is composed of the wild, hardy, honest, genial and social man - a mixture of the gentleman, the rowdy and roysterer; they are a wild, rattling, brave, social and hospitable class of men; they have no economy, caring only for the hour, and yet thousands of them grow rich; they give tone and caste and character to the neighborhood in spite of all that can be done; they ai'e strong, shrewd, clever fellows; it is impossible to hate them, and impossible to outwit or whip them. The fourth class, with sub-classes and varieties, have come among us seeking fortune, position, character, power, fame, having ideas, philosophy, gearing the forces of nature for human uses, wants and purposes. They come from the east, the middle states, from the south; they come from every quarter of the globe, full grown men. Here are the English and the German, the Scotch and the Irish, the French and the Scandinavian, the Italian, the Portuguese, the Spaniard, Jew and Gentile; and here and there and everyiohere is the universal, the eternal, indomitable and inevitable " Yankee," victorious over all, and I as a " Sucker," say welcome all. All, all, however, have their divine purposes in the high, deep, broad and wide extended, the sublime economy of God.

"I am necessitated, as it were, in self-defense, to speak some words of the second and third class, with sub-classes and varieties. The fourth class needs none. The original western and southwestern pioneer - the type of him is at times a somewhat open, candid, sincere, energetic, spontaneous, trusting, tolerant, brave and generous man. He is hospitable in his tent, thoroughly acquainted with the stars in the heavens, by which he travels, more or less; he is acquainted with all the dangers of his route - horse fiesh and human flesh. He trusts to his own native sagacity - a keen shrewdness, and his jihysical poAver - his gun and dog alone. This original man is a long, tall, lean, lank man; he is a cadaverous, sallow, sunburnt, shaggy-haired man, his face is very sharp and exceedingly angular; his nose is long, pointed, and keen, Roman or Greek as it may be; and his eyes are small, grey or black, and | sunken, are keen, sharp and inquisitive, piercing, as if looking through the object seen, and to the very background of things; he is sinewy and tough, calm or uneasy, according to circumstances; he is all bone and sinew, scarcely any muscle; is wise and endless in his determinations - obstinate. He wears a short linsey-wolsey hunting shirt, or one made from soft buck or doeskin, fringed with the same; it is buckled tightly about his body. His moccasins are made of the very best heavy buck. His trusty and true rifle is on his shoulder or stands by bis side, his chin gracefully resting on his hand, which covers the muzzle of the gun. The gaunt, strong, hungry cur, crossed with the bull dog, and his hound, lie crouched at his feet, their noses resting on and between their fore paws, thrown straight out in front, ready to bound, seize master and defend. The lean, short, compact, tough and hardy, crop-eared, shaved-mane and bob-tailed pony browses around, living where the hare, the deer, mule or hardy mountain goat can live. It makes no difference where night or storm overtakes him, his wife and children sleep well and sound, knowing that the husband, the father, protector and defender, is safe from all harm. He sleeps on his rifle for pillow, his right hand aicake on the long, sharp, keen hunting-knife in the girdle, carved over and over with game and deer. The will in the hand is avmJce. Such is the conscious will on the nerve and muscle of the hand, amid danger of a night, placed thpre to watch and ward while the general soul is asleep, that it springs to defense long before the mind is fully conscious of the facts. How grand and mysterious is mind! The family makes no wild outcry - 'He's shot or losti' This man, his trusty long rifle, his two dogs - one to fight and one to scent the trail - the long, sharp and keen butcher knife, that never holds fire or flashes in the pan, are equal to all emergencies. As for himself, his snore on the grass, or brush-pile, cut to make his bed, testify to the soul's conscious security. Whether in a hollow tree or log, or under and beneath the river's bank for shelter - screen or fort - in night or daytime, his heart beats calm; he is a fatalist, and says 'what is to be Avill be.' He never tires, is quick and shrewd, is physically powerful, is cunning, suspicious, brave and cautious alternately or all combined, according to necessity. He is swifter than the Indian, is stronger, is as long-winded, and has more brains - much more brains. This man is a bee-hunter, or trapper, or Indian fighter. He is nervous, uneasy, and quite fidgety in the village where he goes twice a year to exchange his furs for whisky, tobacco, powder, flints and lead. He dreads, does not scorn our civilization. Overtake the man, catch him, and try to hold a conversation with him, if you can. His eye and imagination ai*e on the chase in the forest, when you think you are attracting his simple mind. He is restless in eye and motion about towns and villages; his muscles and nerves dance an uneasy, rapid, jerking dance when in presence of our civilization. He is suspicious here, and dangei'ous from his ignorance of the social world. This man is a man of acts and deeds, not of speech; he is at times stern, silent, secretive and somewhat uncommunicable. His words are words of one syllable, sharp nouns and active verbs mostly. He scarcely ever uses adjectives, and always replies to questions asked him - 'yes,' ' no,' 'I will,' 'I won't.' Ask him where he is from, and his answer is - 'Blue Ridge,' 'Cumberland,' 'Bear creek.' Ask him Avhere he kills his game, or gets his furs, and liis answer ever is - 'Illinois,' 'Sangamon,' 'Salt creek.' Ask him where he is going - 'Plains,' 'Forest,' 'Home,' is his unvarying answer. See him in the wilds, as I have seen him, strike up Avith his left hand's forefinger the loose rim of his old home-made or other hat, that liangs like a rag over his eyes, impeding his sight and perfect vision, peering keenly into the distance for fur or game, Indian or deer. See him look and gaze and determine what the thing seen is - see him at that instant stop and crouch and crawl toward the object like a hungry tiger, measuring the distance between twig and weed with his beard, so as to throw no shadow of sensation on the distant eye of foe or game - the thing to be crept on and inevitably killed. See him watch even the grass and brush beneath his feet, as he moves and treads, that no rustle, or crack or snap, shall be made by which the ear of foe or game shall be made aware of his danger. See him wipe off and raise his long and trusty gun to shoulder and to cheek - see him throw his eye lockward and along the barrel - watch him, see first upcoil of smoke, before the crack and ring and roll and roar comes. The bullet has already done its work of death. Caution makes this man stand still and reload before moving a foot. Then he eyes the dead keenly. 'There's danger in the apparent dead,' he whispers to himself, cocks his gun and walks, keeping his finger on the trigger.

us, though tamed by age into a moral man. He is large, bony, muscular, strong almost as an ox. He is strongly, physically developed. He is naturally strong-minded, naturally gifted, brave, daring to a fault. He is a hardy, rough-andtumble man. He has a strong, quick sagacity, fine intuitions, with great good common sense. He is hard to cheat, hard to whip, and still harder to fool. These people are extremely sociable and good natured - too much so for their own good, as a general rule. They are eflScient, ready, practical men, and are always ready for any revolution. I wish, I am anxious, to defend these men, as well as the God-given spirit of pioneering. One of the writers on Mr. Lincoln's life says, in speaking of Thomas Lincoln, 'When inefficient men become very uncomfortable, they are quite likely to try emigration as a remedy. A good deal of what is called the pioneer spirit is simply the spirit of shiftless discontent.'' But more of this hereafter, not now and just here.

" These men, especially about New Salem, could shave a horse's main and tail, paint, disfigure, and ofi'er for sale to the owner, in the very act of inquiring for his own horse, that knew his master, but his master recognizing him not. They could hoop up in a hogshead a drunken man, they being themselves drunk, put in and nail down the head, and roll the man down New Salem hill a hundred feet or more. They could run down a lean, hungry wild pig, catch il, heat a ten-plate stove furnace hot, and putting in the pig, could cook it, they dancing the while a merry jig. They could, they did, these very things occasionally, yet they could clear and clean a forest of Indians and wolves in a short time; they could shave ofi: a forest as clean and clear as a man's beard close cut to his face; they could trench a pond, ditch a bog or lake, erect a log house, pray and fight, make a village or create a State. They would do all for sport or fun, or from necessity - do it for a neighbor - and they could do the reverse of all this for pure and perfectly unalloyed deviltry's sake. They attended church, heard the sermon, wept and prayed, shouted, got up and fought an hour, and then went back to prayer, just as the spirit moved them. These men - I am speaking generally - were always true to women - their fast and tried friends, protectors and defenders. There are scarcely any such on the globe for this virtue. They were one thing or the other - praying or fighting, creating or destroying, shooting Indians or getting shot by whisky, just as they willed. Though these men were rude and rough, though life's forces ran over the edge of its bowl, foaming and sparkling in pure and perfect deviltry for deviltry's sake, yet place before them a poor, weak man, who needed their aid, a sick man, a man of misfortune, a lame man, a woman, a widow, a child, an orphaned little one - then these men melted up into sympathy and charity at once, quick as a flash, and gave all they had, and willingly and honestly toiled or played cards for more. If a minister of religion preached the devil and his fire, they would cry out, ' To your rifles, oh boys, and let's clean out the devil, with his fire and all; they are enemies to mankind.' If the good minister preached JesuS; and him crucified, with his precious blood trinkling down the spear and cross, they would melt down into honest prayer, praying honestly, and with deep feeling and humility, saying aloud, ' would to God we had been there with our trusty rifles, amid those murderous Jews.'