St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter 4: Geology, 1881

EOLOGISTS have studied closely the strata beneath the earth's surface, and evolved thereby knowledge that is rapidly taking its place among the exact sciences. Upheavals of nature have, here and there, arranged these strata like the leaves of a book inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees, to be read by close observers, who have thereon indulged much speculation regarding the age of the earth, and attempted to assign to natural causes, reaching through almost in- calculable stretches of time, their presence. These observations have been rewarded by a general acceptance of a classification of these strata, such as appears in text boolij of Geology of to-day. Here, in St Clair county, researches have not reached beyond the Carboniferous system, nor is it likely that records reaching back further in point of time will ever be made, since even this system has not been probed to its depths, most of the coal being taken out of the upper seams. West of Belleville a lower stratum has been penetrated, but being only about twenty inches iu thickness it was abandoned. There are represented in Illinois, the Quaternary, Tertiary, Carboniferous, Devonian and Silurian systems. Beneath them may, and if generally accepted theories be true, must be formations of those systems, antedating these. Nature's terrible throes by earthquake, or volcanic action, have spared the empire state of the valley, so that her prairies spread out in beautiful repose uninterrupted by unsightly masses of representatives of a long past age.

The economical value of the Quatenary, or uppermost stratum, is greater than that of all other formations combined, thus evidencing the wisdom of the Creator in his preparation of the*earth for the habitation of man. It comprises the drift and all the deposits above it, of whatever quality the soil may be. In scientific terms it includes the Alluvium, Bottom Prairie, Bluff, Drift of various thicknesses, which crop out here and there upon the surface. All those deposits which have been formed since the inauguration of the present order of things might be appropriately classified undeir the head Albumen, as it embraces soils, pebbles and sand, clays, vegetable mold, all of which are found in St. Clair county. Soils are a well known mixture of various comminuted and decomposed mineral substances, combined and mingled with decayed vegetable and animal remains, and composing those ingredients so well adapted to the nourishment of the vegetable kingdom. They are formed by the action of water, in form of rain or dew, by atmospheric changes of heat and c<jld, by decay of vegetable and animal matter. Those of this county are very deep and exceedingly productive. The vegetable kingdom has contributed largely to their formation. In the American Bottom, as it is termed, which has an area in this county of about 53.760 acres, the soil is a sandy loam, exceedingly fertile. Much of it has been, from time to time, deposited by recession of waters of swollen rivers. It has been borne on by the irresistible currents of the Missouri, from the far off plains of Nebraska, known to early Geographers as the Great American desert, and here deposited. Its depth varies greatly from a merely perceptible stratum to 'a thickness often or more feet. That consequent upon the flood of 1844 is very conspicuous. When the onrushing fury of the waters was checked by a growth of fall weeds, young willows or sycamores, the de]ith from that single flood was as great as ten feet. After such a flood, upon subsidence of the waters, lagoons, sloughs and lakes are left. The sand iu these waters, by virtue of its specific gravity first finds its level, and above it clay intermixed with decomposed organic matter, forms a thin layer, and thus after each flood new strata of sand and clay are left until the general level is attained by the new format'ons. When vegetable life finds subsistence, the annual growth adds its complement of humus, and thus this marvellous soil is created. In course of time, by a continuation of these processes, these alluvial plains support a rank vegetable growth.

Adjacent to and overlooking this bottom land, are the bluffs, filled in places with fossil shells, indicating there having been at onetime the boundary lines of a great inland lake. Then again are the prairies forming the greater part of the surface of the county ; their formation is a subject that has provoked much scientific discussion. Prof. A. H. Worthen, State Geolog'st of Illinois, asserts that they, with their peculiar surface soil, owe their origin to the same causes that are at present operating to form prairies, though on a less extensive scale. The black, rich soil is doubtless, he tays, due to the growth and decay of successive crops of vegetation, which in the geological ages of the past, under a far higher temperature and more favorable atmospheric conditions than now exist, grew to an extent unknown since the appearance of man upon the earth. These prodigious crops of plants and grasses were from year to year submerged, and becoming decomposed, contributed their annual accumulations to the surface of the country. By the continuation of this process for untold centuries, and by the subsequent recession of the waters that once covered the entire Mississippi valley, a black, mucky soil was formed, and the whole region emerged as vast swamps or swales interspersed with hills and valleys, mountains and table lands. These by gradual growth become outlined in prairies.

There have been found boulders of like composition and origin with those so common to a prairie country, and which are usually accepted as evidences of a glacial period, which are affirmed to have brought with them, borne before great masses of ice, snow and water, these irregularly rounded masses of rock leaving them scattered here and there over the plains. They are a conglomerate of quartz, feldspar, mica and hornblende. In the eastern part of the county was found granite rock about 5i feet in diameter, which was, as early as 1828 utilized as a buhrstone, and which was pronounced by millers to be equal to any French buhrstone for purposes of grinding grain.

Having thus defined the surface indications briefly, the writer compiles from the Geological Survey of Illinois by A. H. Worthen, a record of facts respecting the other formations. At the base of drift deposits are found beds of plastic clay, containing sometimes small pebbles, at other localities there are stratified sands -below the clay. At the Alma shaft, this deposit is seventy feet thick. At the Summerfield shaft the drift clays are but thirty-five feet thick, and in the vicinity of Athens it was found to be fifty feet deep, and consisted of clay and sand, with rounded boulders at the bottom. On the farm of Mr. Eugelmann, Mascoutah precinct, the following beds were patsed through in sinking a well :

At Freeburg it was found to be but forty-five feet, thus showing a great diversity in different parts of the county. There is an imperfect stratification of these deposits, which consist chiefly of fine sand, clay and gravel.

Coal Measures - Underlying fully three-fourths of the surface of the county, embracing all the central and eastern portions, is coal to be found. Thus far, five coal seams have been developed, only two of which have proven to be of economic value. The thickest coal seam is perhaps that at Freeburg, which is found to reach a thickness of eleven feet. That out-cropping in the River bluff, and along the western boundaries of the coal fields, in the south-western part of the county, is of about equal thickness. The dip, though very moderate, is in an easterly direction, hence the coal lies deepest in those mines near the eastern boundary line of the county. The following section of the measure containing coal, is compiled from the shaft at Summerfield, commencing immediately below the drift clays :

There seems to be a difference of opinion about the classification of coal No. 1, C, because of the remarkable thickening of the shales between it and the limestone that ordinarily forms the roof of the coal ; and the comparative thinness of the coal itself, which is harder and more impregnated with the sulphuret of iron, in which respect it is like No. 1, B. Some would classify it as No. 1, B., considering coal No. 1, C. to be occupied by the black shale immediately below the eight feet limestone.

These beds form a continuous outcrop, from their first appearance in the river bluffs, about one mile and a half below Centreville Station to the north line of the county.

The Belleville coal seam No. 1. C. is the principal one worked at the present time, and it was the first ever worked in the state. Its natural out-crop along the bluffs in such close proximity to St. Louis, called attention to its value at an early day, and it was worked in open trenches, and by tunnelling into the seam along the face of the bluff long before its continuation under the highlands to the eastward was ever suspected. It has a limestone roof, as noted above, rendering its working safe and economical. Now and then, pockets of slate intervene between this limestone and the coal itself, as in John Maule's mine, of sufficient thickness and strength to furnish a roof independent of the limestone. This, however, is local and confined to few localities. The upper two layers of coal are not to exceed twenty-four inches in thickness, but of purer quality, commanding a premium of two cents a bushel over the lower, which is charged with sulphuret of iron. Beneath this coal is usually a nodular argillaceous limestone, but sometimes it is sandwiched between regular layers of limestone. The working of Coal No. 1. A, only about eighteen inches in thickness, in connection with the fire-clay of about twice the thickness immediately above it has been carried on with small succtfs. The limestone above the coal is quite fos-siliferous, the mines at Caseyville. Belleville and Pittsburg having furnished some fine specimens.

The shale yet above this limestone likewise contains fossils, fish teeth, etc. It, in turn, is overlaid with another limestone which is quarried to supply the demand for building-stone. It is a brownishgray, rather argillaceous limestone, more regularly bedded than the limestone immediately above the coal seam.

On Jack's run, about half a mile east of Freeburg, there is a fine exposure of the strata above the Belleville quarry rock, showing the following succession of layers from the top downward :

By reference to the list of mines, subjoined, giving depth of shafts will be found the different depths at which coal is worked. About three miles south-east of Freeburg, surface coal of seven feet thickness is presented. Beyond its exposure it is covered to the depth of two feet with a layer of shale. South a few miles this seam is worked by horizontal drifts on the hill-sides.

At the Alma shaft, the coal was fouad at a depth of one hundred and seventy feet below the surface, overlaid with eleven feet of black shale and limestone. Above this again are seventeen feet of shale and sandstone, when a limestone representing the Belleville quarry rock is met with. The dip of the coal has already been referred to as being to the east of the bluffs. Comparisons of depth of coal, taken in conjunction with ascent of the surface, leads to the conclusion that the dip is not more than five to six feet to the mile.

Limestones thus far incidentally noted in connection with coal measures are supplemented by others occupying a considerably higher position and outcropping in but two or three places in the county, north and north-east of Belleville, the nearest being two miles north, then again at Rock Spring. This stone is illy adapted to building purposes, since it splits into fragments when exposed to the action of frost.

A coarse-grained, thin bedded gray or brown limestone, belonging to the sub-carboniferous group, and containing fossils characteristic thereof, outcrops south-west of Belleville near Centreville Station. It probably represents the lower limestone division in Randolph county in which there is six hundred feet, whilst in St. Clair it does not exceed forty feet, in thickness. The lower sandstone of this group underlies this limestone. It is extensively quarried. It is a light brown freestone, even textured and soft enough to be sawed or cut into any desirable form. It hardens on exposure, and makes an excellent building stone.

Beneath this sandstone, and worked in close proximity to it, is what is classed as St. Louis limestone, a regularly bedded, closegrained stone of a light color. The upper portion of it is a pure carbonate of lime, well adapted to the manufacture of quicklime.

The dip of these strata is northward at an angle of 30°, iso that near the Monroe county line are exposed the brown niagnesian and semivolitic limestones that constitute the lower division of this group. Its outcroppings are confined to the south-western part of the county. At the old lime-kilns, four miles from Centreville station, it forms a mural cliff from sixty to seventy feet high, and continues gradually increasing in elevation, until the " Falling Spring," where it measures one hundred and fifteen feet in thickness, above the level of the Mississippi bottoms.

A most interesting study connected with these various strata, especially of beds of calcareous shales and limestone, is that of the fossils. Just as the print of ferns, leaves, and semi-transformed bits of wood are held as suflBcient proof of the origin of coal away back, when a tropical sun nursed plant life into an unparalleled growth, to be hidden away by processes of nature, and prepared by her silent chemists into coal measures, so too are these fossils accepted as evidences of a period when seas swept their full volume of waters over the remains of marine animals, Crustacea, jnollusca, crinoidea, corals, and bryozoa, with the teeth and spines of cartilaginous fishes among them. From their great number, life among the lower orders of created animal existence must have been quite as phenomenal as was plant growth during the ages preceding.

Many fine specimens of a fossiliferous character have been gathered in this county, and more than as many more ruthlessly tossed aside as possessed of no value.

Economical Geology. - From this brief resume of the outcroppings of the various strata observed in this county, it is manifest that it is a region highly favored. Its great and inexhaustible beds of coal are supplimented with quarries of both lime and sandstone, useful in a great variety of arts.

Limestone. - In the river blufls contiguous to the Falling Spring, is the St. Louis limestone, well adapted to the manufacture of lime. These quarries are yet in the infancy of their development, although first opened many years ago. They ought to be made of sufficient capacity to furnish all southern Illinois with lime, and that, too, of very superior quality.

Cement has, for a number of years, been obtained on T. Miller's place on section T. E. W. The material is a bluish-gray earthy limestone, and is quarried by drifting into the bed horizontally along the line of outcrop. Its capacity also might very profitably be increased.

Building Stone. - This county contains a great abundance of building-stone, confined principally to Centreville precinct. From William Lark's quarries on section T. 1 N. R 9 W., was obtained the material for constructing Grace Church in St. Louis, upon a contract amounting to fifty thousand dollars. The same stone has been largely shipped since, and been employed in the construction and ornamentation of many buildings. Some of the coarser layers have been successfully employed in the manufacture of grind-stones. In the same vicinity, overlying the above, is a lime-stone suitable for flagging, for heavy abutments of bridges, cellar walls, pillars, walls of buildings, where massiveness of proportions are desired. The pillars of the court-house at Belleville are of this material, and were taken from these quarries. The more compact fine grained strata are susceptible of a high polish, and could be used for cappings, ornamental designs, and anything where strength and beauty are desired in combination in ornamentation of buildings.

Fire and Potter's Clays. - The advent of tiling has given a fresh impetus to the working up of clays suitable thereto. Such clays abound in this county, and, as the demand increases, the supply will likewise increase. Clays suitable for the manufacture of common stone ware are being developed, and under skillful hands, are being wrought into various patterns. They are found in conjunction with coal, and are taken from the same shafts with comparatively little extra trouble.

Goal. - li has been aptly said that " coal is to the world of industry what the sun is to the natural world, the great source of light and heat, with their innumerable benefits." It furnishes the power that evolved the spirit of steam from the water, which, in turn propels the machinery run in the world's material interests; it weds the rough, uncouth ores of the mountains to the various arts devised by man's genius ; it renders the cold, cheerless winter such aid as dispels its gloom, and by its wondrous power is destined yet through pipe lines like those underneath the streets of Belleville, to extend its cheer through dirtless, permeating heat, like heart-throbs all along the highways of our cities-

Bituminous coal is by far the most important mineral resource of this county. It is calculated that the seams already partially developed and which are being profitably worked, will produce four billion and fifty million tons of coal.

When it is remembered that below these seams it is quite probable that other deposits will eventually be made manifest, the enormous proportions of the coal industry will be partially apparent. These vast deposits of coal fix the status of Belleville, and indeed of all the county, as a natural centre of manufactories. Hard by, are Missouri's mountains of iron ; her vast fields of lead and zinc ready for the hand of the artisan ; whilst above these coal beds are lands unsurpassed in the production of wheat demanding conversion into flour through the kindly aid of this fossilized sunshine of by-gone

The discovery of coal was singular. As related by Reynolds in his sketches published in Belleville in 1857, "A citizen of the American Bottom discovered smoke issuing from the ground, for weeks together, which attracted his attention. He saw the coal in the Bluff on fire, and supposed it had caught from the dry roots of a tree, that the prairie had set on fire. The fire had communicated to the coal from the burning wood. Soon after this, in 182 1, the coal trade commenced.

The variation in other analyses made, shows from 38.7 to 46 per cent, less in coking ; from 51 to 68 per cent, carbon in coal, and from 44 to 56 per cent, carbon in coke. From this it will be seen that the coal here compares favorably with that of surrounding counties.

iron ore. Her manufacturing industries are increasing in importance and in the production of wealth. The hum of machinery makes sweet music ; ores from furnace throats send forth their banners of flame to declare that labor is king ; thunderingrailway trains on a dozen roads within her limits, take up the cry, as, enveloped in clouds of smoke and steam they cross her prairies, adding to her wealth with every transit. Her resources are great, and the energy of her citizens in their development keeps pace with the progress of the age.

bruised by fall of coal, cause accidental. 2d. Edward Morgan, in Abby Mine, killed by fall of coal ; cause, accidental. 3d. Thos. Trondnaan, in Kneeht Mine, foot crushed (afterwards amputated), cause, fall of coal, accidental.

All mines are being regulated as fast as possible, and complying with the law, I have made it my duty to visit every mine, look after any disarrangements, etc. Regarding statistics of coal mined annually, found it impossible. Would recommend that the Inspector's whole time be put iu on the woik exacted of him, to assure the life and safety of men employed.

From the best sources available we learn that shipments of coal from the mines along the route of the Illinois and St. Louis Railroad, for the year ending January 1st, 1881, were 5,142,190 bush. ; from mines operated in this county along the line of the 0. & M. Railroad, same period, 2,836,450 ; same for Cairo Short Line, 5,679,010; same LouisvUle and Nashville Railroad, 3,982,310; aggregating 17,639,960 bushels. In addition to these shipments there are annually consumed within the county by estimate 6,000,- 000. Thus indicating an annual production of near twenty-four million bushels of coal. Based upon the acreage worked out, there have been taken from the mines of this county 446,581,914 bushels of coal.