St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter 8: Pioneebs and Early Settlers, 1881 (part 2 of 2)

While the majority of settlers were without means, poverty carried with it no crushing sense of degradation like that felt by the very poor of our day. They lived, it is true, in a cabin, but it was their own, and had been reared by their own hands. Their house, too, while inconvenient and far from water-proof, was built in the prevailing style of architecture, and would compare favorably with the homes of their neighbors. They were destitute of many of the conveniences of life, and of some things that are now considered necessaries; but they patiently endured their lot and hopefully looked forward to better. They had plenty to wear as protection against the weather, and an abundance of wholesome food. They sat down to a rude table to eat from tin or pewter dishes ; but the meat thereon spread - the flesh of the deer or bear ; of the wild duck or turkey ; of the quail or squirrel - was superior to that we eat, and had been won by the skill of the head of the house or of that of his vigorous sons. The bread they ate was made from corn or wheat of their own raising. They walked the green carpet of

The settler brought with him the keen axe, which was indispensable, and the equally necessary rifle ; the first his weapon of oifence against the forests that skirted the water-courses, and near which he made his home ; the second that of defence from the attacks of his foe, the cunning child of the forest and prairie. His first labor was to fell trees and erect his unpretentious cabin, which was rudely made of logs, and in the raising of which he had the cheerful aid of his neighbors. It was usually from fourteen to sixteen feet square, and never larger than twenty feet, and was frequently built entirely without glass, nails, hinges or locks.

The manner of building was as follows : First, large logs were laid in position as sills ; on these were placed strong sleepers, and on the sleepers were laid the rough-hewed puncheons, which were to serve as floors. The logs were then built up till the proper height for the eaves was reached ; then on the ends of the building were placed poles, longer than the other end-logs, which projected some eighteen or more inches over the sides, and were called " buttingpole sleepers;" on the projecting ends of these was placed the "butting-pole," which served to give the line to the first row of clap-boards. These were, as a matter of course, split, and as the gables of the cabin were built up, were so laid on as to lap a third of their length. They were often kept in place by the weight of a heavy pole, which was laid across the roof parallel to the ridge-pole. The house was then chinked, and daubed with a coarse mortar.

A huge fire-place was built at one end of the house, in which fire was kindled for cooking purposes, for the settlers wiere generally without stoves, with which to furnish the needed warmth in winter. The ceiling above was sometimes covered with the pelts of the raccoon, opossum, and of the wolf, to add to the warmth of the dwelling. Sometimes the soft inner bark of the bass wood was used for the same purpose. The cabin was lighted by means of greased paper-windows. A log would be left out along one side, and sheets of strong paper, well greased with coon-grease or bear-oil, would be carefully tacked in.

The furniture comported admirably with the house itself, and hence, if not elegant, was in most perfect taste. The tables had four legs, and were rudely made from a puncheon. Their seats were stools having three or four legs. The bedstead was in keeping with the rest, and was often so contrived as to permit it to be drawn up and fastened to the wall during the day, thus aSbrding more room to the family. The entire furniture was simple, and was framed with no other tools than an axe and auger. Each was his own carpenter ; and some displayed considerable ingenuity in the construction of implements of agriculture, and utensils, and furniture for the kitchen and house. Knives and forks they sometimes had, and sometimes had not. The common table-knife was the pack-knife or butcher-knife. Horse-collars were sometimes made of the plaited husk of the maize sewed together. They were easy on the neck of the horse, and if tug-traces were used, would last a long while.

The common dress of the American pioneer was very similar. Home-made wool hats were usually worn The covering of the feet were, in winter, mostly moccasins made of deer skin and shoepacks of tanned leather. In the summer, the greater portion of the young people, male and female, and many of the old, went barefooted. The substantial and universal outside wear was the blue linsey hunting-shirt. Gov. Reynolds says that this was a most excellent garment, and that he never felt so healthy and happy after.

laying it ofi". Many pioneers wore the white blanket coat (the French capot) in the winter. These were made loose with a cap or cape to turn over the head in extreme cold weather. The vest was mostly made of striped liusey. The colors were made with alum, copperas and madder, boiled with the bark of trees, in such manner and proportions as the old ladies prescribed. The shirts worn by the Americans were generally home-made, of flax and cotton material. Some voyagers and hunters among the' Americans wore calico and checked shirts, but these were not in common use. The pantaloons of the masses were generally deer-skins and linsey, and sometimes a coarse blue cloth was used. In early times factory made goods did not exist. These goods, from New England and Kentucky, reached Illinois about the year 1818, and then looms, and spinning ceased. Every pioneer had a rifle and carried it almost wherever he went. On the Sabbath a stack of rifles might be seen outside the house of worship while within the congregation were attending service. Almost everybody was a hunter, and a deer was as likely to be seen on Sunday as on any other day of the week. Neat and fine linsey, manufactured at home and colored and woven to suit the fancy, composed the outside garments of the females. A bonnet of calico or some gayly-checked goods, was worn on the head in the open air. Jewelry was unusual. A gold ring was an ornament not often seen.*

The style of dress began to change about the year 1820. The blue linsey hunting-shirt with red or white fringe gave place to the cloth coat. Boots and shoes supplanted the deer skin moccasin. By the year 1830 a man dressed in the costume of the territory, raccoon-skin cap, hunting-shirt, buckskin breeches and moccasins, with a belt around the waist to which a knife and tomahawk were appended, was rarely to be seen. The female sex made still more rapid progress in adopting modern costumes.

The pioneers were exceedingly friendly and sociable. A newcomer was heartily welcomed. When a log cabin was to be raised, whether invited or not, they gathered together and enjoyed a backwoods frolic in putting it up. At these house-raisings much sport and amusement were indulged in. The young men and boys tried their strength and skill at jumping, wrestling, and running footraces. Old and young took part in the game of leap frog. Shooting at marks was practiced among those most skilled in the use of the rifle. Among a group of older men would figure a Kentuckian

* In these days of furbelows and flounces, when from twenty to thirty yards are required by one fair damsel for a dress, it is refreshing to know that the ladies of that ancient time considered eight yards an extravagant amount to put into one dress. The dress was nsually made plain, with four widths in the skirt, the two front ones cut gored. The waist was made very short, and across the shoulders behind was a draw-string. The sleeves were enormously large, and tapered from shoulder to waist, and the most fashionable - for fashion, like love, " rules alike the court and grove" - were padded so as to resemble a bolster at the upper part, and were known as " mutton legs," or '' sheepshank" sleeves. The sleeves were kept in shape often by a heavily starched lining. Those who could afford it used feathers, which gave the sleeve the appearance of an inflated balloon from the elbow up, and were known as " pillow-sleeves. Many bows and ribbons were worn, but scarcely any jewelry. The tow dress was superseded by the cotton gown. Around the neck, instead of a lace collar or elegant ribbon, there was displayed a copperas-colored neckerchief. In going to church or other public gathering in summer weather, they sometimes walked barefoot till near their destination, and then put on their shoes or moccasins. - They were contenteid, and even happy, without any of the elegant articles of apparel now used by the ladies and considered necessary articles of dress. Ruffles, fine laces, silk hats, kid gloves, rings, combs, and jewels, were nearly unknown, nor did the lack of them vex their souls. Many of them were grown before they ever saw the interior of a well-supplied dr\ -goods store. Tliey were reared in simplicity, lived in simplicity, and were ha{)py in simplicity. Bbownleb.

relating his adventures on flat-boats, " the old Broad-Horn," to New Orleans. At times, a bottle, called " Black Betty, ' filled with Monongahela whiskey, made its appearance, and then was told the " hair-breadth escapes" and thrilling adventures of the pioneers. A log-rolling, corn-husking, or bee of any kind, called the settlers together for miles around. The whole neighborhood assembled and split rails, cleared land, plowed up whole fields, and the like. Pioneer amusement generally closed the day. With the invitation to the men commonly came one to the women, to come to a quilting. The good woman of the house where the festivities were to take place would be busily engaged for a day or more in preparation for the coming guests Great quantities of provisions were to be prepared, for dyspepsia was unknown to the pioneer, and good appetites were the rule and not the exception.

" The bread used at these frolics was baked generally on Jonny or Journey cake-boards, and is the best corn-bread ever made. A board is made smooth, about two feet long, and eight inches wide - the ends are generally rounded. The dough is spread, out on this board, and placed leaning before the fire. One side is baked, and then the dough is changed on the board, so the other side is presented, in its turn, to the fire. This is Jonny-cake, and is good, if the proper materials are put in the dough, and it is properly baked." - Reynolds' Pioneer History.

At all log-rollings and house-raisings it was customary to provide liquor. Excesses were not indulged in, however. The fiddler was never forgotten. After the day's work had been accumplished, out doors and in, by men and women, the floor was cleared and the merry dance began. The handsome, stalwart young men, whose fine forms were the result of their manly out-door life, clad in fringed buckskin breeches and gaudily colored hunting-shirts, led forth the bright-eyed, buxom damsels, attired in neatly-fitting linsey-woolsey garments, to the dance, their cheeks glowing with health and eyes speaking of enjoyment, and perhaps a tenderer emotion.

" In pure pioneer times the crops of corn were never husked on the stalk, as is done at this day ; but were hauled home in the husk and thrown in a heap, generally by the tide of the crib, so that the ears, when husked, could be thrown direct into the crib. The whole neighborhood, male and female, were invited to the shucking/, as it was called. The girls, and many of the marrried ladies, generally engaged in this amusing work.

" In the first place two leading expert buskers were chosen as captains, and the heap of corn divided as nearly equal as pos6^ible. Rails were laid across the pile so as to designate the division ; and then each captain chose, alternately, his corps of buskers, male and female. The whole number of working hands present were selected on one side or the other, and then each party commenced a contest to beat the other, which was in many cases truly exciting. One other rule was, that whenever a male husked a red ear of corn, he was entitled to a kiss from the girls. This frequently excited much fuss and scufiiiug, which was intended by both parties to end in a kiss. It was a universal practice that taffia or Monongahela whiskeywas used at these. husking frolics, which they drank out of a bottle, each one, male and female, taking the bottle and drinking out of it, and then handing it to his next neighbor, without using any glass or cup whatever. This custom was common, and not considered rude. Almost always these corn-shucks ended in a dance. To prepare for this amusement fiddles and fiddlers were in great demand ; and it often required much fast riding to obtain them. One violin and a performer were all that was contemplated at these innocent rural games.

" Towards dark, and the supper half-over, then it was that a bustle and confusion commenced. The confusion of tongues at Babel would have been ashamed at the corn-huskings. The young ones hurrying ofi" the table, and the old ones contending for time and order. It was the case, in nine times out of ten, that but one dwelling-house was on the premises, and that used for eating as well as dancing.

"But when the fiddler commenced tuning his instrument the music always gained the victory for the young side. Then the dishes, victuals, table and all, disappeared in a few minutes, and the room was cleared, the dogs driven out, and the floor swept ofi" ready for action. The floors of these houses were sometimes the natural earth, beat solid, sometimes the earth, with puncheons in the middle over the potato-hole, and at times the whole floor was made of puncheons.

" The music at these country dances made the young folks almost frantic, and sometimes much excitement was displayed to get on the floor first. Generally the fiddler on these occasions assumed an important bearing, and ordered, in true professional style, so and so to be done ; as that was the way in North Carolina, where he was raised. The decision ended the contest for the floor. In those days they danced jigs and four-handed reels, as they were called. Sometimes three-handed reels were also danced.

" In these dances there was no standing still ; all were moving at a rapid pace from the beginning to the end. In the jigs the bystanders cut one another out, as it was called, so that this dance would last for hours. Sometimes the parties in a jig tried to tire one another down in the dance, and then it would also last a long time before one or the other gave up.

" The bottle went round at these parties as it did at the shuckings, and male and female took a dram out of it as it passed round. No sitting was indulged in, and the folks either stood or danced all night, as generally daylight ended the frolic. The dress of these hardy pioneers was generally in plain homespun. The huntingshirt was much worn at that time, which is a convenient working or dancing dress. Sometimes dressed deer skin pantaloons were used on these occasions, and mawkawsins - rarely shoes - and at times bare feet were indulged in.

" In the morning all go home on horseback or on foot. No carriages, wagons or other vehicles were used on these occasions, for the best of reasons - because they had none."

Reynolds states it as his sincere conviction that the early pioneers of Illinois were more moral and free from crime than the people of a later day. Thefts were of rare occurrence, and forgery, perjury, and similar crimes were seldom perpetrated. A white man was hui.g for murder at Kaskaskia in the year 1802, and an Indian in 1804; no further instance of capital punishment in Illinois occurs till 1821, when Bennett was hung at Belleville for the murder of Stuart. In the early history of the county, the courts were in session four times each year at Cahokia, but the grand juries frequently adjourned without finding a single indictment. While the higher crimes were of rare occurrence, the lesser violations of law were not unfrequent. But it is remarked that the assaults and batteries and other breaches of law most common, "did not involve any corruption of the heart, but were such as at times may occur in any community."

The use of intoxicating liquors was indulged in then more than now. Drinking was fashionable and polite, and liquor was considered an element in the conviviality of all circles. The French seldom carried the use of liquor to excess. Intemperance, on the part of the Americans, was greatest in the village of Cahokia, and

The Sabbath, among the American pioneers, was often employed in hunting, fishing, getting up stock, hunting bees, breaking young horses, shooting at marks, and horse and foot-racing. It was, however, a custom to cease from ordinary labor, except from necessity, on that day, and when a farmer cut his harvest on Sunday, public opinion citndemned it more severely than at present. There was no dancing and but little drinking. In many localities there were no religious meetings. The aged people generally remained at home and read the Bible and other books. The French observed Sunday in a different manner. After the conclusion of their religious services, the rest oi the day was passed in amusements, merriment and recreation. Dancing was common on the Sabbath, and frequently houses were raised and the militia trained. Public sales of land and other property were held, in early times, by the French at the church door on Sundays, after the close of the service. The French rarely engaged in common broils and disturbances. They detested a quarrelsome, fighting man. With the Americans personal combats were frequent. A slight dispute led to a fight; but the combatants often good-humoredly made it up before parting. These combats scarcely ever occurred unless the parties had been drinking. No rules were observed. At times eyes and ears were much injured, and were sometimes destroyed.

All species of gaming were common. Card-playing was sustained by the best classes. A person who could not, or would not play cards, was considered destitute of one of the accomplishments of genteel society. The French delighted much in this amusement, and this assisted in giving card-parties more standing and popularity among the Americans. During the hot summer months, in early times, the French played cards incessantly in the shade of the galleries of their houses. They frequently played without betting, but at times wagered heavily. The most common game of cards was called " loo." The voyageurs indulged in this sport more than any other class of citizens. The ladies often amused themselves at the game.

Horse-racing was one of the most popular amusements The quarter-races were the most common, and at these the most chicacanery and juggling was practiced. The most celebrated and famous horse-race in Illinois, in early times, was ruQ in the upper end of the Horse prairie, in Bandolph county, in the spring of the year 1803. The two horses which made the race were of the same sire. They ran three miles and repeat, for a wager of five hundred dollars. The bye-bets and all must have amounted to a thousand dollars, or more, which in those days was considered a very large sum. In 1806 Robert Pulliam, of Illinois, and a Mr. Musick, of Missouri, made a bet of two hundred dollars on a race between two horses, of a quarter of a mile, to be ran on the ice in the Mississippi river, a short distance above St. Louis. The race came off, and was run -without injury to either the horses or riders. Foot-racing, jumping and wrestling were much practiced by the Americans. Bets of some magnitude were made on foot-races as well as on horse-races. Governor Reynolds, in his youth, was one of the best in a foot-rac», and won many wagers in Randolph county, then his residence.

With the Americans shooting-matches occurred frequently. These were generally held on Saturdays, and as often as every week, in summer. A beef was usually the prize. A keg of whiskey was generally carried to these shooting-matches, on horseback, and sometimes a violin made its appearance, and the crowd danced for hours. Aged matrons frequently attended, with a neat, clean keg of metheglin, which they dispensed to the thirsty. This drink was made of honey and water, properly fermented, was pleasant to the taste, and had no power to intoxicate. The old lady sometimes brought her knitting and sewing with her, and would frequently relate tales of the tories " back in North Carolina," during the Revolution.

Agriculture was at first, of course, carried on only to a limited extent The inhabitants of the New Design settlement in Monroe county were the first to begin the cultivation of fall wheat to any considerable extent. In cutting the wheat, sickles, or reap-hooks, were the only implements used. There were- no cradles. Reaping with a sickle was a severe labor. Wheat at that day sold for a dollar a bushel. A short distance from the farms, on the prairies, or in places in the timber, good groves were selected and mowed, and thi^, as well as reaping wheat, was hot, hard work. The Americans at that day, generally stacked their hay and wheat out, but the French had barns which they used for this purpose. The French barns were made of large cedar posts, put in the ground some two feet, and set apart four or five feet - the space between filled up with puncheons put in grooves on the posts, and the whole covered with a thatched roof. Threshing and cleaning the wheat was in olden times a great trouble. The process of winnowing with a sheet was slow and hard work.

Considerable quantities of corn were shipped from Illinois in flatboats to New Orleans before the purchase of Louisiana It was an uncertain market, and the navigation of the river was more uncertain still. Stock, cattle and hogs were raised for the New Orleans market. The commerce on the river and the Indian trade consumed the small surplus product of the farms. Irish potatoes were raised in abundance, and the crops scarcely ever failed. Only small quantities of cheese and butter were made, scarcely enough for home consumption. The French scarcely ever troubled themselves with milking cows, but turned the calves out with the other cattle, and made little or no butter. That portion of the population scarcely ever used a churn, a loom, or a wheel. The apple orchards in proportion to the population were numerous. The French also cultivated orchards of pears, but the peach-tree was almost entirely neglected. The greater portion of the merchants made the Indian trade their main object. The furs and peltries are articles in great demand, and were generally shipped to Mackinaw, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. The French horses, known as "French ponies," were sold in great numbers to the Indians. Guns, powder, lead, and all Indian goods, blankets, blue stroudiog and made-up calico shirts, formed large items in the commerce of the day - as the Indians were much more numerous than the whites.

Incidents Op Indian Waefaee

The early settlements of St. Clair county experienced little trouble from the Indian attacks. The French at Cahokia lived in general on friendly terms with the savages. The American settlements in the present county of Monroe were much harassed, but after Wayne's treaty with the Indians in 1795, (subsequent to which date the American settlements in the present county of St- Clair were made), peace prevailed on the frontier up to the war of 1812.

The territory occupied by the county was, however, in early times the scene of several stirring incidents in the Indian warfare. In 1793, a little company of the pioneers in the American Bottom, composed of Samuel Judy, John Whiteside, William L. Whitetide, Uel Whiteside, William Harrington, John Dempsey, and John Porter, with William Whiteside in command, pursued through St. Clair county a number of Indians who had been committing depre- dations in the Bottom. They passed on the trail near the present city of Belleville, and attacked the Indian camps on Shoal creek. The eight men divided into two parties of four each, and made the attack from two sides at once. This made the Indians believe that ' the whites were in large force, and after one of their number was killed and others wounded, the chief. Old Pecan, begged for quarter. On discovering his foes to be an insignificant number, and his own party numerous, he called aloud to bis braves to return and retrieve their honor. He had surrendered his own gun to the whites, but now he seized the gun of the captain and exerted all his force to arrest it from him. Captain Whiteside was a powerful man, and a stranger to fear; but he compelled the Indian to retire, deeming it dishonorable to destroy an unarmed man who had previously surrendered. The whites were now in a critical situation, in the heart of the Indian country, where hundreds <.f warriors could be raised in a few hours time. They immediately started and traveled day and night, without eating or sleeping, till they reached in safety Whiteside's station.

In the year 1795, a Frenchman at Cahokia, informed Capt. Whiteside that a band of Indians were camped at the bluff, a short distance south of the macadamized road which now runs from Belleville to St' Louis, and that they meditated some injury to the settlements in the Bottom. Whiteside organized a company, fourteen in number, among which were Samuel Whiteside, William L. Whiteside, Samuel Judy, Isaac Enochs, and Johnson J. Whiteside, and just before day the Indian camp was surrounded, and all the Indians killed except one. It is said that although this one escaped, the Indians killed him afterward for his cowardly running off. The bones of the Indians killed in this contest were seen on the battle ground for many years afterward. In this battle Capt. Whitebide was wounded, as he thought mortally, having received a shot in his side. As he fell he exhorted his men to fight bravely, not to yield an inch of ground, nor let the Indians touch his body. Uel Whiteside, his son, who was shot in the arm and disabled from using the rifle, examined the wound, and found that the ball had glanced along the ribs and lodged against the spine. He whipped out his knife, gashed the skin, and extracted the ball. Holding it up he remarked, " Father, you are not dead yet !" The old man instantly jumped to his feet and renewed the fight, exclaiming, " Boys, I can still fight the Indians!"

It is said that after the battle Captain Whiteside and his party on their return to Whiteside's station, halted at Cahokia to dress the wounds of the Captain and his son. A widow lady, by the name of Rains, who had two beautiful daughters, resided in the village, and it was at her house that the party stopped. The acquaintance thus accidentally formed resulted in the marriage of two Whiteside brothers to the two young ladies. The Whiteside family were celebrated in the early history of Illinois as Indian fighters, and many of their descendants still reside in this state.

The massacre of the McMahon family in December, 1795, is elsewhere referred to. Robert McMahon had settled that year in the " Yankee prairie," a few miles south-east of the New Design settlement. His wife and four children were killed before his eyes, and he and two small daughters taken prisoners. The Indians hurried away from the white settlements with the utmost speed, fearful of pursuit. The first night they camped on Richland creek, about half a mile below Belleville. The next day they crossed Silver creek, above the present town of Lebanon, and the second night camped near the sources of Sugar creek. That night McMahon slipped off the cords from his arms and body, and escaped. He subsequently settled a short distance north-east of Lebanon, in this county, and died in Madison county.

Pioneer Mills

The first water mill erected within the present limits of the county was erected on Prairie du Pont creek, built by the Mission of St. Sul[)ice in the year 1754. The village of Prairie du Pont was formed around this mill. In 1764, after the country east of the Mississippi passed under the English control, the mill and plantation of the Mission of St. Sulpice were sold to M. Gerardine, and the members of the mission returned to France. Jean Francais Perry, about the year 1794, purchased this mill site, and built a new mill, which for a number of years he carried on successfully.

About the year 1744, the Jesuits built a wind mill on the prairie, two miles south-east of Cahokia. About the time the English took possession of the country this mill was allowed to go into decay. The mill stones could have been seen on the prairie where the mill stood a hundred years after it was built.

At Falling Spring, two miles south-east of Prairie du Pont, a mill was constructed about the year 1770. Hollow logs conducted the water to the wheel of the mill. The mill, however, was only a small affair, and was soon abandoned. This spring, which here gushes out of a perpendicular rock of the Mississippi Bluff, and falls sixty or eighty feet to the bottom below, was called by the French, " L' Eau Tomb."

Early attempts were made to establish mills on Cahokia creek in Madison county, but they were not attended with success. A man named McCarty, called English McCarty, built a mill about threequarters of a mile north-east of Illinoistown, now East St. Louis. He expended much money and time, but on account of the banks of the creek being washed so easily away, the dam could not be made to stand. It was a large mill, and at times did much business. McCarty obtained an improvement right of four hundred acres of land, covering his mill site, which to his heirs would have been ample compensation for his labor and disappointment, could they have retained possession of the property to the present day.

A horse mill at Cahokia, built by Major Nicholas Jarrot, was much used and of great service to the public. During the war of 1812 it furnished the troops with meal. Jarrot was fond of building mills, and spent much time, and lost much money, in his efforts to maintain a water mill on Cahokia creek, some miles north-east of Illinoistown.

In early times the settlers went either to Cahokia to mill, or to Judge's mill near Whiteside station. This was the case also with the frontier settlements in Madison county. Some of the pioneers who had pushed out the farthest were compelled to journey fifty miles. To relieve absolute want resort was had to the grater or the hand mill, and in a later day the hand-mill, propelled by horse power, came into use. The first water mill built in the county, outside of the American Bottom, was by Lawrence Shook, on Mill creek, west of Belleville, in the year 1800. Elijah Chapman built a mill on Richland creek, above the bridge, west of the Centreville road, in the year 1810 ; this mill was used till about 1830. Moses Quick, in 1815, built a water mill on the creek south of the St Clair county Fair grounds, and sold it to Major Washington West." This mill soon afterward was swept away by flood and never rebuilt. In 1820, Hugh Alexander erected the first ox mill in the state, near the farm on which the late Dr. Schott resided, on Shiloh, and built a distillery at the same time and place. The next oxmill was the one started in Belleville, by Wilkinson & Ringold, in 1822, who sold it to Jacob Whiteside, of whom Thomas Harrison bought it in 1826. Hosea Riggs had a hand mill in 1817, about two miles and a half east of Belleville, north of the road leading to Mascoutah. and Matthew Roach had one at his residence, about six miles south-west of Belleville, south of the Centerville road

- McCann had a hand mill at an early date a few miles east of Turkey Hill, which received a wide patronage. Among other mills may be mentioned that of William Phillips on the lower St. Louis road ; and that of Samuel Ogle on the St. Louis macadamized road, six miles northwest of Belleville. Thomas Harrison & Sons built the first steam flouring mill in Belleville in the year 1831. It stood on the lot on the south-east corner of First South and High streets.

A plate of tin was pierced with numerous holes, and one side thus made very rough. The tin was then bent to an oval shape and nailed to a board. By rubbing an ear of corn on the grater meal was made, though in a very slow and laborious manner. An improvement on this was the hand-mill. This consisted of two millstones, one above the other. A hole was made in the upper stone in which was placed a staff of wood, which ran through a hole in a plank above, so that the whole was free to act. One or two persons took hold of this staff and turned the upper stone with as much velocity as possible. There was no hopper, but through an eye in the upper stone the mill was fed with corn in small quantities. To make a mortar, wherein to beat corn into meal, the pioneers took a large round log, three or four feet in length, and, by cutting or burning, made a cavity in one end capable of holding, perhaps, a peck of corn. The log was then set perpendicularly in the ground, and the cavity filled with corn. A weight attached to a sweep was then used to crush the corn. The weight was forced down by the hands and was raised again by the spring of the sweep-pole.

In the band-mill the horse-power consisted of a large upright shaft, some ten or twelve feet in height, with some eight or ten long arms let into the main shaft and extending out from it fifteen feet. Auger holes were bored into the arms on the upper side at the end, into which wooden pins were driven. This was called the " big wheel," and was, as has been seen, about twenty feet in diameter. The raw hide-belt or tug was made of skins taken off of beef cattle, which were cut into strips three inches in width ; these were twisted into a round cord or tug, which was long enough to encircle the circumference of the big wheel. There it was held in place by the wooden pins, then to cross and to pass under a shed to run around a drum, or what is called a " trunnel head," which was attached to a grinding apparatus. The horses or oxen were hitched to the arms by means of raw hide tugs. Then walking in a circle, the machinery would be set ' in motion. To grind twelve bushels of corn was considered a good day's work on a band-mill.

In the early history of the State there was no penitentiary, and the whipping-post and pillory were made use of in punishing criminals. From five to forty lashes were inflicted in proportion to the enormity of the offence. It is said that two or three walnut trees, in the vicinity of the public square in Belleville, were made to save the county the expense of erecting a special whipping-post, and there many a poor fellow answered for his violation of the law. It is believed, however, that only one man was ever punished by being put in the pillory. His name was Wm. D. Noble,- and his crime was forgery. He was sentenced both to punishment in the pillory and to pay a fine of two thousand dollars and costs of prosecution ; one thousand dollars to go to the person he had attempted to defraud, and one thousand dollars to the State. The judgment was carried iuto execution on the thirteenth of April, 1822. Noble was exposed for about one hour in the pillory,- which was erected about the centre of the public square in Belleville. There it was allowed

But the people in those days very frequently took the administration of the law into their own hands. They held that it was unnecessary to trouble the courts of the county with some grades of criminals; and that as Judge Lynch's court was always in session, and that as but very few criminals had ever been known to prosecute a writ of error from that court after being tried before it, a preference should be given to it over all others, on economical grounds if on no other. Soon after the close of the war of 1812, the territory was flooded with counterfeit notes, and, for the purpose of detecting and punishing the guilty parties, a company of regulators was made up of many of the best citizens in St. Clair county, of which Dr. Estes was elected captain. This company was established in Belleville in 1815, and during the short term of its existence, which was but a few months, by its prompt infliction of punishment on all who were found guilty, by them, of crime, it created great excitement throughout the country. Criminals became terrified and fled, and good men deplored the necessity for the organization of any such society. The Lynch court was usually held in the neighborhood of the Silver creek, and there, too, were all the punishments generally inflicted. Many, however, were allowed the privilege of leaving the country, and so avoided the summary inflictions that otherwise would have been their almost certain doom.

First Macadamized Road

During the session of 1846-7 the legislature granted a charter under which was constructed a macadamized road from Belleville to St Louis. Previous attempts had been made to secure a charter, but the only one which the legislature would grant contained two provisions which would have prevented the successful conduct of the enterprise. One of these provisions was that the charter could be repealed at any time, and the other, that the private property of each stockholder should be liable for all the debts of the company. In 1846 Gov. Reynolds was elected a member of the house of representatives from St. Clair, with the principal object in view of securing a satisfactory charter for the proposed road. The charter was secured, and the road, almost fourteen miles in length, was built. This was the first macadamized road in the State. The improvement was one of great value to the county, and gave the city of Belleville its first advance toward prosperity.

Before this road was built it had been at times almost impossible to reach the river on account of the mud and mire. A story was accustomed to be told in those days to the effect that a man on his way to St. Louis saw, in the American Bottom, a hat on top of the ground. He got off his horse to pick up the hat, but found a man's head in it. The man under the hat said, " under him was a wagon and four horses mired in the mud ; that he was safe, but he supposed the horses and wagon were in a had fix."

The American Bottom received its name because it was here the early American families made their homes in Illinois. Shadrach Bond, Robert Kidd, and James Garrison settled in the Bottom (in the present county of Monroe) in the year 1781, and other American families followed. In early times the Bottom contained a dense settlement almost from Fort Chartres to Cahokia, and probably three-fourths of the American population in Illinois resided there. It is the largest body of fertile soil in the country, extending from Alton almost to Chester, nearly one hundred miles, and averao-ing five or six miles in width. The settlements of the early

The Bottom has at various times been overflowed by the waters of the Mississippi. There was a great rise in the river in 1725, and again in 1772. The latter year encroachments were made on the banks of the river opposite Fort Chartres. The next extraordinary freshet was in the year 1785. The inhabitants of Kaskaskia and Cahokia were compelled to seek refuge in the blufls. Many of the Cahokia people retired for relief to the rocky bluff, south-east of the village, which, for that reason, was called '' Bon Succour." Others went to St. Louis. The next very high water was in 1844. The flood of this year is still remembered and referred to, not only by the residents of the American Bottom, but by the people then living along the whole course of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The Bottom was covered with water many feet deep. Large steamboats sailed from bluff to bluff. The villages of Cahokia, Prairie du Pont, Prairie du Rocher, and Kaskaskia were almost destroyed.