St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter 9 (2 of 2 so headed), 1928

Chapter 9

OF The twenty-four governors of Illinois, six, or one fourth of the whole number, have been residents for d considerable portion of their life, in St. Clair Cbunty. This fact is a remarkable testimony to the importance of St. Clair County in the great State of Illinois. We have thought it worth while to devote a chapter to these six chief executives of Illinois as a group of St. Clair County citizens.

Their names, in the order m which they served, are. Ninian Edwards, John Reynolds, Thomas Ford, Augustus C. French, William H. Bissell, and Charles S. Deneen.

Gov. Ninian Edwards

Ninian Edwards was born in Montgomery County, Mary land, in the year 1775. His parents were wealthy and respect' able, and his education was commenced under favorable auspices. One of his schoolmates was the Hon. William Wirt, the great legal authority. He was prepared for college under the tuition of the Reverend Mr. Hunt, a respectable clergyman of his native state. He was then matriculated at Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He did not graduate, but left college at the age of nineteen. He also left his home at the same time to try his fortune in the state of Kentucky. Nature bestowed upon Mr. Edwards some of her rarest gifts. He had a mind of extraordinary compass and an industry that utilized every spark of talent with which nature had endowed him. His intellect was naturally strong and vigorous, and the development he had achieved by reason of diligent application to study, made him a really superior man.

Of his career in Kentucky we have scant record but it is stated that he achieved a position of prominence in legal circles before he left that state. He came to Illinois some time prior to the year 1809. On the twenty-third of February, 1809 only a few days after the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the territory of Illinois was established. The boundaries of this territory were the same as the present boundaries of the state except that on the north, Illinois extended as far as the northern boundary of the United States. The Federal Government organized the territorial government and appointed officers to administer the laws. Ninian Edwards was appointed Governor, Nathaniel Pope, Secretary, and William Sprig, Jesse B. Thomas, and Alexander Stuart, judges. These officers for the most part were men of talent and loyalty, and so gave character and standing to the new government. The separate organization of the Illinois country gave a great impulse to immigration. The new Governor did much to encourage people to come to the new country. Among the advertising agencies which he encouraged was a newspaper called the "Illinois Herald", which was started at Kaskaskia in the fall of 1809. It was the first newspaper published in Illinois. Its first editor and proprietor was Matthew Duncan from Kentucky. In 1815 the paper was purchased by Robert Blackwell and Daniel P. Cook who continued it for a number of years. Governor Edwards was appointed by President Madison and continued in office until Illinois became a state in 1818. He established by proclamation four new counties in 1812, namely, Madison, Johnson, Pope and Gallatin. He ordered an election for the sixteenth day of September of that year to elect members of the legislature. By his proclamation this Assembly was convened at Kaskaskia on November 25, 1812. This was the first legislative body elected by the people, that ever assembled in Illinois. The Territory contained six organized counties, since St. Clair and Randolph had been organized previous to the four by Governor Edwards. The General Assembly had twelve members, five in the council and seven in the house of representatives. It seems that Pope County had no member in the council at that session. John Thomas of St. Clair County was elected clerk of the Council and William C. Greenup of Randolph, clerk of the House. One door-keeper served for both houses, and each branch occupied a room in the same house. It is said that the whole assembly boarded at one house and slept in the same room in Kaskaskia.

The members of the Council were, William Biggs of St. Clair, Samuel Judy of Madison, Pierre Menard of Randolph, Thomas Ferguson of Johnson, and Benjamin Talbot of Gallatin. The members of the House were, Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short of St. Clair, William Jones of Madison, George Fisher of Randolph, Phillip Trammel and Alexander Wilson of Gallatin, and John Grammar of Johnson. This legislature did much and finished in record time so that it was not a long session and did not consume any great amount of the taxpayers' money.

Edwards was very active and energetic in his youthful days and the War of 1812 gave him ample opportunity for the exercise of his talents and energies. The country was weak and by reason of the scattered condition of the settlements was difficult to defend against the numerous attacks and annoyances of the Indians who were aided and assisted in their marauding type of warfare by the British. But Governor Edwards seemed equal to the emergency and performed his duties in a very satisfactory manner. He attended to the defense ot the country m person ,ind was present in person m ahnost every important transaction of the war. He remained at home with his family a very small part of the time during the whole GOVERNOR EDWARDS period in which the country was m a state of war. In 1818 he was elected to the United States Senate, and he performed the duties of this high office with an ability and force of character that was very acceptable both to that dignified body, the Senate, and the state which he represented. In 1826 he was elected Governor of the State of Illinois and gave to this important trust all his experience, talents, and energies, and made one of the best governors the state has had. In after years his son, Ninian Edwards, Jr., became the first Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Illinois. When Governor Edwards retired from office at the close of his term in 1830 he made his home in Belleville where he owned property and had many friends. When the cholera was raging in Belleville m 183 j, he was out night and day attending to the wants of those who were afflicted with that terrible plague, and relieving suffering wherever he found It possible. His knowledge of medicine and his true benevolence made him a most effective helper of the sick and suffering. By reason of his great anxiety and his efforts to save the sick, he himself contracted the fell disease and died in the city of Belleville only a few hours after it seized upon him, July 20, 1833,.

John Reynolds

JOHN REYNOLDS John Reynolds, later governor of Illinois, became a resident of St. Clair county in 1814, at which time he opened a law office in Cahokia. He was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, February 6, 1788. His father. Robert Reynolds and his mother, Margaret Moore, were natives of Ireland. When he was six months old his parents moved to east Tennessee and settled near where Knoxville was founded three years later. In 1800 the family left Tennessee with the intention of settling in Missouri, then under Spanish rule, but when they reached Kaskaskia they were induced to settle there, because west of the Mississippi river the children must be trained m the Catholic faith ;,md the Reynolds' were Protestants. Robert Reynolds was a member of the Indiana Territorial Legislature and served as Justice ot the Peace. In 1807 the family moved to a location in the Goshen settlement It the foot of the Mississippi bluff three or four miles southv^e^t of EdwardsviUe. In 1809 John went to east Tennessee md studied law in Knox County near the residence of his uncle, John. He was back in lUinois at the time of the breaking out of the war of 1812 and enlisted as a private in a company of ringers. He began the practice of law in 1814 and on the orgmizition of the State Government in 181S he was chosen by the Legislature as one of the Associate Judges of the Supreme Court. He held this position until 1824. He was several times a member of the Legislature and in 1830 after an exciting canvass with William Kinney as his opponent he was elected Governor. During his administration occurred the Black Hawk War. In 1834 he was elected to Congress from Illinois, but was defeated for the same office in 1836. In 1837 he was engaged in building a railroad from the foot of the bluff to the Mississippi opposite St. Louis. It was built for the purpose of conveying coal to market. This was the first railroad constructed m Illinois and was six miles long. In 1830 Reynolds was appointed by Governor Carlm as Commissioner to secure a loan for the completion of the Illinois and Michigan canal, and in the summer of that year he made a trip to Europe. Later he was twice chosen a member of the Legislature, in 1846 and in 1852, and when last a member he was made Speaker of the House of Representatives. Professor John Russell, speaking of Reynolds, to show how well known he was, said, "Deposit a letter m any Post Office in Illinois, however remote or obscure, with no other superscription than these three words, 'The Old Ranger,' and It would go straight to him at Belleville." Again he says, "There is hardly an office within the gift of our people which he has not filled, and with distinguished honor. For several years past he has decUned all public employment, and with an ample fortune has retired into the shades of private life, but not a life of idleness. The mind of Governor Reynolds is much too active, both by nature and habit, to content Itself with listless inanity. It is a remarkable fact that St. Clair County contains (1857) the only two Uving writers of the state whose productions have the slightest chance to outlive the passing hour and descend to other times. The Rev. Dr. Peck and Ex-Governor Reynolds, each in his own appropriate field, has collected and in part published a series of important facts in connection with the history of this state, which but for their labors would have perished forever. For this the future sons and daughters of Illinois will hold them in grateful remembrance."

Mr. Reynolds was married in 1817, at the age of twenty nine, to a handsome Creole widow, the daughter of Julien Dubuque. She was born in Cahokia in 1789 and was first married to a Canadian Indian trader named La Croix. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he left his wife, Httle son, and daughter, and went to Canada. Nothing more was heard of him at Cahokia for more than three years. He was supposed to be dead; and then Mrs. La Croix married another Canadian, Joseph Manegle, who was a widower with one daughter. Soon after this marriage. La Croix, like Enoch Arden, reappeared with a story that he had been "pressed" into the British military service, and had no means of communicating with his family. Mrs. Manegle, however, remained with her second husband until his death, which occurred about a year later. Then she did not return to her first husband, but some time afterward married John Reynolds. She was an attractive woman, graceful and charming in manner, a Catholic in religion, and possessed many noble qualities of heart and mind, but had very little education, and almost no knowledge of the English language. Accordingly, her husband learned the Creole dialect that was commonly used in Cahokia, and later acquired a reading knowledge of French. They lived in or near Cahokia until 183 1, when during his term of ofiice as governor, Mr. Reynolds changed his residence to Belleville. There Mrs. Reynolds died in 1834 and was buried in Cahokia. The governor's second marriage was to Miss Sarah Wilson, of Georgetown, D. C, while he was a member of Congress. She was a tall, stately and highly cultured lady, more than twenty years his junior. He brought her back to lUinois with him and purchased an elegant residence where he and his beautiful and cultured wife lived happily together for nearly thirty years. Neither of the governor's marriages was blessed with children, but he reared and provided for his three step-children with as much affectionate care as a real father might lavish upon them. Having acquired a competence, he devoted his declining years to the management of his private business and the writing of several books. The first one was "The Pioneer History of Illinois." This was published in 1852. His method of writing, according to his friend. Dr. John F. Snyder, was peculiarly his own. He used no desk or table, but with a pencil tablet resting on his knee, he wrote continuously, regardless of the conversation of those about him. He rarely ever revised or rewrote a single word or sentence.

When the book was finished he did not have strong confidence in it as a best seller, so he decided to publish it with as little expense as possible. He bought an old hand press and a lot of type, installed them in his law office, and hired printers who were out of work to print the book for him. The volume is not logically arranged, but contains much valuable information. Its quaint but vivid pictures of pioneer life cannot be found elsewhere. Dr. Snyder says that if he had been otherwise unknown, this volume alone would have rendered his name imperishable as long as the name of Illinois endures. In 1854 he made an adventure into the field of fiction and wrote "The Adventures of John Kelly." It was a flat failure. In 1855 he published from his own printing office the "History of My Own Times." In contrast with the Pioneer History, the book is divided into one hundred and twenty-five short chapters. As might be expected, the mechanical work was poor and the book was outwardly unattractive. Only four hundred copies were printed. In the fall of that year only a few copies had been sold, so the author loaded up almost the entire edition and hauled them in a wagon to Chicago where he left them with D. B. Cooke, a leading book dealer, to be sold. Two years later a fire in Chicago destroyed the book store, and with it the whole stock of Reynolds' books. There were then perhaps not more than a dozen copies in existence. It was reprinted in 1879 by the Chicago Historical Society, but copies of the original edition are so rare that a bibliophile has been known to offer as much as seventy-five dollars for one.

In 1857 he published a little book entitled "An Essay on the. Mind and its Education." It is supposed that the timely appearance of this book so full of educational wisdom caused his party to select him as a candidate for State Superintendent of Schools in 1858. Another Ex-Governor, Augustus C. French, was also running for the same office that year. But when the votes were counted, Newton Bateman had defeated them both. Another product of his pen was a sketch of Rev. John Mason Peck, issued in May, 1858, soon after the death of Dr. Peck. It was entitled "Friendship's Offering" and contained twenty-five chapters in thirty-four pages. It was not a biography but a piece of fulsome praise, intended as an evidence of regard for an old friend. With very few traits in common and many points of difference. Dr. Peck and Governor Reynolds were, nevertheless, for many years strangely attached to each other. They were as one in the advocacy of a high type of patriotism, national and personal honor, temperance, and education. Both were opposed to disturbing the institution of slavery where it existed, and they both believed the condition of the southern negro was better as a slave than if free. Doctor Peck was a Yankee, a Whig, opposed to the extension of slavery, a religious enthusiast, almost fanatical in his support of Sunday School and Foreign Missionary work, and detested profanity, immorality, and vulgarity. Reynolds was a Democrat, despised Yankees, favored extension of slavery to every state and terntory, held Sunday Schools, missionaries and ministers in utmost contempt, was an infidel, profane, and sometimes vulgar. Yet each sought the companionship of the other and held each other in high esteem. The governor's last literary production appeared in i860 when the country was in the throes of excitement and bitter discussion that immediately preceded the Civil War. Perhaps in a spirit of irony he labeled it "The Balm of Gilead," and gave it the sub-title "An Inquiry into the Right of American Slavery." It contained forty-eight pages and was a vigorous defense of the institution of slavery. He was himself a slave-holder until after the adoption of the Constitution of 1848, which finally extinguished the slave-holding which had existed at some points in the state before that time. He then employed none but negro servants in his home, to whom he was very kind, as he had always been to his slaves. In his old age the Governor, followed by a little colored boy, whom he called Veto, were familiar figures about the streets of Belleville. Veto and his mother were formerly the Governor's slaves and chose to remain with him after their emancipation. In the four years of the Civil War his sympathies were largely for the Southern cause. Conscious that he was beyond the pale of further office holding, he was no longer restrained by the fear of public censure, and he therefore gave free expression to his real sentiments. Only his advanced age and respect for his past services to the state saved him from arrest and imprisonment for his constant criticisms of the North and vehement laudation of the South. In the history of Illinois, he alone holds the distinction of having held the highest position in each of the three coordinate branches of state government. He was Governor, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a character full of contradictions. He was an Irishman, yet did not have any of the usual Irish traits. He never cared to fish or hunt. He had no music in his soul. He could not play any instrument, or sing, nor could he distinguish one tune from another. His father frequently drank to excess. The son never touched liquor or tobacco. He was strictly honest and honorable in all his dealings, but he ignored Christianity and favored negro slavery. In personal appearance he was full six feet tall and muscular, hut not fleshy- He was always well and neatly dressed. One biographer says of him, "On the rostrum he was neither commanding nor graceful. His gestures were few and awkward. He was voluble without the slightest approach to eloquence. He spoke 111 an earnest hut conversational strain. His speeches were rambling and disconnected, but attractive because of their originality and witty illustrations." He died at his home in Belleville, May 8, 1865, at the age of seventy-seven. His wife survived him only a few months. They were both laid to rest in Walnut Hill Cemetery, where a suitable monument has been erected to their memory.

Gov. Thomas Ford

Thomas Ford was born at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in the year 1800. When he was only two years old his father was killed m the mountains. In 1804, his mother, with her family of several children, set out for St. Louis, hoping to obtain a share in the free land grants which the Spanish government was making at that time to actual settlers. When she arrived, she found that the Spanish territory had been ceded to the United States, and there was no free land. After a brief period of indecision, she took her children and went to New Design, in Illinois, and located about three miles from the present town of Waterloo. Later they moved nearer the bluff where the family made their permanent home. It was within the bounds of St. Clair County until Monroe County was organized in 1816. So for twelve years Mr. Ford was a resident of St. Clair County. His mother was very anxious that her sons should receive a good education, and to this end practiced the most rigid economy with her slender means. Ford's half-brother, George Forquer, was a surveyor and laid out the town of Waterloo, which IS now the county seat of Monroe County. In 1823, Thomas Ford was admitted to the bar and practiced law for some years, was appointed Prosecuting Attorney by Governor Edwards and again by Governor Reynolds. Later he was elected Judge, and in 1842 was elected Governor of lUinois. He was a man of sound courage, a high sense of honor, and good judgment. The Mormon trouble in Illinois occurred during his term of office. He is the author of a history of Illinois which was published after his death, which occurred at Peoria, November 3, 1850.

Gov. Augustus C. French

Augustus Chaplin French was born in the village of Hill, New Hampshire, August 2, 1808. He had good early training by a Christian mother, was educated in the common schools and Dartmouth College, tho he did not graduate. He studied law in the office of Judge Moody, of Gillmanton, N. H., and was admitted to the bar in 183 1. In 1832 he came west and began the practice of his profession in Illinois. He first settled at Paris, in Edgar County. The same year Stephen A. Douglas moved from Vermont to Illinois. They both belonged to the same political party and soon became intimate friendsandwere GOVERNOR FRENCH life-long associates in the Formerly President of McKendree two consecutive terms, from 1S36 to 1840, he was a member of the Illinois Legislature. He was also United States District Attorney in the Fourth District for some years. In 1839 he was appointed to take charge of the United States Land Office and was located at Palestine, Illinois. In 1844 he was presidential elector for his party and cast his ballot for James K. Polk. By 1846 he had become a well-known character in his part of the state and was talked of as a candidate for Congress to succeed Hon. O. B. Ficklin. However Mr. Ficklin desired to continue in the office, and in order to get Mr. French out of the way, suggested to his friends that they make him their candidate for governor. This plan was talked up and at the Democratic State Convention he was duly nominated. The Democratic Party was much the stronger at that time and he was elected by a large majority in November, 1846. The great problem of that state at that time was the financial one. Governor French was skillful in that field. It was the testimony of Reynolds in his Pioneer History that Governor French was a "prudent and discreet executive officer." His administration stands preeminent above that of any other governor in several particulars. Before this time the State Auditor frequently issued orders beyond the appropriations or the ability of the state to pay. This compelled creditors to submit to large discounts and long delays in obtaining the money due them. Governor French made it his special aim to reduce the state finances to an orderly system. He so far succeeded that ever since that time the credit of the State of Illinois has been absolutely unquestioned, no matter what catastrophes might overtake the banks, or what financial crises might come to the country at large. He found the state carrying a burden of debt amounting to many millions and reduced it by one fourth while he was in office. He also took a keen interest in education and the cause of the common schools. He considered the universal education of the people the noblest heritage which a generation may bequeath to its descendants. In every message to the Legislature he emphasized the importance of this great interest. The new constitution adopted in 1848 required that a governor be elected in November of that year and take the office in January, 1849. Mr. French had served only about half of his term, and since the new constitution prevented him from serving more of the term for which he was elected, it seemed only fair that he should be re-elected. This was done with great unanimity. It was the first time that any governor had been elected for the second time in Illinois. He therefore served from December, 1846, to January, 1853, or a little more than six years. After completing his service as chief executive of the state, he retired from public life and devoted himself to the interests of his family, and especially the education of his children. When he was a youth of nineteen he was left an orphan by the death of his mother, to whom he gave his promise that he would take care of his four younger brothers. This pledge he faithfully carried out, and on account of this obligation, he did not marry till late in life. He was thirty-five years old when he was united in marriage to Lucy M. South worth, a native of New York State. They had five children, three sons and two daughters. The sons were educated at McKendree and the daughters at Monticello Seminary, at Godfrey, Illinois, since at that time McKendree did not admit women as students. The oldest son, William Richmond, died August 4, 1864, when he was only twenty years old and just after he had completed his course at McKendree. He was a Christian boy and died a triumphant death, which greatly impressed the youth of the community. Exactly one month later, his father passed into the great beyond. The memorial sermon delivered by Dr. Allyn, then president of the college, has been preserved in print. The second son, Edward Livingston, graduated from McKendree in 1866. His college course was interrupted by his service in the Civil War, where he ranked as Lieutenant. He also studied law, but spent most of his life as a teacher in New York State and later in California. He was married in 1870, to Miss Mary Wells, of St. Louis. They had four children, three of whom grew up. Mrs. French died in 1904 and her husband spent his last years in the Soldiers' Home at Sawtelle, near Los Angeles, where he died only recently. The third son, Charles, attended McKendree

The elder daughter, Augusta Carroll, married Mr. C. M. Wicker, of Chicago, and the younger. May, married Dr. John L. Hodgeman, who lived at that time in Colorado, but later they moved to Brownsville, Texas. Both these daughters, the eldest son, and the parents now lie buried in the family lot in College Hill Cemetery. Governor French was the founder of the Law Department in McKendree and Its head until his death. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees almost from the time he came to Lebanon, and the president of that body at the time of his death, which occurred September 4, 1864. His monument bears a remarkable inscription which appropriately characterizes the man and his career. It reads as follows: "A man, true, kind and noble; a citizen, just, generous and honorable; a public officer, upright, philanthropic, energetic and faithful; a husband and father, affectionate, wise, and good; a Christian, humble, charitable and trusting." He endeavored to live as a Christian from his early youth, as a result of the teachings of his mother, but he did not join the Methodist Church until after his marriage, and even then he rarely participated in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper because his great humihty of spirit led him to doubt whether he was worthy of that high privilege. The old French residence is still one of the most attractive looking homes on Belleville Street in the city of Lebanon.

Gov. William H. Bissell

William H. Bissell was born in Yates County, New York, in April, 181 1. His early associations led him to choose the medical profession for his life work. After completing his elementary education he attended the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1834. In those days the Great West was looked upon by most young men of the East as the place to seek their fortunes. As a matter of course, he was poor, so he decided to try his fortunes m Illinois. He came to this state m 1837 and first went to Jefferson County, but there he suffered a long and severe illness, which not only used up his small supply of money, but so discouraged him that he decided to enlist in the United States Army. With this intention he went to Jefferson Barracks, but his bodily vigor was so reduced by his long illness that he was unable to pass the physical examination. He then returned to IHinois, but stopped in Monroe County and engaged in school teaching for a time, in the American Bottom. But this work did not appeal to him, so he soon abandoned it ,ind began to practice his profession. In a short time he had a lucrative medical practice. He had good social qualities, w.is well-educated for that time, and was naturally thrown in company more or less with the leading politicians of the community where he lived. It was not long until he was making political speeches himself, and increasing his acquaintance and popularity among the people. His gifts as an orator soon gave him precedence over many other aspiring young men, and in 1840 he was nominated for the Legislature on the Democratic ticket and was elected. In this position he had his first real opportunity to show his ability as a political leader. At the end of his term he decided to study law and make that his profession. He attended the Law school at Lexington, Kentucky, and after graduating he located at Belleville for the practice of his profession. Not long afterward he was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney. He filled this office with great efficiency. He never prosecuted unless convinced of the guilt of the accused, and then he rarely failed to convince the jury also that he was guilty. His powers of oratory were such that his closing address nearly always overcame the efforts ot the ablest attorneys. When the Mexican War broke out he enlisted as a private soldier in the Second Regiment of Illinois Infantry. He was soon made a captain and later colonel of the regiment, which he commanded with great credit, both to himself and his men. Especially at the battle of Buena Vista did he show himself a gallant leader. The odds were heavy. There were twenty thousand Mexicans against less than five thousand Americans. Yet the Mexicans were utterly routed and suffered heavy losses. When the Second Regiment returned home the people of St. Clair County gave them such a welcome as had never been seen before in Illinois. A great barbecue was held on July 28, 1847. A" immense crowd assembled. The address of welcome was delivered by Judge Koerner in his usual able and eloquent manner. The response was by Colonel Bissell. It was a masterpiece of oratory. His war record made him the most popular man in the Congressional District, so he was elected to Congress in 1848, and again in 1850. In 1852 he refused to accept the nomination of the Democratic Convention as before, but ran as an independent candidate and was elected for a third term. In this session of Congress the fierce warfare for the extension of slavery which was waged by certain Democratic leaders of the South drove many former adherents away from that party forever, among them Colonel Bissell. During this session he was challenged to a duel with Jefferson Davis because he defended the prowess of his Illinois regiment at Beuna Vista, to the detriment, as Davis thought, of the Mississippi regiment, which he was trying to glorify. He promptly accepted and chose as the weapons, muskets loaded with buckshot, at forty paces, with the privilege of advancing to ten before firing. His war record made it pretty clear that he would advance to ten and that it would likely mean death to both parties. President Taylor felt called upon to interfere in behalf of the safety of his son-in-law, and was able to secure an amicable adjustment without compromising the honor of either party.

At a convention of all parties opposed to slavery, at Bloomington, Illinois, on May 29, 1856, he was nominated for governor oflUinois. Such men as Lincoln, Yates, Oglesby, Koerner, and others of similar rank were delegates at the convention. He was elected in the following November and thus became the first Republican governor of Illinois. He did not live to finish his term, but died at Springfield, March 18, i860, while he was still under fifty years of age.

One of his biographers says, "Of all the great men I have met, the one most prodigally dowered with eminent qualities was William H. Bissell. Nature lavished upon him many of her choicest gifts of both brain and heart, but envious fate prescribed a cruel limitation to their matured use and enjoyment, for death claimed him when he was still in the prime vigor of his remarkable endowments."

Gov. Charles S. Deneen

Of all the St. Clair County governors, Charles Samuel Deneen has been the most closely identified with the county and with McKendree College, though Governor French was actually a member of the faculty.

An adequate biography of him appears elsewhere in this work, so we give here only a brief sketch and mention some facts which probably do not appear in the other place. He belongs to an old and honorable family reaching back to the days of the Revolutionary War. He is a lineal descendant of Risdon Moore, a native of Delaware, who after serving in the Revolutionary War until its close, moved to Georgia, but after twenty years of residence, influenced by an increasing dislike to the institution of slavery, he came with his family to Illinois that he might spend the remainder of his days on free soil. He was a citizen of St. Clair County for the rest of his life and now lies buried in the beautiful Shiloh Cemetery, where the Daughters of the American Revolution unveiled a monument to his honor in 1825. His daughter was the wife of Rev. William L. Deneen, who came from Pennsylvania to Illinois in an early day and became a Methodist circuit rider and a member of the Illinois Conference. He was a graduate of McKendree, having received the first B. S. degree which the college conferred. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees, and after he retired from the Itinerancy he was the official surveyor of St. Clair County for many years. His son, Samuel H. Deneen, the father of our subject, was a graduate of McKendree and for thirty years a member of the faculty. He spent the greater part of his life in St. Clair County. Of his four children, Charles S. was the second, but all were graduates of McKendree. Another great-grandfather was Nathan Horner, who was one of the founders of McKendree and its first treasurer. His grandfather, Hiram K. Ashley, was a prominent citizen of Lebanon and a trustee of McKendree. Mr. Deneen's connection with McKendree College is therefore a close relation involving various members of the family during the entire history of the college. He himself graduated in the class of 1882 and became a trustee in 1900, so that he has held that relationship for twenty-eight years, and for a number of years he was president of the Board of Trustees.

Mr. Deneen began the practice of law in Chicago in the eighties. In 1895 he was elected attorney for the Sanitary District of Chicago. In 1896 he was chosen state's attorney for Cook County and again in 1900. He was elected governor of Illinois in 1904 and again in 1908. Even while he was governor and had his strength taxed by the burdens of the office, he did not neglect his alma mater. He used his influence in her behalf wherever he could and attended the commencement occasions whenever it was at all possible. McKendree very properly gave him the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1905. After completing his two terms as Governor he again engaged in the practice of law in Chicago until he was elected United States Senator in 1924

^TZr^ HEN THE great novelist Charles Dickens made his tour III of America in 1842 he included St. Louis in his Itinerary. While there he expressed desire to see a prairie. He was just across the river from the "Prairie State" so some friends of his who knew the way volunteered to take him to see the famous "Looking Glass Prairie" which lies in the eastern edge of St. Clair County. Dickens gives a vivid and partly humorous description of this journey in his "American Notes".

The party left St. Louis one morning in early spring when in this section the climate is so variable and the temperature is subject to sudden changes and it is difficult to forecast from one day to the next whether the traveller will need a fan or an overcoat. They crossed the river on a ferry boat and took special carriages for the trip driving first to Belleville. There had been recent rams and Dickens complains of the muddy roads He says, "We had a pair of very strong horses, but travelled at the rate of little more than a couple of miles an hour, through one unbroken slough of black mud and water. It had no variety but in depth. Now it was only half over the wheels, now it hid the axletree, and now the coach sank down in it almost to the windows. The air resounded in all directions with the loud croaking of the frogs. *** *** Here and there we passed a log hut, but the wretched cabins were wide apart and thinly scattered. For tho the soil is very rich in this place, few people can exist in such a deadly atmosphere." They reached Belleville about noon and stopped for lunch at the hotel known as the "Belleville House"

The following is a part of his description of Belleville and his visit there. "Belleville was a small collection of wooden houses huddled together in the very heart of the bush and swamp. Many of them had singularly bright doors of red and yellow; for the place had been lately visited by a travelling painter, who got along, I was told, by 'eating his way'. The criminal court was sitting and was at that moment trying some criminals for horse-stealing; with whom it would most likely go hard. Live-stock of all kinds, being necessarily very much exposed in the woods, is held by the community in rather higher value than human life; and for this reason juries generally make a point of finding all men indicted for horsestealing, guilty whether or no.

The horses belonging to the bar, the judge, and the witnesses were tied to temporary racks set up roughly in the road; by which is to be understood a forest path, nearly knee deep in mud and slime.