Stark County, Illinois - Chapter 6: Stark County Organized, 1916

Chapter 6: Stark County Organized

ILLINOIS VALLEY STARK COUNTY THE ORGANIC ACT FIRST ELECTIONS THE COUNTY SEAT CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT - THE COURTHOUSE THE ANNEX THE COUNTY JAIL SHERIFF MURCHISON'fv

Shortly after tlie close of the War of 1812 the United States Cioverninent api)ropriated and had surveyed a lai\n'e tract of land in Illinois to be given to the soldiers who took part in that war. The "^Jilitary Bounty Land Grant," as it was called, was situated between the Illinois and JNIississippi rivers and extended northward to about the north line of Henry and Bureau counties. While a large number of the veterans took advantage of the Government's liberality to secure warrants, or patents, to a "(juarter section," there were only a few who became actual settlers on their claims. A large majority of them traded their patents to speculators, rarely receiving the real worth of the land. When the actual settlers began to come into the tract, in which Stark County Avas included, they found a badly mixedup situation with regard to land titles, with no sure May of telling wiiich quarter section belonged to some individual under the military bounty act, and which was subject to entry. Those who held patents to th.e lands generally kept out of sight until some settler would make imjjrovements, when they would turn uj) with a "prior title." These land sharks showed but little mercy to the pioneers - the men who were really developing the country - and in numerous instances deeds and patents were actually forged for the purpose of defrauding the settlers. Claim associations were organized in several places throughnut the tract, one of which was formed by the settlers about Osceola Grove, now in the northeast part of Stark County. Thnmgh the operation of these associations the land shark antl sjjeculator was sometimes given short shrift and the settlers were able to hold their lands until they could jjurchase them from the Government. One of the most notorious of tlie land sliarks and claim jum])L'r,s was a man named Toliver Craig, who was charged with forging titles, and who, it is said, placed forty fraudulent deeds on record in one day at Knoxville. In 18.54 he was arrested in the State of New York and taken to the jail at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he tried to commit suicide by taking arsenic. After remaining in jail about a year he was released on hail and disajjpeared.

This condition of affairs is here mentioned to show one of the phases of frontier life that the early settler in this section of Illinois had to contend with, along with the other hardships, and tliat the men who came here with the determination to make homes for themselves could not be defeated in their pur])ose, no matter how adverse the conditions. It was several years before the conflict over titles to the land was finally settled.

In the preceding chapter is given a list of those who settled within the present limits of Stark County between the years 18"Ji) and 18:i9. At the time the first of these settlers came into the Spoon Kiver Valley the territory was attached to Peoria County for all legislative and judicial pur])oses. Peoria County was created in 182.) and the act j)ro\ iding for its organization attached to it all the territory north of it within the State of Illinois, "on both sides of the Illinois Kiver as far east as the third principal meridian," which marks the present eastern boundary of Putnam and Bureau counties.

Knox, Henry and Putnam counties were set off' from Fulton County, and by the act of A\m\ 2. 1831, Putnam was divided into four precincts, one of which, known as "Spoon Kiver Precinct." included "all the county south of the direct line from the head oi' Crow Prairie to Six ^Nlile Grove, thence northwest to the original county line." Bureau Precinct embraced all the present county of that name and portions of ]\Iarshall and Stark.

As the number of settlers in the Spoon River Valley increased they began to feel the inconvenience of having to go to Hennepin to attend court and transact their county business, and a movement was started for the organization of a new county. At the legislative session of 1836-37 the County of Bureau was established and an act "for the formation of Coffee County" was also ])assed and ajjproved by the governor. Says Mrs. Shallenbcrger: "Now as Col. William llentlerson was, from his first settlement here, prominent in local politics, and known to be an enthusiastic admirer of the Tennessee hero, General Coffee, with or under whom he had done militarv service, it is highly prol)able that this, as well as subsequent acts for the same purpose, was secured through his instrumentality."

Under the act of 1836 the County of Coffee was to consist of nine Congressional townships, six of which were to be taken from Putnam, two from Knox and one from Henry. Benjamin Mitchell, Richard X. CuUom and Samuel Hackleton were named in the act as commissioners to locate the county seat, which was to be called Ripley, unless some town already established should be selected. The act was not to become effecti\-e, however, unless a majority of the voters ofi Knox and Henry counties should give their assent to the formation of the new county at an election to be held on April 10, 1837. Putnam was not allowed the opportunity of voting on the proposition, and in the other counties a majority was against the establishment of the new county. That was the end of Coifee County.

In February, 1838. a meeting was held at the house of James Holgate, near Wyoming, to discuss the question of petitioning the next session of the Legislature to organize a new comity. A factional fight arose over the question of the eastern boundary, some wanting the county to extend eastward to the Illinois River, and a spirited campaign followed in 1838. Colonel Henderson was elected to the I^egislature and on January Ifi. 1839, he presented a petition from a large number of citizens of Putnam, Knox and Henry counties praying for the erection of a new county. Just a week later a bill was introduced in the Legislature for the establishment of Stark County. This measure contained some features that were not satisfactory to Colonel Henderson, and upon his motion it was laid on the table. On February Ttli the bill and proposed amendments were referred to a special committee, which reported it back on the 11th, with the recommendation that it pass, but on the final vote it was defeated.

Then a bill was introduced under the title of "An act to dispose of the territory west of the Illinois River in the County of Putnam, and for other purposes." On February 28, 1839, the Senate reported that it had made several amendments to the bill, one of which provided for the formation of Stark County. The House concurred in the amendments and on March 2, 1839, the council of revision reported a])])roval of the act, which bore the title of "An act for the formation of the Count}' of Stark, and for other purposes."

The Organic Act

That part of the act relating to Stark County is as follows: "Section 2. That townships 12 and 13 north, of ranges 5, 6 and 7, east of the Fourth Principal ]Meridian, shall constitute a new county.

to be called Stark; Provided, however, that townships 12 and 13 of range number .5 east shall not constitute or coini)ose any part of the County of Stark, except upon the condition that a majority t)f the legal voters in said township shall consent thereto; and to enable the said voters to decide the question and give or withhold their consent, an election shall be held at the house of Henry JNlcClenahan, on the third Monday of March, under the superintendence of Jonathan Hoduson, Es(i.. Silas Richards. Henrv jNIcClenahan and Conrad Emery, who shall act as judges and clerk of said election, and whose duty it shall be to attend at the time and place aforesaid and hold an election. A poll-l)ook shall be o])ene(l, with cohunns in favor of and auainst being included in the said Countv of Stark; and the legal ^ oters aforesaid shall be permitted to vote for either proposition. The polls shall be kept open from !) o'clock A. INI. to .3 o'clock P. M.: and upon receiving the votes, the said judges and clerk shall certify the result upon the poll-book, and within five days thereafter deliver said Ixiok. certitied as aforesaid, to the clerk of the county commissioners' court of Knox County; and said clerk shall, in the i^resence of two justices of the peace, or two of the county commissioners, open and examine the said ])oll-b()ok and compare the ccrtiticate with the votes given, and thereupon make duplicate certificates of the result of said election, which shall be signed by the clerk and justices or commissioners as aforesaid; and if it shall appear that a majority of said votes are in favor of being included in the County of Stark, the said townshi]) shall be included in said county; otherwise said townshi]) shall continue to form and constitute a part of the County of Knox. One of the certificates made as aforesaid shall be transmitted to the secretary of state, to be by him filed with the em-olled bill enacting the county : and one shall be entered of record in the county commissioners' com-t of Knox County; but if the majority of said votes shall be against being included in the said county, the certificates shall be transmitted and recorded as aforesaid, and the boundaries of Stark shall be as fixed in the foregoing section, excluding the townships aforesaid. If the y)ersons herein appointed to act as judges and clerk of said election, or any one of them, shall fail or refuse to act, the voters, when assembled, shall select others to act in their stead, wlio shall execute this act as though they were named herein. Notice of said election shall be ])osted u]) at tln-ee ])laces in said townshi]). at least five days preceding said election, by Henry JMcClenahan."

Section 3 gave to the county commissioners of Stark County the power "to vacate, locate and relocate roads, and to use and exercise exclusive jurisdiction in the premises."

"Section 5. The commissioners of the County of Stark, when elected, shall jjroceed immediately to demand of the county treasurer of Putnam County the one-sixth ]nirt of '$9,870, paid liim by the Fund Commissioners, together with fJ per cent per annum upon the one-sixth part of the sum aforesaid; and should the treasurer of the County of Putnam fail promptly to pay over the sum aforesaid, then it is hereby made the duty of the County Commissioners of the County of Stark to bring suit against the treasurer of Putnam County and his sureties for the sum aforesaid, it being $1,645, together with interest as aforesaid from the time of loaning said money imtil paid - said sum being hereby appropriated to the County of Stark, to be applied agreeable to the provisions of 'An act to establish and maintain a general system of internal improvement;' provided, ho^vever, that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to release the present commissioners of the County of Putnam from any liability which they may have incurred by illegally authorizing the fund aforesaid to be used for any other object than that for which it was legitimately approjiriated.

"Section 7. That the legal voters of the County of Stark shall meet at the house of Elijah ]McClenahan, Sr., on the first ^Monday in April next, and proceed to choose their own judges and clerks, who, after being duly sworn, shall proceed to open the polls and hold an election for the purjjose of electing county officers. It shall be the duty of Closes Boardman, or, in case of his absence, any justice of the peace within the bounds of said county, to give at least ten days' notice of the time and place of holding said election, and, when said election is over, to give certificates of election to the persons elected comity commissioners and make retiu'ns to the secretary of state for comity officers.

"Section 8. The County Commissioners of the said County of Stark shall meet at the house of Elijah ^McClenahan, Sr., within ten days after their election, and after being qualified shall proceed to layoff said county into justices' districts and rpad districts and order elections for all justices of the peace and constables; to levy a tax for all county purjjoses for the present year, unless the revenue law shall be changed, and to do and perform all the duties required of the county commissioners' courts by law.

"Section 9. The courts of said county shall be held at sueh place as the county commissioners' court may designate, until a suitable preparation can be made at the county seat; which county seat, when located, shall be called Toulon. Said county shall form a part of the same judicial circuit with the counties of Putnam and Marsliall: and the circuit court shall he held for said comity twice in each year at such times as the judye of said circuit may desi<^'iiate.

"Section 10. Tiie (jualitled voters of the County of Stark, in all elections except county elections, shall vote with the senatorial aii<l representative district composed of the counties of Peoria, Putnam. Hureau and Marshall, until otherwise provided hy law, hut shall make election returns to the secretary of state in the same manner that is now required hy law from the other counties in this state."

Section 12 provides that the school commissioner of Putnam County should turn over to the proper authorities in the County of Stark all money, hooks, records, etc., pertainin<>; to the schools within the territory- comprising the new county.

The First Elections

The Legislature having done its })art hy the passage of the ahove act. it devolved ujion the people of the countj^ to complete the organization. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 7 of the organic act, the legal voters living within the limits of the County of Stark met at the house of Klijah ^McClenahan, Sr., on the first Monday in April, 1839, which was the first day of the month, and i)roeee(led to elect the following officers: Commissioners, Jonathan Hodgsoti, Steplien Trickle and Calvin Winslow; commissioners' clerk, Oliver ^Vhitaker; sheriff, Augustus A. Duim; treasurer, ^Minott Silliman; recorder, Jesse W. Heath; prohate judge, William Ogle; surveyor, .John W. Agard.

On Thursday, April 4, 1839, the county commissioners met, for the first time, at the house of Mr. JMcClenahan, where the election, was held, and carried out the provisions of the organic act as set forth in Section 8. ^Vt tlie .lune term the coimnissioners made provisions for the general election to he held on iVugust .), 1839, by ordering that each justice's district should he an election precinct, appointing judges of election in each precinct and designating the voting places. In precinct Xo. 1, Ri-ady Fowler, Nicholas Sturm and M. G. Brace were ajipointed judges, and the Northern school house named as the voting jjlace. No. 2, James Holgate, Samuel Thomas and Ilemy Rreese, judges; vote at the house of James Holgate. No. 3, Calvin Powell, William W. Webster and ]Moses Boardman, judges; election at the house of Lewis Finch. No. -1, Conrad Emery, John ]Mc Williams and Israel Stoddard, judges; election to be held at Theodore F. Hurds store in Lafayette. Xo. 5, ^Villiani Ogle, Adam Perry and Angnstus Richards, judges; election at tiic house of William Henderson.

The election of April, 1839, was for the purjiose of electing county officers to serve until the next regular election, which occurred on August 5, 1839. At the August election Oliver Whitaker and Minott Sillinian were re-elected clerk and treasurer, respectively; William Ogle succeeded Stephen Trickle on the board of county commissioners; Carson Berfield was chosen surveyor to succeed J. W. Agard; John :Miller succeeded William Ogle as probate judge; and B. M. Jackson was elected recorder. The new board of commissioners organized on September 3, 1839, when lots were drawn for the \ arious terms. William Ogle drew the one-year term; Calvin Winslow, two years ; and Jonathan Hodgson, three years. The machinery of county government Avas now permanently established.

The Couxtv Seat

Although the organic act gave the name of Toulon to the coimty seat, '"when located," no provision was made in the act of ]March 2, 1839, for its location. On February 27, 1841, an act was passed naming John Dawson. Peter Van Bergen and William F. Elkin, all of the County of Sangamon, to locate the town of Toulon. The act stipulated that the commissioners should meet at "the house of William H. Henderson, in said county, on the second ^Monday in April, 1841, thereafter, or as soon as might suit their convenience, and being first duly sworn, as l)y said act retiuired. to discharge faithfully tlie duties assigned them by said act, should then proceed to locate the said town of Toulon, having due regard in making said location to the })resent and future population of said County of Stark, the promotion of the general good, the eligibility of the site, and as near as may be, after considering all other provisions of said act. the geographical center of the county."

The commissioners did not meet until in ^Slay. Their report, tiled with the county commissioners and entered in the records of the county, contains the following:

"And, whereas, said commissioners did on the 17th day of ]May, 1841, meet at the house of William H. Henderson, in said County of Stark, and did take and subscribe to an oath prescribed by said act, and which said oath is filed in the clerk's office of the county commissioners' court of said Countv of Stark, and after having inspected the territory of said county in all tilings appertaining to the discharge of the (hities assigned them by said act above referred to, have h)eated, and do hereby locate, the town of Touh)n, the county seat of Stark County, on ninety rods scjuare of hnid, at present owned l)y John Miller, of said County of Stark, and known and described as follows, to-wit: It being ])ait of the southwest (juarter of Section Xo. 19, in Townshij) No. 13 north, of Range 6, east of the Fourth Principal ^Meridian, whieli said ninety rods square lies twelve rods east and twelve rods north of the west and south boundary lines of said (juarter section: upon this condition, however, that the said .loiiii Miller execute to the county eonunissioners in office a good and sutHcient deed in fee simple to the said ninety rods s(iuare of land."

On July 28, 1841, John ^Miller and his wife. Mary Ann Miller, executed the recjuired deed and Stark County became possessed of tile site of its seat of justice. (For the further history of the Town of Toulon see the chajiter on Cities, Towns and \^illages.)

Change Ix Goveknmext

When Stark County was first organized the transaction of tlie public business was intrusted to a board of three coiinuissioners. This system was continued until the adojjtion of the Constitution of 1848. which gave to the several counties of Illinois the privilege of adopting township organization. A majority of the legal voters of Stark County, at the general election in November, 18.)2, voted in favor of townshij) organization, the inauguration of which changed the executive officials of the county from a l)oard of three commissioners to a board of supervisors, composed of one member from each ci\ il township. The first board of supervisors, as shown by the minutes of Se])tember 12, 18.).'J. when they held their, first meeting, was made up as follows: Elmira Townshi]), Thomas IjvIc: Kssex, IamhucI Dixon; Goshen, Lewis II. Fitch: Osceola, Bradford S. Foster; I'enn, James Holgate: Toulon, Calvin I.,. Eastman: Valley, Charles C. Wilson; West Jersey, William W. Webster. The system thus introduced has been continued to the ])resent time.

The Courthouse

l-'or more than two years after the orgam"zation of the county, the public business was transacted and the sessions of the Circuit Court were held in private dwellings. Some time in the early part of 1842 a contract was made by the county commissioners with Abel ]Mott, an elder of tlie ^Mormon Church, to erect a courthouse upon tlie public square in the Town of Toulon. It seems that ]Mr. JNIott failed to carry out his part of the agreement to the satisfaction of the board of conmiissioners, as the records show that Cyril Ward, John Shores and J. H. Wilber were appointed to arbitrate the differences or misunderstandings between the contracting parties. On January 20, 184."3, after the arbitrators had rendered their decision and made their report, the commissioners ordered "that the treasurer pay to Abel Mott the sum of $360.36, to be paid out of the notes given for the sale of lots in the Town of Toulon, it being a balance due him in full for building said courthouse in said town."

On 3Iarch 8, 1843, ^linott Silliman, the treasurer of Stark County, tiled a claim for $21.7.5 for commission on $1,087.2.5 \\'orth of notes taken in jjayment for lots in the Town of Toulon and turned over to Abel jNIott since JNIarch 10, 184.2. The sum represented by these notes was probably somewhere near the cost of Stark County's first courthouse, so far as the contractor was concerned. There were some extra charges, howe\'er, as shown by the minutes of the commissioners' court. Notice was given by the board on September 7, 1842, that a contract would be let on the 20th of October "to under])in the courthouse with stone in a good and workmanlike manner, payable either in notes of the sales of lots in the Town of Toulon, or State Bank of Illinois paper."

At the same time W. T. Vandeveer was appointed agent of the county to award the contract and oversee the work "to the best advantage for said county." For some reason the contract was not let at tlie ai)pointed time, for on July 3, 1843, the bid of Calvin Powell, of $74.00. for underpinning the courthouse, was accepted by the boartl, the work to be completed by the first ]Monday in September. On tlie same date the commissioners made a private agreement with Minott Silliman, by whicli the latter was to "build six chimneys for stove i^ipes in the cotn-thouse," for the sum of $33.50, the chimneys to be finished by the first ^Monday in September.

Tiie old frame courthouse continued in use for nearly fifteen years before any agitation was started in favor of a new one. On Seiitember 10, 1856, John Berfield, Henry Breese and C. JNI. S. I>yons were appointed a committee "to visit I^acon, in ^Marshall County, and obtain a full description of the courthouse at that place - its size, the material of which it is constructed, its cost and manner of construction - together with such drafts, models, plats, etc., of said building, or such other phits as they may deem expedient; to consult with experienced builders, and to make such other arrangements pre])aratory to building a new courthouse as they may think necessary and report to this board at its next meeting."

Tile committee reported on October 11, 18.50. and with the rei)ort submitted plans and specifications for a new courthouse. The re])ort and i)lans were accepted and ai)i)roved by the board and the committee was discharged as a committee of in(}uiry and investigation, but the same men were immediately appointed a building committee, witii instructions to advertise for bids and report progress at the next meeting. On December 9, 18.5G, the committee reported that three sealed proposals for the erection of the courthouse had been received, to-wit:

The bid of Mr. Spaulding, whose home was in Knoxville, 111., was accepteil. but before the contract was entered into he came forwai'd with the complaint that the advertisement, upon which he had based his estimate, stated that the building was to be fifty-six feet in length, while the plans and specifications called for a building sixtyfour feet long. He therefore asked the board to jjermit him to add $1,185 to his original bid, which was granted, his figures then being more than one thousand dollars below those of the next lowest bidder. A contract Avas then made with Mr. Spaulding, in which he agreed to furnish all materials and labor necessary to complete the courtliouse for $9,48.5. This contract was dated December 23, 18.5('), and Mr. Spaulding agreed to have the building completed by the first day of December. 18.57.

Before the courthouse was more than half done the contractor assigned to Elias Spaulding, who failed to finish the building within the stipulated time. On December 9, 18.57. the county clerk was directed to issue an order on the county treasurer for $1,0()(). due February 1.5, 18.58, the last payment to Elias Spaulding for building the C()\u-thouse. The contractor was allowed $104. ()8 for extra work, and some other extras added l)y the board amounted to ai)ont fifty dollars.

On August 4, 18.57, it was ordered by the supervisors that the clerk advertise and sell the old courthouse at auction on the first day of the October term of court, the purchaser to remove the building from the public square within thirty days after the sale. The house was h()u<^ht by Jett'erson Cooley, who removed it to the east end of his hotel lot, on the northwest corner of Main and ^filler streets, Avhere it was used for years as a livery barn. It was then sold to M. B. Downend, who removed it to his farm a short distance east of Toulon and converted it into a cattle shed.

The Annex

The fireproof building, immediately west of the courthouse, which for want of a better name is here called the annex, was erected for the pin-poses of obtaining more room for the transaction of county business and providing a safe depository for the jiublic records. It had its inception on September 12, 1883, when James H. Quinn, the supervisor from Goshen Township, offered the following preamble and resolution:

"Whereas, it is the duty of the board of supervisors to provide necessary bviildings and suitable fireproof safes or offices to keep and inoperly protect the records of the county, and

"Whereas, the present buildings and offices of Stark County, Illinois, are entirely inadequate for that purpose, both as to capacity and protection from fire, and each property holder in the county, as w'ell as each one who is affected by the records of the county, is without such protection as an ordinarily thoughtful and prudent man would provide for his own ^^rivate interests, and

"Whereas, the finances of the county are such that we can and should immediately make such provision as we are required by law, and in duty bound to do by the obligation of the oath of our office; it is therefore

"Resolved l)y this board, and we do hereby appropriate the sum of .$6,000 for the purjiose of building a suitable fireproof structure for offices and for the records of said county, said offices to be built on the coin-fhouse square in the Village of Toulon, in said county, and we do further direct that the said sum of money be levied and extended ujjon the tax books of the respective townships that are now beingprepared for the taxes assessed for the year 1883."

Ujjon the roll being called, the supervisors from Goshen. Elmira, Toulon and West Jersey townships voted aye; and those from Essex, Osceola, Penn and ^"alley voted no. The result being a tie vote, the resolution was declared lost. The next day JNIr. Quinn. not willing to accept defeat, presented another resolution to appropriate $G.000 for a fireproof building, provided: "That the sum of $2,000 be raised by the eitizens of the said Village of Toulon and api)ropriated by thcni to aid in the erection and construction of said lircproof building, in addition to the above named sum of $(),000."

After some discussion this resolution was laid on the table and no further action in the matter was taken until the following spring. On April 29, 1884., the resolution was taken from the table and upon the final vote was rejected. Robert Armstrong, the member of the board from Elmira Township, then offered a resolution similar in character to that of IMr. Quinn, except that the amount to be appropriated was left blank, to be filled in after the cost of such a building was ascertained, and the peojjle of Toulon were not required to appropriate any part of the cost of said building. Mr. Armstrong and William P. Caverly were appointed a committee to procure plans, specifications and estimates and report at the next meeting of the boai'd.

On 31ay 27, 1884, they reported that they had employed Charles Ulricson, an architect of Peoria, to make plans, which were submitted to and approved by tlie board. The next day, on motion of J. S. Atherton, the sum of $7,.)0() was appropriated for the building and W . P. Caverly, of Toulon, Robert Armstrong, of Elmira, and .lohn Jordan, of Essex, were appointed a building committee. Rids were advertised for and were opened on .Inly 14. 1884. The contract was awarded to John Volk & Company, of Rock Island, for $7,414. and ^V. P. Caverly was appointed to oversee the erection of the building. In this fireproof structure are the offices of the recorder, surveyor, county and circuit clerks.

A careful seairli tlirough the records fails to reveal just when and how the first jail in Stark County was built. For several years after the organization of the county prisoners were kept in the jails of some of the adjacent counties. On September 8, 184(), the county commissioners ordered the treasurer to pay to the treasurer of Marshall County the sum of $134.03 "for keeping, boarding and guarding Josiah Kemp and Robert Brown," etc.

The next entry in the commissioners' record relating to a jail is found in the minutes of September 3, 1849, when the following warrants were drawn on the county treasury for labor or material used in building a fence around the jail lot at the southwest cornei- of

Franklin and Jefferson streets, opposite the public squai'e: Alexander xVhel. $10.62; Jacob Holgate, $8..-)(): David Winter, $5.2.5; John A. Williams (for self and boy), $10.00; Henry ^Vhite, $10..J0, making a total allowance of $4.4.. 87 for the fence.

Just a year later - September 3, 18.50 - the clerk was ordered "to make out and transmit to the clerk of Knox County so much of the record as may be necessary to exhibit the amount i)aid by the County of Stark for expenses incurred by AVashiugton Stair, a prisoner in the Stark Count)' jail on change of venue from said County of Knox," etc.

From these three entries it may be seen that the jail was built some time between the years 1840 and 1850 - probably in 1849, at the time the lot was fenced. It was a brick building, the jail proper being on the first floor, Avhile upstairs were living rooms for the jailer and his family. The brick walls of the lower story were reinforced by a lining of heavy timbers, studded with nails. Init even this precaution was not sufficient to prevent prisoners from working their way to liberty when they were so inclined. There was at least one jail delivery that is still remembered by old settlers.

It was a sort of oiien secret that "Uncle" John Culbertson was in the habit of keeping a considerable sum of money about his house. One Sunday morning, while ]Mr. Culbertson and his family were attending church, four men broke into the house and ransacked until they found at least a portion of the gold and silver coin, which they divided into four shares and concealed the money in hollow trees near Toulon. There was a slight snow on the ground, and when 3Ir. Culbertson returned from church and saw what had happened he raised the alarm. The neighbors soon gathered and had no difficulty in tracking the housebreakers into the woods, where three parcels of the money were recovered. The men were afterward arrested and confined in the old jail, where they kept up a noise every night, singing, hallooing, etc.. to prevent the sheriff from hearing their efforts to break through the wall. The only heat in the cell room was furnished by a stove. Heating the ])oker in the stove, the prisoners used it to burn out a section of the timber, hanging their clothes over the place during the day so that their work would not be discovered. After the timber was burned away they pounded a hole through the brick wall - singing and yelling all the time as usual - and made a dash for freedom. Their escape was soon discovered, however, and a pursuit instituted that resulted in the recapture of the fugitives. The Civil war was on at the time and they were given the oi^portunity of enlisting,

In Decemhcr. 18().>, the sheriff' was iHrectcd to ascertain tlie cost of two iron cells for the jail. The following March John ^I. Jirown, then sheriff, reported that two cells wonld cost $1,150, hut the hoard of supervisors decided that it was too nuich money to spend on a jail that had alxnit outlived its usefulness and the cells were not installed. Xo mcncnicnt for the erection of a new jail was made for nearly thirty years after that date, notwithstanding that every grand jury for the greater pait of that period condennied the jail as unsafe mid unsanitary. On ]Mareh 1, 189.5, Sheriff Donald INIurchison suhmitted to the hoard of su])ervisors the following report:

"Gentlemen: - The statute. Chapter 75, Section T2, makes it the duty of the sheriff, from time to time, to report to the board the condition of the county jail, and the fact that the board may, in some measure at least, be ac(|uainte(l with the condition of the jail does not relieve the sheriff from the duty of making such a report, or of the responsibility whicii would attach to his failure to make known to the board the condition of the jail. Therefore, I would rejjort to your honorable board :

"First - That the jail is in such a condition that it would he considered unfit for the confinement of brute beasts, much less a fit place for the confinement of human beings. It is a pure impossibility either to ventilate or light (except with artificial light) the miserable den.

"Fourth - There is only one apartment or cell for all classes of prisoners, whereas, the statute. Chapter 75, Section 11, forbids the confining of men and women together, and minors with notoi'ious offenders in the same room. I would therefore urge on the board the necessity of at once making such rei)airs and imjjrovements on the jail as will afford proper light and ventilation, and such as will insure, at least to a reasonable degree, the safe keeping and handling of ])ri.soners. Also, to ])i-ovide such apartments as will enable the jailer to com])ly with the statute in kee])ing the vai'ious classes of prisoners apart as above set forth. The roof leaks badly and needs rejDairing. All of which is respectfully submitted.

The board took the sheriff's report under advisement and after exaniinini>- the jail decided that ^Ir. ]Murchison's caustic criticisms were not witiiout foundation. On -May 2, 18t).5, the cliairman of the board was instructed to procure plans and estimates for a ne\v jail and report at the next meeting.

On .July 3. 189.), it was "moved and seconded that the supervisors build a jail for Stark County, not to exceed the cost of $8,000, provided they can sell the west eighty acres of land belonging to the poor farm, at not less than $80 per acre, and apply the proceeds as jjart payment on said jail."

On the same date the clerk was ordered to advertise for bids on the west eighty acres of the poor farm and on the old jail lot. and also for bids for the construction of a new jail until 10 o'clock A. 31., August 0, 189.5. When the bids were opened it was found that the Champion Iron Works had submitted the best proposition, offering to build the jail comidete for $7,"200, and that concern was awarded the contract. All bids on the eighty acres of land were rejected and the board levied a tax that would net $8,000 foi- the construction of the jail. The southwest corner of the public square was selected as the location and John P. Williams was employed to superintend the building of the jail. It was completed hi JNlarch, 189(j. With the new jail, which includes a residence for the sheriff. Stark County can claim to be as well provided in this i-espect as any county of its class in the State of Illinois.

The Poor Farm

Concerning the first poorhouse, or poor farm, in Stark County. Mrs. Shallenberger, on page 82 of her history, says : "The first county 2)oorhouse was located a little northeast of Toidon, on what was long familiarly known as 'Adam Perry's place:' indeed the house was but the old residence enlarged and adapted in various ways to its new duties. But this being deemed insufficient to meet the demands liable to be made by the increase of ])au])ers as the county grew in years and numbers, it was decided in 1808 to buy a larger farm, farther from town, and to erect upon it a good, substantial and commodious poorhouse. Accordingly a tract of land described as the northeast (|uarter of Section 12, ToMiiship 12 north, Range 5 east, in Stark County, was ])urchased from 3Ir. Davis Lowman. at a cost of about eight thousand dollars, and early in the following year preparations for building began - the committee in charge being C. M. S. Lyons, J. H. Quinn and H. Shivvers.

"The 1)1(1 buildings were sold, the old iarm platted and sold in small lots, and the eontract for the new building- let to William Caverly for the sum of -$1(),()()0. This was eonsidered by some an unneeessary expense, eonsidering the small number of our paupers, and the project met with some opposition and a good deal of ridicule."

The poorhouse erected in 1S()8 was destroyed by tire in the early part of December, 1«8(). and a few days later Edward Colgan, chairman of the board of supervisors, was authorized to "make, sign and execute proofs of loss," etc., in order to obtain the indemnity from the insurance companies - $2,.j0() in each of two companies. Some of the citizens of the county advocated the purchase of a new farm and the board ajjpointed a committee to examine farms, ascertain the prices at which they could !)c purchased and report. Several farms were examined by the committee, but upon final consideration of the matter the board decided to retain the farm already owned by the county, and on Jamiary 18, 1887, appointed John F. Rhodes, John W. Smith and John Ilazen a conunittee to build a new poorhouse on the old foundation walls according to plans made by John Hawks. On February 18, 1887, the building committee entered into a contract with Ira F. Ilayden to erect the new poorhouse for $0,909, and some additional ex])ense was incurred in repairing the foundation walls where they had been injured by the fire, making the total cost oi' the l)uil(ling a little over seven thousand dollars. It was completed and accepted by the board on September 14, 1887. has been kept in good re])air and is still in use.

In the early part f)f this chapter is given an account of the effort to establish Coffee County in the legislative session of 18.3(i-37, as taken from ^Nlrs. Shallenberger's work on Stark County. The same autlioi- says, regarding the name of Stark County: "To whose taste this name was due is sometimes a matter of curiosity among our people, who had formerly suggested 'Coffee.' There is no means of ascei'taining this to a certainty now, and it is a matter of small importance, but the writer is well convinced that the name was a ])olitic concession on the part of Colonel Henderson to the wishes of his constituents from Yermont, many of whom lived about Osceola Grove, and who also urged Bennington as a suitable name for the county seat."

of New Hanii).sliirc, where he was horn on Augxist 28, 1728, of Irish l^arents, who came to iVnieriea some ten years l)ef()re. He served with distinction in the colonial army during the Revolutionary war and \\as a memher of the council that arranged the terms of General Rurgoyne's surrender at Saratoga. With seventy-one Irishmen in his command, he was at the hattle of Runker Hill, and it is said he was the officer who first gave the command: "Hold your tire, hoys, till you see the whites of their eyes," a jjolicy that carried death and defeat to the forces of General Howe. On another occasion, at the lieginning of an engagement, he urged his men forward hy saying: "\Ve must win today, or tonight ]MoIly Stark is a widow." AMiile it may have been a source of some regret to Colonel Henderson that the county was not named after his old military commander, it was named for a hero who was no less illustrious.