White County, Illinois - Chapter 1: Natural History, 1883

Chapter 1: Natural History

White County has a geographical area of about 480 square miles, is situated in the southeastern portion of the State of Illinois, and is bounded on the north by Wayne and Edwards counties, on the east by the Wabash River, on the south by Gallatin County, and on the west by Hamilton County. Its latitude is 37° 54' to 38° 15' north of the equator, and its longitude about 11° to 11° 20' west of Washington. The county is twenty-four miles north and south by an average of twenty east and west.

The county is mostly drained by the Little Wabash and its trib¬ utaries, which river traverses the territory from north to south a little east of the middle. The second stream in size within White is Skillet Fork, which enters the county at the extreme northwest corner and flows southeasterly through Mill Shoals and Burnt Prairie townships into the Little Wabash. In the southwestern extremity of White County, and in the southern portion of Indian Creek Township, Bear Creek and Indian Creek unite to form Prai¬ rie Creek, flowing southward in section 8, of township 7 south, 8 east Lick Creek rises in the northern part of Indian Creek Township and flows southeasterly into the Little Wabash. Seven-Mile Creek rises in the southern part of Enfield Township and flows north by east into Skillet Fork. It is a stream of considerable size, and drains all the west central portion of the county. Beaver and Lost creeks drain the southern part of Mill Shoals Township into Skillet Fork. French Creek is a small stream near Grayville, in the northeast corner of the county. Fox River is a bayou of the Big Wabash, in the eastern portion of Phillips Township, leaving about six square miles of territory between it and the river. Little Fox 13 (189)

Hi8Toet Of White County

The land east of the Little Wabash is more level and sandy than that lying west. Hills prevail along the streams, especially in the northern and western portions of the county. The southeastern part of White County, namely, Hawthorn and Emma townships, s characterized by a considerable area of flat land, intersected by a chain of ponds extending nearly due north and south, which proba¬ bly marks the course of an old river channel.

Most of White County was originally covered with tall u tim¬ ber," the exact character of which is described under the head of " Botany," a few pages further on. A small prairie existed here and there, which is now obliterated by farms, and gave rise to such names as "Burnt Prairie," "Herald's Prairie," "Seven-Mile Prai¬ rie," the " Big Prairie," etc.

Agriculturally, the soil of this county is good for all the products of the farm, orchard and garden that are raised anywhere in the West. Wheat, oats, corn, timothy, red-top, blue-grass, clover, ap¬ ples, peaches, pears, cherries, small fruits, melons, sweet and Irish potatoes, and all the common garden products, And £ home here, limited only by 6ome of the vicissitudes of the climate. (See Me¬ teorology, on a subsequent page.)

Smaller details concerning the topography of the county will be found in the respective township histories, toward the latter part of the volume.

Geology

The following description of the geological character of White County is taken mainly from the report of the State Geologist, A. H. Worthen:

Superficial Deposits. - The alluvium, loess and drift, the three principal divisions of the quaternary, or most recent of the geological systems, are well developed in this county. Alluvial bottoms of considerable extent skirt the courses of the main and Little Wabash and Skillet Fork, but being subject to annual over¬ flow, the land is only valued at the present time for the fine body of timber which it sustains. The soil, however, is a rich sandy loam, and when cleared and brought under cultivation will prove the most fertile land in the county.

The loess is very heavily developed along the bluffs of the Wabash from Phillipstown to Grayville, and ranges from thirty to sixty feet or more in thickness. It comprises abed of brown clay immediately below the surface, of variable thickness, which is underlaid by the usual ash-gray and buff marly sands, containing the characteristic fresh-water and land shells usually found in this deposit.

The drift deposits in this county vary from ten to thirty feet or more in thickness, and consist of brown gravelly clays, with some northern boulders of considerable size. In the vicinity of the Little Wabash, north of Carmi, these seemed to be more abun¬ dant than elsewhere, and one was seen near the north line of the county, and about a mile east of the ford, on the Little Wabash, that was fully four feet in its longest diameter by two feet or more in the opposite direction. This is the most southerly point in the State where boulders of this size have been seen.

Coal Measures. - The stratified rocks of this county belong to the lower part of the Upper Coal Measures, and the lowest beds appearing in the county are to be seen in the bluffs of the Little Wabash, in the vicinity of New Haven, and near Carmi, these two points being on nearly the same geological level. The New Haven limestone appears to be identical with the lowest limestone seen in Clark County, which there lies about seventy-five to eighty feet above coal No. 7. Here the space is probably 150 to 200 feet or more, with two thin coals intervening between the limestone and the main coals below. In the solid portions of this lime¬ stone fossils are comparatively rare, only a few species being found at New Haven. The rock is hard and brittle, and weathers to a rusty brown color. The section in the vicinity of New Haven commencing at the base with this limestone and extending north along the small branches putting into the Little Wabash for about two miles and a half to land adjoining Mr. R. W. Boyd,, and be¬ longing to the Jones heirs, is as follows:

Fret. In

The three-inch band of ferruginous limestone, No. 3, of the above section, contains numerous well-preserved fossils. The chocolate-brown calcareous sandstone below it also contains a pe culiar group of fossils. This bed is found at Carmi, in the bed of a small branch south of the town, containing the same group of fossils.

About three-quarters of a mile from New Haven, north on Rock Creek, the beds numbered from two to ten of the foregoing section are well exposed, and a fair quality of thin-bedded micaceous sand¬ stone is quarried for building purposes. From this point to Carmi, by the road on the west side of the river, the country is quite broken, and frequent outcrops of sandstone and shale may be seen in the hillsides and in the banks of the small streams. On Grind¬ stone Creek, seven miles south of Carmi, a bed of sandstone in rather even beds is exposed on a small branch running into the main creek from the southwest. The beds exposed are from twelve to fifteen feet in thickness, and the rocks have been quar¬ ried for building stone, and some grindstones have also been made from it. Most of the beds are in tolerably even layers, but some portions of the mass show a more or less concretionary structure.

At Carmi there is a repetition of the same beds found in the vicinity of New Haven, with the upper part of the section better exposed, but only extending downward to No. 5 of the section seen near New Haven, the lower part of that section being here below the level of the Little Wabash. Commencing with the sandstone to be seen in the north part of town, above the dam, and descending from thence along the river bluffs to the small creek just south of the town, we have the following section :

The lower b6d of the above section was only partially exposed in the bed of the creak, where it presents the same general appear¬ ance, and contains the same group of fossils as were obtained from No. 5 of the section near New Haven. Only a part'al exposure of it has been fonnd in the vicinity of Carmi. The brown sand¬ stone, No. 4 of the above section, contains namerons specimens of broken plants, is somewhat ferruginous, and affords a good quality of building stone. The thin band of cinnamon-colored shale seems to have been formed from an impalpable brown mud, and on split¬ ting it in thin layers countless numbers of minute shells like Postdonia are found covering the surface of the slabs.

In the banks of the Skillet Fork, at Mill Shoals, there is an out¬ crop of thin coal, with a bituminous shale and limestone, as shown in the following section :

These beds afford no distinct fossils, but the limestone and black laminated slate bear a strong resemblance to beds found three miles northeast of Fairfield, in Wayne County, and two and a half miles south of Olney, which I have referred to the horizon of coal No. 13 of the general section. The cross-clearage planes of the limestone show Stigmaria rootlets, and these were the only indi¬ cations of organic life we could find in it. The rock is fine-grained* of a bluish dove-color, the lower portion weathering to a yellow¬ ish baff. The beds in the foregoing section are succeeded in the hills north and east of the station by sixty to seventy feet of shale and sandstone, with a thin bed of bituminous shale near the top of the exposure.

At Qrayville,on the west bank of the Wabash River, the bluff rises to a height of more than 100 feet above low-water level, and affords a fine section of the Coal Measure beds, as follows:

This section was taken about 300 yards below the ferry landing, and at the lowest stage of water in the river. The beds here lie in wave-like undulations, the black shale of the above section being at one point fifteen feet above the river bed, and in a distance of about fifty yards they come down to within six feet of the river level. In the calcareous shale, No. 7 of the above section, there is a thin band filled with broken and crushed specimens. This shale is dark colored and highly bituminous, and contains several species of crushed fossils in addition to that above mentioned, but all iden¬ tical with those found in the clay-iron band at the base of No. 5. Local patches of sandstone and conglomerate in lenticular masses a foot or more in thickness come in at two or three points imme¬ diately above the black shales, and where this occurs the shales are compressed into something less than one-half their normal thick¬ ness. At the upper end of this exposure the calcareo-bituminous shale, No. 7, is replaced by three or four inches of blue clay shale. The thin-bedded sandstones and sandy shales in the river-bed contain Calamites, and fragments of other coal plants, sometimes inclosed in iron concretions similar to those noticed in the river¬ bed at Mt. Carmel. The ferruginous band at the base of the blue shales, No. 5 of the foregoing section, contains many fine fossil shells in a good state of preservation, and the locality has become some what noted on this account. It is the same group as found on Raccoon Creek, near the north line of Edwards County, at Lawrenceville, in Lawrence County, and on Lamotte Creek, near Palestine Landing, showing that the Wabash River, from the latter point to Grayville, continues on nearly the same geological level.

The exposure in the Grayville bluff affords an interesting exhibi¬ tion of the variable character of the beds occurring at this horizon, and if the upper and lower extremities of this outcrop were only to be seen as separate exposures, their identity might not be suspected. At the upper end of the hill a seam of pyritiferous shale from one to three inches thick is all that separates the black laminated shales, while at the lower end they are separated by about three feet of calcareous shale and shaly bituminous limestone. Fossils are abundant at the upper end of the exposure in clay iron ore in the lower part of No. 5 of the section, while 300 yards below neither the iron stones nor the fossils they inclose can be found. Hence the difficulty of constructing a connected section of the up¬ per Goal Measures from the examination of isolated outcrops, which are the only exposures of the strata to be found in this portion of the State.

On the Little Wabash, at the ford six miles west of Grayville,on section 21, township 3 south, range 10 east, the bluff consists of sandstone and sandy shale, inclosing a bituminous shale and thin coal. The section here is as follows:

A short distance below the ford the bituminous shale and coal appeared to be wanting, wedging out in a distance of about 100 yards. The upper bed of sandstone is in part a hard micaceous rock, in even layers of moderate thickness, and will afford a good quality of building stone, as will also the concretionary bed below. About half way from Grayville to this ford, in crossing a ridge* there is from twenty to thirty feet of shales exposed, which proba¬ bly overlie the sandstones at the ford, though the exact connection between them could not be determined.

Gossett Station, on the Cairo & Vincennes Railroad, is located on a high ridge something more than 100 feet above the bed of Bear Greek. At the summit the railroad cut shows about ten feet of coarse, soft, brown sandstone that decomposes easily on exposure. A few feet below this sandstone a thin coal has been found at two or three places in the neighborhood, and some digging has been done here in the expectation of finding it somewhere thick enough to work to advantage, but so far without success. A section of the rocks seen in this vicinity show the following order:

The lowest bed in this section affords sandstone in smooth, even layers, from an inch to afoot or more in thickness, which is an ex¬ cellent and durable stone for flagging, foundation walls, etc., and the thickest beds could be easily cut for caps and sills. The rock at this quarry resembles that at McGilly's, a mile west of McLeansboro. No outcrop of coal of any value has yet been found in this portion of the county, and the four-inch seam in the above section is not likely to increase in thickness sufficiently to become of any practical value for mining purposes .

The following observations and sections are from Prof. Cox's notes in this county: "At the Grand Chain, one and a half miles below Black's Ferry, the Wabash flows over a hard sandstone, that is here a fine-grained gray rock, excellent for building pur¬ poses. It forms a low reef across the stream, creating a strong current, and hence the name 'Grand Chain.' On the Illinois shore the rock is but a few feet above the river bed, and is soon lost under the alluvial bottom. On the Indiana side it forms a ledge in the hills bordering on the narrow bottom. At Warrick's riffle, six miles above, this sandstone is again seen at the water's edge, and on the Indiana shore, near the mouth of Rush Creek, it is overlaid by a heavy bed of shale, including a soft, calcareous stratum, containing numerous fossils.

At Webb's Ferry the equivalent of the Rush Creek shale, alter¬ nating with shaly sandstone, again makes its appearance, and at Bonpas, a little higher up, we have the following sections:

The lower shale in the above section is first seen a half a mile below the ferry, and contains fossil plants, but they are too fragile to be preserved.

On the western borders of the county, opposite New Harmony, in Indiana, there is a large islaud formed by an arm of the Wa¬ bash, called Fox River. This island is low and flat, and subject to overflow. Soon after crossing Fox River we ascend Phillipstown ridge, which bears a little east of north, and strikes the Wa¬ bash River at Grayville. In this ridge we find the counterpart of the sections at Cut-off, below New Harmony, and at Grayville, but the creeks do not cut quite so deep into the argillaceous shale here, so as to show the lowest beds. Just before reaching Phillipstown, on the New Harmony road, a thin coal is seen in the bank of a branch. Below it there are a few inches of fire-clay, and then an argillaceous shale, which is seen in the bed of the branch. Above the coal, which is mostly decomposed, there is a calcareous band containing fossils similar to those found at Grayville. When first quarried this band is firm and hard, but after long exposure it becomes soft. Above the fossil band there are a few feet of argil¬ laceous shale and a bed of sandstone, as seen in the following

About a quarter of a mile southwest of this the sandstone of the above section is ten feet thick without seams. It is micaceous and soft when first quarried, but hardens upon exposure, ami makes a good durable building stone. Two and a half miles south- west of Phillipstown this same ledge of sandstone forms a low cliff along the eastern face of the ridge, and in places is weathered into caves, locally called rock houses.

On the road to Oarmi the loess is replaced by a loose yellow sand) that forms a bluff on the eastern border of a prairie, which is succeeded by a shallow slough or swamp that was probably once the bed of an arm, if not the main stream of the Little Wabash.

The black shale contained some poorly preserved specimens of interesting fossils. The argillaceous shale, twenty feet or more in thickness, appears again on the creek a short distance below the opening to the coal.

On Limestone Creek, north of Enfield, township 4 south, range 8 east, there is an earthy limestone two feet thick, passing down into hard siliceous fire clay. No fossils in the upper part, but the lower part contains rootlets of Stigmaria. This rock has been burned for lime, and hence the name of the creek.

A thin coal is found at the following localities in this county not already mentioned: Sections 16 and 18, township 4, range 8; section 8, township 5, range 16; section 30, township 4, range 9; section 21, township 6, range 8; section 3, township 6, range 10, and section 19, township 3, range 9.

The coal used in Carmi is brought chiefly from Equality and Evansville. Prof. Cox, State Geologist of Indiana, in a letter a few years ago to Dr. Daniel Berry, estimated that the coal bed of the region of Carmi was about 100 feet below the surface. No coal seam thick enough to be worked advantageously was found outcropping in the county, and the only resource of this county in that direction is in the main coals of the lower measures. These coals may be found here at a depth of 300 to 500 feet in any part of the county. At Carmi, and along the Wabash south of Grayville, coal No. 7 ought to be found not more than 150 to 200 feet below the river level, and if that should be found too thin to be worked to advantage, about 100 feet more would reach No. 5, one of the most persistent seams that can be found in the Illinois coal basin. Situated as Carmi is, at the junction of two important railroads, the citizens could well afford a test experiment with the drill, in order to determine whether they have coal beneath the surface at a reasonable depth, and sufficient thickness to justify the sinking of a shaft. This is a matter of public interest, and so far as the test experiment is concerned, the expense should be shared by the property holders of the town, and when this point is settled private enterprise will do the rest.

Economical Geology

Building Stone . - Sandstone of a fair quality for building pur¬ poses is found at a number of localities in this county, as noted in the sections already given in the preceding pages. At Carmi, the brown sandstone that forms the bed-rock in the southeast part of the town is an even-bedded building stone. On Grindstone Creek, six or seven miles south of Carmi, on the New Haven road, a bed of gray sandstone is quarried for building stone, and affords a durable stone for all ordinary purposes. Near Gossett Station an excellent flag-stone may be obtained, as well as heavy-bedded sand¬ stone for other purposes. This rock is micaceous and cuts freely, and could be chiefly wrought into door-sills, lintels, window-caps and sills, etc.

The sandstone outcropping in the bluffs of the Wabash River, from Phillipstown to Grayville, affords some good building stone at many points, as does that also that outcrops farther south at Grand Chain. In the bluffs at the Little Wabash, near the north line of the county, there is from thirty to forty feet of sandstone, nearly all of which might be used for building purposes, and the upper beds are in even layers of moderate thickness that could be cheaply quarried.

Brick Materials. - Sand and clay suitable for brick-making may be found in every neighborhood, and on the uplands on nearly every farm. Sand for mortar and cement are also abundant at some localities, as between Carmi and Phillipstown, where a bed of clean yellow sand is found replacing the loess.

Soil and Agriculture. - The soil of this county includes three quite distinct varieties, to-wit : The low alluvial bottoms skirting the main water-courses, and subject to annual overflow ; the higher alluvial lands southeast of Carmi, between the Little Wabash and the chain of'ponds already referred to as indicating an ancient river channel, which are mostly above high water ; and the rolling uplands forming the northern and western portions of the county. There is a small prairie on this second or higher bottom between Carmi and Pbillipstown, about live miles in length to about two in breadth, and also two small prairies on the northern border of the county, and partially within its limits, but the remainder o f its surface was originally covered with a heavy growth of timber. On the low bottoms between Fox River and the Wabash, canebreaks are frequently met with, the c&nes usually ranging from three to six feet in height. This is the most northerly point that we have observed this shrub growing in Illinois. The soil on the low river bottoms is exceedingly productive, and especially adapted to the growth of corn, and were it not for the annual river floods, would be the most valuable land in the county. The higher alluvial land skirting the Little Wabash south of Carmi has a sandy soil, not quite so productive as that on the low river bottoms, but yielding fair crops of corn, wheat, oats and grass, and easily cultivated. On the uplands the soil is generally a clay loam, simi¬ lar to that of Wayne and Edwards, but more variable in its pro¬ ductive capacities in consequence of the inequalities of the surface. On the oak ridges the soil is thin and yields only light crops of corn, but is better adapted to small grains and grass, while the valleys and the level stretches of land between them have a deep loamy soil that is very productive, yielding good crops of all the cereals usually grown in this portion of the State.

Botany

This term comprises everything that grows in the soil, from the largest tree to the smallest moss. Scientifically, every living organ¬ ism that subsists upon inorganic matter is a plant, whether it pos¬ sesses locomotion and sensitiveness or not ; while all living organisms that subsist upon organic matter are animals, although some of them are fixed to a spot as most plants are.

White County is in a region favorable to the high development ot many species in the vegetable kingdom. While about 2,3o0 species of plants are found native within the United States, about 1,600 are found within the State of Illinois, and fully 1,000 within the limits of White County. In the following paragraphs we will notice only those of interest to the general reader ; and we will mention the most conspicuous first, pursuing the following order: 1. Trees which grow to the full forest height. 2. Low

Tall Trees

Oaks . - The most conspicuous family of the forest is that of the oaks. There is a greater variety and abundance of them than of any other tree, and, perhaps, in this country, they are the most useful of all. At the head of this family stands the White Oak, which, though the most common species of oak in some sections of the country, is not so abundant in White County as some other species. Being the most useful for general purposes, it has been cut out of the forest more than the others, and thus made relatively scarcer. Bur Oak is abundant, and in general utility is perhaps next the White species. The other kinds of oak which have a whitish, soft bark, and prevail in this county, are the Post Oak, Lyre-leaved Bur Oak, Chestnut Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, and Swamp White Oak. Most of the latter are rare.

Of the oaks which have a black, hard, rough bark, the most prominent are the Scarlet, Red, Black, Black Jack, Shingle and Water oaks. The Willow Oak, so called from the form of it? leaves, occurs, but is rare. The Black, Scarlet and Shingle oaks are of the first order for fuel, as they furnish fully as much heat as hickory, afford ashes strong with lie, and produce good embers and charcoal.

Elms . - Next to the oaks the White Elm is the most common tree in this county. Its principal value is as a shade-tree, though when sawed thi n it is much used for small goods boxes. The Slippery or Red Elm and the Winged Elm occur here and there The latter is distinguished by narrow, thin ridges of cork on the twigs.

Sycamore , or Buttonwood. - This is the only species of its fam¬ ily in America, and finds its home in all the Wabash country. Used as a street shade-tree here, where it forms beautiful heads, and

Poplars. - The Cottonwood is a well-known, large swamp tree* of but little account. The Quaking Asp, or American Aspen, is a true poplar, and is common.

Tulip-Tree . - This is not a poplar, though often so called. It has also been called white-wood and cucmnber-wood. It used to be common in this region, but being very useful for box lumber, it has been pretty well cut out.

Walnuts . - The Black Walnut, for its richly shaded dark wood, is the most valuable tree of the forest. Specimens in the North have been sold for a9 much as $1,200 a tree, as they stood on the ground ! Consequently it has become scarce, as a large tree . White Walnut, or Butternut, is found occasionally. The wood is much used at the present day for veneering.

Maples . - Three species of maple are found in White County : 1. Hard, Sugar or Rock, with a variety called Black. 2. Red or Swamp. 3. White or Silver. The two latter are soft-wooded.

Hickories . - These are, botanically speaking, members of the Walnut family. At the head of this class of trees stands the West¬ ern Shell-bark, for its fruit and its wood; but it is not so common as formerly. Akin to it is the common Shell-bark or Shag-bark, which, by the way, is much more common East than here. The " Small-fruited " Hickory occurs in this region. Of those bearing soft-shelled nuts, the most common are the Bitter-nut and Pig-nut; the next the Mocker-nut or White-hearted Hickory, and lastly the favorite Pecan. A few specimens are found which, by the fruit, seem to be a cross between the Small-fruited Hickory and the Pecan.

Ash. - Of this family the white was once the most common; but, being a valuable tree for fuel and lumber, it has become compar¬ atively scarce. It has also been called Black Ash, Blue Ash and Gray Ash. The Red Ash, the Green Ash and the true Blue Ash are found in this county. The last three are of but little value.

Lin , Linden or Basswood . - One species is abundant, and one scarce. The latter species has larger leaves, with a silvery white and fine down underneath.

One is much more hardy than the other, and valuable for fence posts, etc. Its time of flowering is three weeks earlier than the tenderer kind.

Honey Locuet. - Common. Valuable for hedges, and in the ex¬ treme northern portion of the Union it is hardier than Osage Orange, and therefore better for this purpose.

Sweet Gum. - This tree has somewhat star-shaped leaves, yields a fragrant white gum, and that which grows among other tall trees yields the most valuable lumber, taking the place at once of pine, walnut and cherry. Although the botanists recognize but one spe¬ cies here, difference of situation produces so great a difference that the people say there are at least two varieties, - the yellow or red wooded and the white-wooded, the first mentioned being valuablo and the other almost or quite worthless.

Black Chum , called also Sour Gum, Pepperidge, Nyssa and Tupelo, is not at all akin to the preceding. It grows to full forest height. Its black, acid berries are not edible.

While a few under the .preceding head scarcely ever reach the height of the tallest forest tree, those which we shall enumerate under this head never reach the average height of the forest, and range down to less than twenty feet, where they mingle, in classi¬ fication, with "bushes" and shrubs, treated under the next sub¬ head.

Pawpaw. - Well known throughout the OhioBiver Valley for its banana-like fruit, which some persons learn to like as an article of diet. To "learn to like " them one must merely taste of them, at

Persimmon. - Common and more edible than the preceding. Persons abroad do not know much about them, from the fact that they cannot be shipped to a great distance. Before they are per¬ fectly soft they are inedible, and after that they decay too rapidly for shipping to market. Some one might make a little money at drying and canning them.

Redr Bud' or Judas Tree, is common in this vicinity, and is well known by its purplisli crimson tops in early spring before the leaves appear.

Sassafras and Spice-Bush , almost the only two members of the Laurel family in the United States, are both common in this county. The latter, however, is a shrub.

Bushes And 8Hrubs

Dogwoods (the Silky and the Panicled Cornels), Butter Bush, F.dse Indigo, Wild Hydrangea, Burning Bush, Bladdernut, Com¬ mon Elder, three species of Sumach, Wolfberry, Coralberry, Wild Black Currant, two species of Gooseberry, Black Haw, White Rod, Shrubby St. Johnswort, Mistletoe, Spice Bush, Prickly Ash,

Q?ape. - The Winter or Frost Grape is common, but the Sum¬ mer Grape, a delicious fruit, is very scarce, if indeed it can be found at all in this county. In early days it was common, but the vines have been destroyed by reckless grape gatherers. The Virginia Creeper, or American "Ivy," is abundant throughout the West

Poison Ivy. - This occurs almost everywhere, sometimes as a small shrub, when it is called Poison Oak, and sometimes as a large vine reaching to the top of the tallest tree. It has three leaf¬ lets to each leaf, while the Virginia Creeper has five; and young Box-Elder is distinguished from Poison Ivy by whitish bloom cov¬ ering the leaf-stems and green twigs of the former.

Climbing Bittersweet is a twining, woody vine, found occasion¬ ally. It bears orange-colored berries, in clusters which are con¬ spicuous in autumn, resembling wax-work, by which term they are indeed sometimes called, and have been used in ornamentation. This vine is also called simply Bittersweet, but the true medical Bittersweet is a plant of an entirely different order and appear¬ ance, not a vine, and not growing wild in this county.

Vetches. - This term may comprise several small herbaceous vines of the pea and bean family, occurring frequently in the woods, but of no great consequence.

Wild Balsam Apple, called also Wild Cucumber, and by many other local names, is a vigorous, herbaceous vine, bearing a burlike fruit, like that of the Jimpson-weed, and flourishing about cul¬ tivated grounds.

Morning-glory. - The most common plant of this order, grow¬ ing spontaneously beyond the bounds of cultivation, is the Hedge Bindweed, or Rutland Beauty. Eight species of Dodder ("Love-

Bindweeds. - Black Bindweed, arrow-leaved Tear-thumb, and climbing false Buckwheat occur here and there. The first men¬ tioned is sometimes a pest in fields.

Besides the above, there are several species of plants which are sometimes called vines, but are not strictly such. They grow mostly prostrate on the ground, but neither climb nor twine; for examples, Goose-grass, Bracted Vervain, Yellow Honeysuckle, etc.

Native Herbs

The most common wild herbaceous plants, especially in earlier days, were wild Sunflowers, Coneflowers, Spanish Needle, Stickseed, Tick-seed, Rosin-weed, Sneeze-weed, Yarrow, Asters, Fleabanes, Golden-rods, Thorough worts, Iron-weeds, Fireweed, Thistles, Catch-fly, Wood-sorrel, Spring Beauty, Anemones, Violets, Milk¬ weeds, May-Apple, Loosestrife, Wild Parsley, Dogbane, Sweet Ciceley, Bedstraw (Cleavers and Goose-grass), Gerardia, American Pennyroyal, Wild Mint, Water Hoarhound, Giant Hyssop, Red and Yellow Puccoon, Beggars Lice, Wild Phloxes (Sweet William), Ground Cherry, Richweed, Potentilla, Wild Touch-me-not, Threeseeded Mercury, Horse-tail, Cat-tail, Arrow-head Trilliums, Solo¬ mon's Seal, Spider- wort, and the Ferns. Ginseng, locally called "sang" was common in early day, but, on account of its market able value, it has been about all eradicated from our woods; and for the same reason, its supposed value, it has never been con¬ sidered a weed.

In addition to the foregoing, we may add the following, as occur¬ ring more rarely, but were still frequent and were either prominent or interesting in some feature: Adam and Eve, Adder's Tongue, Agrimony, Alum Root, Avens, Baneberry, Beard-tongue, Black Snakeroot, Blood-root, Blue Flag, Bog Rush, Boneset, Buck Bean, Bull Rush, Bush Clover, Cardinal Flower, Club Rush, Cohosh, Colum¬ bine, Cress, Crowfoots, Cudweed, Culver's Physic, Dragoon-root, Dry Strawberry, Dutchman's Breeches, Enchanter's Nightshade, Evening Primrose, Feverwort, Fog-fruit, Fool's Parsley, Foxglove, Gentians, Goat's Rue, Golden Alexander, Greek Valerian, Ground¬ nut, Groundsel, Hawkweed, Hedge Nettle, Herb Robert, Hibiscus,

These are introduced herbs, growing spontaneously in cultivated and waste grounds. These, of course, have not been purposely in¬ troduced from the East and from Europe, but their seeds have been unavoidably brought West in the shipment of goods and oth¬ erwise.

The most familiar weeds in this section of country are Smartweed, Knot-weed, Pig- weed, Thorny Amaranth, Lamb's-Quarter, Dog-Fennel or Mayweed, Bull-Nettle, Jimpson, Poke, Indian Mallow, Pursley, Spurge, Shepherd's Purse, Pepper-grass, Chickweed, Common Mallows, Gill, Bouncing Bet, Milkweed, several species, Silkweed, Figwort, Motherwort, Catnip, Hoarhound, Mullein, four Vervains, Burdock, Cocklebur, Black Nightshade, Dandelion, Toad Flax, Sow Thistle, Sneezeweed, Ironweed, Plan¬ tain, Goosefoot, Richweed, Ragweed, Horse- weed, Camphor-weed, etc. The Thorny Amaranth has been introduced since the com¬ mencement of the last war, apparently from the South.

Clover and grass, as they grow on the commons, are scarcely considered weeds, on account of their great utility to live-stock , while many field and garden plants, when cultivated for their products are considered useful, are weeds when they come spon¬ taneously in the way, obstructing the desired cultivation of other plants.

Plants " escaping from cultivation," as Spider-flower or Cleorae, Bouncing Bet, Bittersweet, Parsnip, Stonecrop, Sunflower, Prince's Feather, Lungwort, Horse-Radish, Gill, Indian Heliotrope, Morn¬ ing-Glory, Buckwheat, etc., are weeds or not weeds, according to whether they come in our way or not.

Hi8Tory Of White County

rust, etc., varying in size from that of a floor barrel to a micro¬ scopic point. Most fungi are microscopic, and many living germs are so minute and so low in the scale of organization that they are neither vegetable nor animal. The germs of decay are living " organisms," not known to be either vegetable or animal, and are mostly of the species called " Bacterium." Nearly all discolora¬ tions of leaves are due to the presence of minute fungi or kindred organisms, which are as symmetrical as wheels, and often beauti¬ ful. Pear-blight and apple-blight are now believed to be caused by bacteria or other germs of disease, and nearly all diseases of plants, as well as many affections among men, are now supposed by the medical profession to be caused, or at least accompanied, by such germs, in countless millions.

The amateur botanist, at the present day, finds but little interest in rambling through the woods of Illinois, because by pasturage nearly all the native plants are killed out, and their place supplied by a few insignificant weeds and grasses. But the seeker after fungi, mildews, rusts, etc., finds a much richer field than he could have found fifty or seventy-five years ago.

" Malaria" signifies bad air; and the badness consists of disease germ 8, but it is not known whether these are vegetable or animal, or neither. These germs are very numerous in their genera and species, and most of them are always more or less present. Hence it is always better to counteract them by preserving a vig¬ orous state of the body than by seeking antidotal poisons.

Zoology

This term refers to the whole animal kingdom, and as a science is divided into "zoology" proper, or the natural history of quad rupeds, ornithology (birds), ichthyology (fishes), herpetology (rep tiles), entomology (insects), etc.

\\ easels, ground-hogs, squirrels and moles. No buffalo or beaver have been known in this county since its settlement by the whites. The largest buffalo lick in the county existed on the Skillet Fork. An old buffalo trail used to be traceable about five miles southwest of Carmi, running southeast and northwest, and remains of beaver dams on the Big Wabash. Deer were abundant. Dozens and scores were often seen in single herds. Ninian W. Young, of Carrni, says he counted 102 deer at the lick near his place in one herd, or series of herds almost continuous. Often saw as many as fifty in his wheat-field, even as late as 1850-'5. They ate a great quantity of his standing grain. In one winter, in this county, Peter Miller killed a hundred deer, Rhodes killed sixty-four, Charles Williams sixty-eight, and many others in proportion. Only the hides and hams were saved, the former bringing fifty cents a pound in the market and the latter thirty-seven and a half cents a pair. Many farmers fed deer flesh to their hogs.

This beautiful and useful animal, like all the larger quadrupeds, has long since been killed out, never again to appear except in confinement, either in parks or in the cages of menageries. The bears were of the black or brown species. The old residents of this county have many an experience to relate in connection with these curious creatures. Some of these anecdotes as well as some concerning wolves, etc., are rehearsed in the respective town¬ ship histories toward the close of the volume. The wolves were all of the large kind, and called " timber " wolves. Panthers, familiarly called "painters," wild-cats, or catamounts, jaguars, etc., were never abundant, but the few that did rove in these woods were the foundation of many a frightful story. The red fox still lingers here, but the gray and black varieties have long since dis¬ appeared. " 'Coon -hunting " is still followed to a small extent along the Great Wabash. Opossums, skunks, otters, muskrats and minks are still common. Ground-hogs (chipmunks) and ground -squirrels are said to be all gone. There are some flying squirrels yet. The gray squirrel (some individuals black) was very plentiful in early day; comparatively few now.

Wild hogs were common in early day, and many a time had a person iu the woods to climb a tree to avoid the attack of such as were enraged by the chase. These savage animals probably had not so great a difficulty in crossiug the rivers with their young as we generally imagine, for a domesticated sow was seen only last year to swim the Little Wabash with her young on her back !

Squirrel Raid . - In the fall of 1834 there was a great immigra¬ tion of squirrels from Kentucky, which crossed the Ohio River by swimming, and made their way northward through Gallatin and White counties, over-running the country and doing immense dam¬ age to the corn crop. They were killed in immense numbers by the citizens, especially as they crossed the rivers and were ex-

In the neighborhood where Phillipstown is now situated, a number of citizens banded together to see how many they could kill in one day. Among these was John Fraser, the father of James A. Fraser, so well known in this county. The men divided into two parties, of ten on a side, for the sake of competition. They were to scalp the squirrels, and meet at a certain place the next day (probably Sept 10), and count the scalps. The result was 4,000 or 5,000 on each side. The defeated party, that is, the party surpassed in number of scalps collected, paid for the whisky used on the occasion, according to a previous understanding. They had a merry time; but they soon afterward went far beyond these numbers. They made up two parties again, and divided their territory by Crooked Creek. They made their raid on the poor but mischievous squirrels, and the day before Christmas they met and counted scalps, which numbered about 30,000 on a side !

The squirrels were numerous for some years after this, but they gradually diminished, without renewal by general immigrations, until they reached their present scarcity. They seemed to have emigrated westward.

Wolf Hunt. - There have been no so-called "circular" wolf hunts in this county, such as described on page 261; but some time previous to the Black Hawk war, some of the citizens assem¬ bled on Fox Island at a house-raising, at the conclusion of which they organized a wolf hunt. They rubbed asafetida upon their boots, for the purpose of attracting the beasts, and sallied out into the forest. One of the party, Wasden Driggers by name, pres¬ ently discovered the wolves were after him, and climbed up into the top of a fallen tree, whence he shot and killed one of the ani¬ mals; but either his gun missed fire or his ammunition gave out, and he had to commence hallooing for help. It was a long time, perhaps several hours, before any one found him, but he finally escaped unhurt. It seems that no other wolves were killed on this excursion.

From 1850 to 1860 the wolves in this region diminished to almost nothing, since which time scarcely any have been seen. They were so numerous and savage in Mill Shoals Township when j Birds. - The most prominent wild fowl of earlier day was the tnrkey, of which there were great numbers, in flocks except during the pairing season. Being useful for food, many were killed by the pioneers. They are very scarce at the present day.

Quails have also been abundant in White County. From 1835 to 1840 they were present in unusual numbers, by immigration They even crowded into dwellings, flew against the windows, and were caught in vast quantities. Many were drowned in the river. Their greatest immigration was made one spring, when they, like the squirrels, seemed to be traveling northward.

Pigeon emigrations have also been known in this region. At one time in the early history of this section of the country, they passed overhead in such great numbers as perceptibly to darken the sky. The branches of the trees, when they alighted, were bent and broken by their weight; indeed, it appeared that a large portion of them were flying about all night, seeking in vain for " bed-room, ''and oh, what a chattering !

fish. - The rivers and lakes of White County furnish a respect¬ able quantity and variety of the flnny tribe. Buffalo and mud ca are abundant, and the channel cat are occasionally caught. Black or green bass are common, weighing three to four pounds, some¬ times as much as six or seven pounds. Rock or striped bass are sometimes found in the rivers. Pickerel are common. White sal¬ mon occur in the Big Wabash, where Mr. Damron, the wellknown hotel-keeper at Carmi, once caught a specimen weighing thirteen and one half pounds. In that river also native carp are found. The bream, or "tin-mouth," a ravenous speckeled flat fish, is sometimes caught, but it is not a fine "game" fish. It aver¬ ages about two pounds in weight, and famishes good food for the table. Eels occur in respectable numbers. River sturgeon is sometimes found; and there are a few sun-fish. Dog fish, or "grinnell," are common. Suckers and minnows are of course abun¬ dant. Gar are plentiful, especially at some seasons.

ascent oi fish in the latter to a considerable extent. Besides these two principal streams, there are a number of lakes in the county (containing, especially at certain seasons, considerable quantities of good game fish. The largest of these is Clear Lake, which is about twelve miles south and a little east of Carmi, a half mile wide and two miles long, and derives its name from the clear ness of its waters, when not disturbed by rains. It appears to be fed by springs about its bed* which is in quicksand. The sur¬ roundings are picturesque. Then there is Drew's Pond, about eight miles east of Carmi and a little south, smaller than Clear Lake. Also the Miller Pond, and a dozen or more smaller lakes, all of which afford good fishing.

Of makes in this region, the most noted are the moccasin, the timber rattlesnake, black racer, which is plentiful, black and gar ter snakes, spreading viper or adder, milk or house snake, copper¬ head, American ring-snake and the grass snake. These reptiles, however, are all diminishing in numbers, as the county becomes more densely populated.

Wild bees and honey were abundant during the <k wild " days of White County's career. The old settlers all have experiences to relate in connection with bee-hunting and discovery of large yields of honey. For ten or fifteen years past scarcely a bee tree has been found.

This term relates to the remains of art left us by aboriginal nations; as, mounds, skeletons, arrow-heads, skinning-hatchets, srone-axes, pottery, ornaments, etc., most of which, in this country, were made by the Indians and some possibly by other and more civil¬ ized nations which preceded them. On pages 17 to 30 of this work the Indian question is presented at length. Many ethnologists believe that the tribes of Indians which the whites are now driving out of this country, at some stage of their former national existence, were fully adequate to the building of all the mounds and the manufacture of all the implements of the chase and of war¬ fare which we now find scattered all over the West. Indeed, it is not really certain that any different race of people ever existed in this country. However this may be, we find within the limits of* White County many of these ancient remains of art, of which a

Collection of TFT M. Locke , Deceased. - This man, in his day a resident of Wabash Station, made a magnificent collection of Indian antiquities, most of which have been since disposed of to a resident of Ohio, and some to other parties. There yet remain in the pos¬ session of his widow a fair representation of arrow-heads, stone hatchets, beads, amulets, etc.

Of the first mentioned are specimens ranging from the plainest and largest size, say about half a foot in length (digging imple¬ ments ?) to those weighing not more than a quarter of an ounce. The flint of which they are made is of various colors, and their shapes vary from the common arrow-form to simple spear¬ heads or lance points. There are also several specimens of un¬ finished work. Some of the points are delicately notched, so as to admit of withe being tied around them to hold them permanently in place.

Of skinning hatchets and stone axes, there are all sizes, from those of six or eight pounds weight to those of but few ouuces. They are of lime or sandstone, but none of greenstone, porphyry, or boulder granite, as are common in the Lake region. Some of these are furrowed around near the head, to admit of a handle, and some are not. The handle was probably a stick split at the further end, and the two prongs thus made tied around the hatchet head with thongs. Some were plain and smooth, to be used by the hands without handles.

Flint blades for digging, weighing from one to two pounds, in all stages of completion, are in this collection, found at various points in this vicinity.

Of amulets, beads and pipe-stems there is a great profusion. The latter are possibly made ot burnt clay and painted, mostly red; some are blue and some greenish. Some of the beads are elon¬ gated and cylindrical, like segments of pipe-stems, and some were globular, or nearly so. There are several specimens of a kind of bead about the size of a large cherry, oblate (flattened one way like a turnip or onion), with four stripes running down the sides from one flat surface to the other. The bead is of a dull red color, and the stripes are white, about a twelfth of an inch wide, with a dark blue middle.

and elk horns, a tomahawk so cut that it could be used as a pipe, and many trinkets of minor importance are still to be found in Mr. Locke's cabinet. Also specimens of pottery from Indian mounds along the Wabash, and bones from " Bone Bank," on the Indiana shore.

Dr. V. H. Parker's Cabinet , at Hawthorne Station, contains some fine specimens of Indian antiquities, among them a mortar, a large flint implement for digging, plowing or hoeing, bone han¬ dles, rolling-pins, plummets, a dagger, a knife, a drill, a dart, beads, etc. The beads are made of bones of some fowl, and were found in a mound in this county, around the neck of a skeleton. There is also a well-preserved Indian skull in this collection. The Doctor has also a small image of a human foot, found in this county. It is often called a " child's foot," as it is only four inches in length and some of the outlines of a child's foot; but the great toe is pushed over upon the second toe, thus betraying its origin in "civil¬ ization," - Heaven save the mark! It appears to be made of chalky limestone, white, but coated over with black material, prob¬ ably from surrounding earth, debris, or much handling.

Dr. B. J. Foster, of Carmi, has an interesting collection of stone axes, skinning hatchets, digging implements, arrow-heads, Indian ornaments, etc. The stone axes are generally made of boulder granite. One was found on Seven-Mile Creek. One long-polled specimen seems to be made of hard limestone. The digging blades were plowed up in a field near Marshall's Ferry, by James Huston, in 1867. One flint spade was picked up at Clear Lake. In this collection is a paint-pot, one and a half inches in diameter, dished equally above and below, being about a fourth of an inch in thickness ill the center and two-thirds at the circumference. It is made of very hard stone, and seems to have been used as a paint mortar, a stone ball being used as a pestle. The Doctor has also a piece of soft stone, like soap-stone, with a beautiful wood grain throughout as if it were petrifaction, and a nicely polished hole bored longitudinally through it as if for a pipe. The piece is of various beautiful shades of slate, and weighs probably about half a pound. There is also in this collection a beautiful fossil of a fern, found somewhere in this county.

Dr. Daniel Berry has a piece of boulder granite weighing a couple of pounds, in one end of which an aboriginal inhabitant bored a hole about two-thirds of an inch deep by twirling the end of a cane in it. In the center is a protuberance which the central portion or pith of the cane was too soft to grind off. It is difficult to conjecture the pnrpose for which this task was undertaken; some think a kind of smoking pipe was in contemplation. This speci¬ men was plowed up on a farm in this county.

Dr . E. L. Stewart has a piece of pottery made by the aborig¬ ines, which is a half-gallon jug, dug up east of the Little Wa¬ bash, about half a mile below Carmi.

Many other parties in this part of Illinois have White County specimens of archaeological remains, some of which are interesting and curious, and some very puzzling to the antiquarian.

Meteorology

Climatically, White County is situated on the southern border of a zone of disagreeable changes of the weather, extending as far north as Milwaukee, Wis. The most unpleasant feature of this climate is the heavy, cold air which accompanies that degree of temperature during the winter season which partially freezes the mud during the night, and wholly or partially thaws it out during the day. Next to this are the disagreeable winds of March and April, and the sultriness of July and August. Otherwise the cli¬ mate of White County is as good as need be, and even in the above respects it is not so harsh as the sections north of it, or even as the prairie countries in the same latitude. The aptitude of the lower Wabash Valley for raising fine fruits of all kinds demon¬ strates the excellence of its climate.

Field crops of all kinds have nearly always turned out well, the most notable exceptions being the com crop of 1854, which, on ac¬ count of drouth the latter part of the season, was a partial failure, and a total failure of the com crop, and a half failure of the wheat in 1881. Frost very seldom lingers as late as May or comes as early as September. The greatest extremes recorded within the last six years are twenty-four and a half degrees below zero one night in January, 1879, and 104 degrees above zero in the shade one day in 1881. Within this period the thermometer rose to 102 degrees on two or three days, and fell to twenty-two below zero about as many times. The coldest periods remembered occurred in the winters of 1851-'52, Jau. 1, 1864 and 1880- '81. During the last period mentioned the mercury ranged about eighteen below zero for several days.

Of snow there is comparatively a very small quantity in this lati¬ tude. Some winters there has been a little sleighing, but ordina¬ rily there is none. Some entire winter seasons pass also with no more cold than produces ice an inch in thickness.

Of hurricanes there have been several small ones in this county. One in 1818, when there was but little property to be destroyed. One occurred in 1873 at Round Point, or Sacramento, in the south¬ western part of the county, which destroyed considerable timber, unroofed houses, etc. June 26, 1881, a wind storm blew down a house or two near the western limits of (Jarmi.

Earthquake shocks have several times been perceived in White County, as the dying waves of a distant convulsion of mother earth. The most notable was that of 1811, an account of which is here given.

Earthquake

In the winter of 1811-'2 occurred the great earthquake that sunk New Madrid, Mo., six feet and made many new lakes and ponds and upheavals to the south and west of this region. Here the shocks were distinctly felt. On the southeast side of the Big Prairie a crevice was formed in the earth a quarter of a mile long and of unfathomable depth. The level of the earth was also changed. Sand was blown out of thousands of crawfish holes in the " meadows" or wet prairies southeast of Mr. Land's, in quan¬ tities from a bushel to a large wagon-load.

A shock of this kind was noticed in the winter of 1857-8, and one in the fall of 1882. Doubtless other earthquake waves have been perceived by individuals, and often an uncertain sensation is experienced by persons partially asleep during the night, though conscious and their eyes wide open, which is thought to be pro¬ duced by earthquake waves, but really is not so produced.

As to meteoric stones, we find none that have been picked up or discovered in this county; but the meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833, was fearfully witnessed by many in this region, when super¬ stition caused many to resort to extraordinarv prayers to their God.

Weather Record

There is no regular " meteorological station " kept within the limits of White County, except one near Grayville; but Dr. Danicl Berry, of Carmi, one of the most scientific men in this section, has been keeping a record of the most conspicuous weather phe¬ nomena since Jan. 1, 1876, from which we compile the following tabulated results. A record, faithfully kept in actual black and white, as hisis, serves to explode mauy a notion about "ground-hog" days about first days of the year or of a month controlling orindexing the weather, and about doing things in the light or dark of the moon etc., etc. This, at least, is one great utility in keeping a. record of this kind. Our plan in making up the following summary is to connt all days on which there was rain as days of rain, although a portion of the day may have been clear. Days counted as cloudy only had no rain.

January. - Clear, 20; rain, 3; snow, 4; cloudy, 3; partly cloudy, 1. One day during this month the thermometer stood at 21 deg. below zero, and at one day 24J deg. below; fifteen inches of enow fell one day.

In Southern Illinois there are six meteorological stations, one being at Grayville, this county, kept by J. L. Rhinehart. At these stations observations are registered for each day throughout the year, at 7 a. m., and 2 and 9 r. m. From these reports we compile the following table, for Southern Illinois :

Mean

Rainfall . - The average of rainfall in Southern Illinois in 1880, was a little over three and a half inches per month; in 1879, a lit¬ tle less, and in 1878, slightly less still.

Cloudiness . - The number of days in 1880 on which cloudiness was four fifths or more averaged twelve days per month; in 1879, eleven days per month, and in 1878, twelve.