Roodhouse Township (part 3 of 6)

For many years this portion of the State of Illinois communicated with the outer world almost entirely by means of the older settlements in the south. Until after the close of the war of 1812, Wood River was the northern frontier, and no settlers had ventured to build cabins so lar north as the region whose history we are considering. On this account we naturally look to the southern part of the county for the earliest settlements. The first pioneers who left the Wood River neighborhood, with the daring purpose of making a home farther north, halted and built their cabins at the first point they found conveniently near to wood and water. In choosing the spot for a home the pioneer sought first water, second timber, and lastly deemed it desiraljle that he be situated on the edge of a prairie that he might be spared as much as possible the labor of clearing. The two first mentioned features were essential, the last desirable. The magnificent prairie now embraced in Jersey County, and thickly dotted with palatial farm residences, tempted no immigrant, and even twenty 3'ears later it was the universal opinion that prairie land, not immediately in the shadow of a forest, could never be inhabited. Hence it was that the earliest settlements in this region were made south of the Macoupin, near the wooded lands which skirt that stream.

The date of the first permanent settlement within the present confines of Greene County it is almost impossible to learn, nor is it less diflficult to ascertain who was the leader of the advance guard of civilization. The fact that as early as 1815 or 1816, a number of families had established themselves immediately south of the Macoupin, has been repeatedly stated but it has heretofore been supposed that they all returned to the older settlements south, at the request of Governor Edwards, just previous to the treaty of Edwardsville, in 1818. It has been supposed and stated that no permanent settlement was made in the county before the Autumn of 1818, but this the writer has reason to believe is incorrect.

In the Autumn of 1815, Daniel Allen, with his three sons, Daniel, Jr., John and James, and James and Paul Harriford, brothers, all from Tennessee, came north of the Wood River settlement and built cabins on the south bank of the Macoupin Creek, opposite the mouth of Taylor's Creek. Their improvements were made within the original confines of Greene County, but just south of the present Greene County line. So far as can be discovered, they were the pioneers of this whole region. The nearest neighbors were more than twenty miles south of them, and north of their humble home the unoccupied prairie stretched for scores of miles away. The war with England had come to an end l)ut the year before, and the country which they had invaded was still in the possession of the Kickapoos. During 1816 these earliest settlers raised a crop of corn and were quite happy in their new home. During the latter part of this year Daniel Allen, Sr., with his sons Daniel and James, moved about six miles west and established themselves on the land in township 9, range 12, south of the residence of General Jacob Fry, now occupied by his grandson, E. W. Allen. His son, John Allen, at the same time, made the improvements in township 9, range 11, which he afterward sold to William L. Greene. The Aliens thus became, so far as we can learn, the first settlers within the present limits of Greene County. The Harrifords removed to ('hariton County, Mo., but the Aliens settled here permanently. These facts have come to the knowledge of the writer from the lips of Hon. John W. Huitt, who, two years later, married Miss Rosanna Harriford, the daughter of James Harriford, above referred to. Mr. Huitt, although more than four score years of age, is a gentleman of exceptionally clear head and accurate, retentive memory, and his statement of the facts would seem to be indisputable.

But the Aliens did not long remain alone. The same year that they removed to their second location, Thomas Daniels, of Georgia, built a cabin on t*lie farm now owned by Freeman Means. The next year, 1817, Mr. Daniels' son, Walker Daniels, also came into the county, and chose for his home the land now owned by Rowland Huitt, a short distance east of the Allen improvements. In the " Atlas Map of Greene County," it is recorded that, in June 1817, James H. Whiteside and David Stockton came into the county and established themselves south of the creek, but no confirmation of this statement has been found. The following conclusions can hence be safely arrived at :

1. Permanent settlements were made south of the Macoupin Creek, within the original limits of Greene County, as early as 1815; the first settlers, of whom we have any knowledge, being Daniel Allen, Daniel Allen, Jr., John Allen, James Allen, James Harriford and Paul Harriford.

2. Improvements were made within the present boundaries of Greene County as early as 1816, and the pioneers, so far as is now known, were Daniel Allen and his sons, above mentioned.

3. The dates here given can be relied upon as accurate, but we have- no proof that the county did not contain white inhabitants at an earlier da3^

I have been thus careful to state these facts clearly and positively because they have been doubted in the past, and very little light has heretofore been shed on the question : Who first settled Greene County?

All this region of country was, at that time, in the possession of the Indians, and the real tide of immigration did not commence to flow until after the treaty of Edwardsville, which was signed July 80, 1818 (authorities differ as to the date). At this time, " Auguste Chouteau and Benjamin Stephenson, on the part of the United States, bought, of the Kickapoo Indians, ten million acres of land lying between the lUinois River, on the north-west, the Kaskaskia, on the south-east, the Kankakee, on the north-east, and the Mississippi River on the south-west. This purchase comprised the whole of Central Illinois, and threw that land open to settlement and survey." Almost immediately immigrants began to pour in, and the fertile acres were soon taken possession of by the representatives of civilization. Among those who came into the county, at this time, was John W. Huitt, who still lives at Carrollton, and is believed to be the last of the Rangers. Mr. Huitt was born in Georgia, Nov. 15, 1793. When he was eleven years old his parents removed to Illinois, and settled, in 1804, in the Goshen settlement. At the beginning of the war of 1812, Mr. Huitt enlisted in Captain Judy's company of

Rangers, and proved himself one of the most skillful and daring Indian fio-ht^ers in the command. June 13, 1818, he was married to Miss Rosanna Harriford, of Chariton County, Mo., and in the August following, in company witli his brother, Hiram Huitt, Thomas Carlin and Samuel Thomas, made an exploring tour over the country north of the Wood River settlement, to choose a new home. All of the party were very much pleased with the country about the Macoupin. Messrs. Carlin and Thomas selected sites north of the creek, but the Huitts chose a location south of the stream, near the mouth of Phil's Creek, which was for a number of vears included in Greene County, although it is now a part of Jersey County. The consideration which led them to prefer land south of the Macoupin, was the fact that that stream was almost always very high, and it was impossible to cross, except by the aid of a canoe. This inconvenient barrier they were unwilling to place between themselves and the '' Old settlement." Mr. Huitt returned for his bride, and, in October of that year, he established his liome on the land he had selected. Here he remained for five years, removing in 1823 to the farm east of Carrollton still owned by him. Mr. Huitt states, that when he arrived, Pliilemon Higgins, from whom Phil's Creek was named, resided on the bank of that stream.

By the year 1819 the little settlement south of the Macoupin had become quite populous. Mrs. Matilda Greene, mother of Esquire William -L. Greene, came to the settlement during that year. Among those who preceded her, she mentions, beside those whose names have already been given, Benjamin Allen, Wm. Costley, and Robert Means, of Georgia; John Greene, Wiley Greene, Davis Carter and Joseph Piggott, of Kentucky. A settlement was made, considerably further south, on the Piasa in 1819, and, about the same time, John G. Lofton, John D. Gillham, Joseph White, Orman Beeman, Alfred Hinton, John R. Black, settled in the southern part of the county. Mrs. Matilda Greene was born in Tennessee, in 1800, and was married to William Greene, in 1817. Mr. Greene was a very prominent man in the early history of the county, both on account of his physical prowess and by reason of his natural abilities.

Probably the first dwelling house north of the Macoupin Creek, was built by Samuel Thomas, in August, 1 818, on the farm south-west of Carrollton, now occupied by his sons.

Mr. Thomas was born in South Carolina in 1794. His father was a sturdy, rugged farmer, and the young man was educated in all the arts of pioneer life. His parents removed to Kentucky in 1802, and in 1813, his father having in the meantime died, Mr. Thomas with two brothers-inlaw came to Illinois, and settled in the forks of the Wood River, in Madison County. The trip was made on horseback, the company camping at night with the sky for a roof over their heads. They crossed the Ohio River at Golconda, and found that nearly all the cabins between that place and Turkey Hill settlement had been vacated by their owners from fear of tlie Indians, who were then waging a war of extermination against the whites. The party from Kentucky were not to be frightened at trifles, but pushed vigorously forward toward tlieir destination. When he set out on the journey, Mr. Thomas had i)ut one dollar and six and a quarter cents in money ,^ l)ut, as soon as he arrived at the settlement, he purchased on credit from his brother-in-law a rifle, in order that lie might equip himself for joining- the Rangers. As a member of this body of vigihmt cavalry-men Mr. Thomas did efficient service. He was by nature a brave man, and delighted' in an adventurous life. He was very fond of a hunt, whether the, prey was a deer or a red man. In the early part of the year 1814, he joined Captain Judy's company, and afterward became a member of Captain Whitesides' famous band of Rangers. He served through the war and was present at the treaty at Portage^ du Sioux, when Governor Clark presented a flag to each of the Indian chiefs.

''During his service as a Ranger, Mr. Thomas had frequent opportunities to observe the fertility of the soil and the beauty of the landscape near the Macoupin. Afterward, with a feAV others, he passed over this country again, going as a guard, with four hundred cattle, which were being taken to the regular troops stationed near the present site of Warsaw, not far from Quincy, in this State. On the return trip they met the first party of government surveyors, who were crossing the Mississippi River near the mouth of the Illinois. The Indians destroyed the stakes driven by the surveyors, and Mr. Thomas was one of a company of soldiers called upon by the Governor to drive the Indians away. During these trips Mr. Thomas passed repeatedly over the ground where Jacksonville is now situated. In July, 1814, occurred the Wood River massacre, when one of Mr. Thomas's sisters and six children were cruelly tomahawked by the savages. On his return to the Wood River settlement from the Indian warfare, Mr. Thomas jilanted a crop of corn, and soon after, in 1816, married Miss Elizabeth Isley. It was during this year that Mr. Thomas first visited Greene County, with a view to making it his home. He cut and stacked a quantity of hay on the land on which he subsequently settled, and made other preparations for residence there. He then returned to his family in the Wood River settlement, and, during his absence, the Indians destroyed all the results of his labor north of the Macoupin. For two years the young couple lived in the cabin which Mr. Thomas had built, and, at the end of that time, he had seventeen acres cleared and under cultivation. During these years Mr. Thomas turned his natural mechanical genius to a good account in making looms for the people of that region. The beauty and richness of the lands beyond the Macoupin were constantly in his mind, and his earnings, in this way, were carefully saved and devoted to purchasing the first eighty acres of land Mr. Thomas ever owned in this county. At last, his earnest desire to push still further forward in the vanguard of civilization, could be no longer restrained, and, in the Summer of 1818, he sold his cabin and improvements for one hundred dollars, and prepared to emigrate to the new lands, from which the Indians had just been driven. With him came Thomas Carlin and John W. Huitt, each in search of a suitable tract of land on which to settle. These three men all l)ecame prominent citizens of Greene County, and occupy an important ^Dlace in its history. They are spoken of elsewhere.

beautiful. Just before they arrived at the Macoupin - or Maquapin (white potatoe) as the Indians named it, and it was for a long time called - near the present town of Kane, they found one or two cabins occupied by adventurous settlers, but did not stop here. Crossing the creek and the bottom lands, Mr. Thomas ascended the bluffs, passed on through the timber and selected a spot for a home about three miles from the stream, on section 33, township 10-12. A beautiful grove and a clear spring of water were among the attractions that fixed his choice. Here Mr. Thomas killed a deer, cut a bee-tree and engraved his name on the bark of a monarch of the forest, to indicate that tlie land was claimed. He also built a cabin, made some other preparations, and returned for his wife and household goods. With these loaded upon an ox cart he arrived at his new home on the ninth day of November, 1818, and thus became the first settler in Greene County north of Macoupin Creek. With him, to assist him in crossing the creek and in other ways, came Rowell Hunnicut, now a resident of Walkerville.

Mr. Thomas's nearest neighbors were the dwellers south of the creek, but north, east and west of him in a circuit of from fifteen to fifty miles, the prairies were solitary and trackless. The only link that connected him with civilization was a " blind path " that " meandered among the trees and over the prairies back to ' the settlement ' on Indian Creek, or Wood River." Afterward a " three-notch road " appeared, and proved a surer guide. It was several years after Mr. Thomas arrived at his new home, before he became the owner of a wagon, the first which he possessed being made for him by the late Captain Richard Robley.

Thomas Carlin pushed further north, inclining a little more to the east, and chose for his home a fine piece of land, including that on which the city of Carrollton was afterward built. His cabin he erected in the southern portion of the present corporation, and occupied it late in 1818, or the Spring of 1819.

In Octol)er, 1818, Michael Headrick (father of Anderson Headrick, coroner of the county), Jacob Headrick, his brother, Abram Bush and Abram Sells, his son-in-law, and Jacob Redden arrived. They were originally from Kentucky but had been temporary residents of Indiana, and had spent some time at the Wood River settlement. They reached a spot about one-half mile west of the present residence of David Wright, Esq., near Carrollton, the tenth of the month. Here they raised two crops, when they discovered that they were on the sixteenth section, which was devoted to the school fund. Mr. Michael Headrick accordingly moved, in 1821, to the farm north of Carrollton, now owned by Absalom Bradley, Esq., which he entered at the land sale. Mr. Redden went north to Morgan County.

At the first election ever held in the county the house of Abram Sells was used for the polls ; this was in November, 1820, when James Monroe was re-elected President of the United States.

James Caldwell and Thomas Crane arrived, and built and occupied cabins before Winter, in township 10, range 11, east of Carrollton. Calvin Tunnell commenced an improvement at tlie same time, but was prevented by illness from occupying it until February of the next year. Luther Tunnell also came about this time, and it was probably in this year that H. P. Clendenen settled in the southwestern part of the county.

In the year 1819, the population of the county was very much increased by immigration. F. M. Bell made a settlement in township 10, range 12 ; Michael Waltrip built a cabin on section 17, and Joel Johnson on section 21, of township 11, range 11. It was in 1819 that the earliest improvements were made north of Apple Creek. The first men attracted by the beauty and fertility of the location were Thomas Allen, Thomas Rattan, James Henderson, and Levi Reader, who, in the Spring of that year, formed a settlement, just north of Apple Creek and east of the road from Carrollton to White Hall, except a portion of Thomas Rattan's improvement, which lay west of the road, the ])lace being known at present as the Roodhonse farm. Of these, James Henderson is commonly believed to have been the pioneer. He plunged into the woods before the ax or the plow had ever entered them, marking his path by blazes on the trees. The stream, now called Seminary Creek, was originally named for him. In order to encourage labor, several, possibly all, of the settlers united and opened a large farm, all in one enclosure, of which each cultivated a part, with the understanding that the labor should be restored in improving their separate claims, by the person to whom this farm should fall, when the land was surveyed and brought into market. In the Autumn of the same year, the settlement was increased in number by Zachariah Allen, John Allen, Isaac Hill, and probably others. Soon a school was organized in the new settlement, and instructed by one Wm. Welch. Thus did the little neighborhood take time by the forelock, by giving the cause of education an early start in the wild woods. But those acquainted with the men mentioned above will not be surprised at the interest they manifested in reference to that subject, even at that early day. It is upon the efforts of such men that the cause principally rests for its support. It is a cause they were known to cherish as of the greatest importance to their posterity and their country. The first named (Thomas Allen) was a large man, very corpulent, weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds. He was good-humored and jolly, especially in the society of little romping girls and boys, of whose attentions he was very fond, as most men are who are too fleshy to keep pace with other men. He settled at the place well known as "Allen's Mill" (now Bell's), of which he was the proprietor. At that early day, the people very severely felt the need of a mill in their own neighborhood, as they frequently were compelled to go within four miles of St. Louis for their grinding, and wait a day or two for their turn before they could return; and when Mr. Allen proposed erecting his mill, they gladly left their work at home, and went to assist him, working faithfully until the mill was completed. But it had scarcely begun to supply meal and flour for the settlers, until a flood raised the stream and cut a channel round the abutment, leaving the mill dry. In this emergency, the settlers turned out with alacrity, bringing their teams and tools, and labored faithfully until the breach, being filled with logs, brush, straw, clay, sand, stone, and whatever could be had to answer the purpose, was so effectually repaired as to withstand the floods ever afterward. But even here their labors did not cease, for another freshet in the stream made an excavation under the mill-house, to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet, which again rendered the mill useless. But once more the men, with their spades, mattocks, axes, wagons, and teams, assembled, and, with stone, straw, and timber, repaired the damages. It was then that they began to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Tiie mill did a splendid business for those days, and became one of the greatest conveniences the settlers had in the whole country, and the proprietor, grateful for the kind assistance his neighbors had given him in a time of need, ground their grain for many years free of all charge. He was growing somewhat old, and ex])erienced a great difficulty in breathing, attributed to obesity, that was supposed to have caused liis death, which occurred about the year 1833.

It was in 1819 that Benjamin Drummond came from Madison County, to the northern part of this county, near wliere Roodhouse is now situated. Dr. Thaxton, Jesse Allen, Jesse Morrow, William Waltrip, William Thaxton, Larkin Thaxton, and others, are also set down as arriving during 1819. This was i-eally the first year during which immigration was at all brisk. The country was rapidly filling up and the red man was almost entirely banished, and rapid growth and improvement were the order of the day.

The winter of 1819 and '20 proved to be an unusually severe one. The long grass of the prairies had been destroyed by fires lighted by the Indians "or hunters, and much of the undergrowth in the woods was killed by the same element. Before the close of the winter, the provisions gathered by them for their stock, from places where it had escaped the ravages of the fire, gave out and they were compelled to cut down trees, from the boughs of which the cattle and horses could procure a scanty supply of food. Many of these wandered away and were lost, while some of ^tliem died from the effects of cold and hunger. The supply of food for themselves and families proved to be sufficient, yet their suffering from the cold was often intense. Mr. Seymour Kellogg, who lived in the Mauvaisterre settlement, in his search for some of his stock, one bitterly cold night, lost his way and saved his life only by walking vigorously'between two trees standing several rods apart. He did not dare to leave this track during the night for fear of being irrecoverably lost. He did not know how far he was from either his own or his brother's cabin. On the appearance of daylight, he found himself about two miles from the latter place, to which he immediately repaired. His feet were badly frozen during the night, making him a cripple for several months. Notwithstanding these hardships, the residents of the county were not discouraged, l)ut went to work in the Spring with renewed vigor. We hear of very large accessions to the population of the county, in 1820, and important strides were made forward. Immigrants poured in from nearly every direction, and almost every township in the county contained one or more families before the close of the year. Among those whom we find recorded as arrivinii' during this year are Jacob Bowman, Martin Bowman, Silas Eldred and Mrs. Ruth Eldred, soutli and west of Carrollton ; John Greene and James Whitlock, near Kane ; John Lorton, Robert Lorton, Thomas Lorton and Isaac Hill, in the northern part of the county: Ransom and Jesse Flatt, near the Illinois River; Zachariah Allen, James Allen, and David Battle, west of Wrightsville ; Isaac Norton, south of White Hall ; Charles Kitchen, Lewis Roberts and Jolm Thompson, near Roodhouse ; David and James Pinkerton, on tlie pranie named after them ; William J. Brown, east of Carrollton ; Benjamin Taylor and Isaac Taylor, on tlie prairie near Rockbridge. ''Old Benny Taylor," as he was called, was the first settler on Taylor's prairie. Soon after liim came Isaac Taylor with his two sons

John and Ambrose. Isaac Ta3'lor was born in 1760. At the age of sixteen he entered the service of his country in her struggles for liberty. He came from Kentucky to Illinois and made two crops in Madison County before coming to Taylor's prairie. In this year John and James Beeman came to township 11, range 14, and built a rough sawmill near the present site of Seeley's mill, on Apple Creek. With this they sawed out lumber which they used the same year in the construction of a grist mill. Mr. Vines Hicks, it was said, was fearful the land sales would occur before he could obtain the money to purchase his land, and that some one else would become its owner and deprive him of his improvements. He, therefore, selected for his home a poor, flinty point of the Macoupin bluff, where he felt perfectly secure in the possession of a place so very poor that no other man could be found to want it. But better things were in store for Mr. Hicks than he anticipated, for in spite of the sterility of the soil, and the discouragements incident to the settlement of a new country, he soon found himself too well off to live on so poor a place himself. He therefore deserted it and purchased a tract of valuable prairie and timber along the north side of Apple Creek prairie, where he soon accumulated property and money enough to supply all reasonable wants. Robert Whitaker made a home on the " Andy Johnson farm," during this year, and from him Whitaker's Creek, the stream flowing from the prairie, a few miles west of Greenfield, into Apple Creek, just above Bell's mills, was named.

The land sale of January, 1821, at Edwardsville, was one of the most important events of those days. Before the sale the purchasers had made an agreement between themselves that they would not bid for the land previously selected by another. By this means all collision wasusually avoided, and the settlers obtained the land at the lowest possible government price. The land was sold in lots of not less than eighty acres each, and no bid was received for a less sum than one hundred dollars for each eighty acres. By means of this understanding among themselves, nearly all the land was purchased at this price. It, however, happened that Mr. Eldred and Robert Hobson each claimed to have been the first to choose a very fine piece of land near the present residence of C. H. Eldred, Esq. The Eldreds came here in 1820, from New York State. They had an abundance of money, so much that it is related that their saddle-l)ags of gold and silver were so heavy that it required two men to carry them into the land office at Edwardsville.

Mr. Eldred and Mr. Hobson did not succeed in coming to an agreement before that piece was sold, and the result was a contest. One of them made the usual bid of one hundred dollars for the first eighty acres, whereupon the other promptly added five dollars to the bid. Neither of the contestants was restrained by the lack of money, and the bidding continued quite spiritedly until Mr. Eldred became the purchaser of the piece at ^150. As soon as the tract was sold to him, the latter remarked to Mr. Hobson, " I have plenty of money to continue this thing, and if you buy any land at this sale I will see that you pay one hundred and fifty dollars per eighty for it." Friends, however, interfered, and Mr. Eldred agreed to a compromise, provided that Mr. Hobson would pay to him the extra $50 he had given for the land already purchased. This was agreed to and all went 021 smoothly. The only other contest of which we have mention is that in reference to the site of Mount Pleasant, mentioned elsewhere. Judge Alfred Hinton, who came to this count}' in 1820, says tiie surveyors pronounced this section the finest in Illinois, (jreat excitement existed at tlie sale, on account of the attendance of parties to prevent bids on the settled lands. If there had been any one present to do so they would, very probably, have been mobbed. As an incident showing in what light a thief was viewed in those days, Judge Hinton told of a man who stole a pair of saddle bags at the sale. As soon as the theft was discovered, diligent search was made for the guilty party hy all who had horses, notwithstanding the saddle bags contained nothing but a dirt}' shirt and a few other articles of little value. A justice of the peace was applied to, Avho issued his warrant, in the name of the United States, commanding any constable, sheriff, or officer of the United States to make legal service and due return to him, or any other justice of the peace, in the United States, of the body of the within named, dead or alive. It was a lucky thing for the culprit that he rode a better horse than his pursuers, backed by such a document.

During this 3'ear Jacob Fry l)ecame a permanent resident of the county. He was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, September 20, 1799. While quite a young man he came to Edwardsville, and in the Autumn of 1819. made a trip into this county with the intention of meeting General Rector at the mouth of Apple Creek. In this he was disappointed, and after remaining in the vicinity a short time, he returned to Alton, where he went to work as a carpenter for Mr. West, and hewed the timber for the first mill built there. While temporarily sta}'- ing near Carrollton, in 1819, General Fry is said to have made from wood split from a walnut tree, the first coffin ever constructed in the county. About the beginning of the year 1*821, when Carrollton was about to be surveyed, he returned to section 16, township 10, range 12. Governor Carlin offered to give him a lot if he would build upon it, which lie accepted. He cut the timber, split the boards, and l)uilt a house, which stood for fifty-seven years. For a long time it formed a part of the ell of the St. James Hotel, and was burned when that block was consumed, in the Spring of 1878. Before General Fry had finished his building, he stopped to assist Thomas Rattan in the construction of a log house at the northeast corner of the Square, on the lot on which Marmon's Building now stands. This was the first building completed in Carrollton, and General Fry's was the second. After the organization of the county. General Fry at once became a prominent man. He was a member of the first grand jury ; then he was deputy slieriff in 1822. In 1828 he was chosen sheriff, and held the office for ten years. In May, 1826, he was married to Miss Emily Turney, daughter of General James Turney, Attorney General of the State. General Fry served during the Black Hawk war as colonel, and at its close was elected Major General of the militia. In 1837 he was appointed commissioner of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and in 1856 collector of customs at Chicago. During the rebellion he commanded a regiment, which did valiajit service at Shiloh. The privations and haidships which he suffered during the war brought on disease, as a result of which he is almost totall}' blind. General Fry now lives with liis family on his farm, south of the Macoupin, and enjoys the affection, esteem, and honor of every one who knows him.

David Pierson arrived at the new settlement in 1821, from the State of New York. He lived for several years upon his farm, north of Carrollton. Afterward he ens^aged in mercantile pursuits in Carrollton, finally establishing Pierson's Exchange Bank, which was for many years the only bank in the county. He has been prominently connected with the Carrollton Baptist Church, from its origin, and in his various capacities as farmer, merchant, millowner, or banker has been a valuable friend to hundreds, and in public or private life the influence of his abilities and means has always been felt for good.

Richard Robley was another of the prominent men of the county, who arrived at this time. He was born in Swansey, New Hampshire, May 12, 1791. When he was 17 years of age, he became an orphan, dependent upon his own exertions for a livelihood. About this time he removed to Vermont, and here met, and was married to. Miss Desire Griswold, the ceremony taking place at Vergennes, August 11, 1814. The young couple remained in Vermont for six years. In 1820 Mr. Robley became infected with the Western fever, and, bidding farewell to family friends, started with his wife for the wilds of Missouri. Here they remained but a short time, and in 1821 Mr. Robley built a flat boat with his own liands, and on this he ascended the Illinois River, with his family and goods, landing in the western part of the county. He settled on the land now occupied by his sons, Messrs. Charles, Vilroy and George Robley. Nearly forty years ago Captain Robley was married to the lady who survives him. He died January 3, 1879, of heart disease. He was a man highly esteemed and respected in the community, a good citizen and a kind neighbor.

It was also in 1821 that the first settlements were made in township 11, range 13, in the northwestern part of the county, by John Powell and Davis Carter.

This section of country was now so rapidly filling up, and the annoyance of going thirty miles to the county seat, at Edwardsville, for the transaction of business, was so seriously and increasingly felt, that during the year 1820, a project for the organization of a new county, with the seat of government somewhere between the two creeks, was much discussed at shooting matches, liorse races, hunting frolics, house raisings, husking bees, and wherever else two or more of the early landholders happened to meet. Every new resident who bought land here increased the feeling of the necessity for such an action of the Legislature, and, as the year wore toward its close, the formation of the county had become comparatively certain. The matter was brought to the attention of the Legislature, which convened at Vandalia in the Winter of 1820-21. At this time Shadrach Bond was Governor, having been chosen in 1818 for four years. Elias K. Kane was Secretary of State, John Thomas, State Treasurer, John McLean, for whom McLean County was named. Speaker of the House, James Lemen, Jr., Speaker of the Senate, and Thomas Reynolds, Clerk of the House. In January, 1821, the following bill was

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, that all that tract of country witliin the followinq; boundaries, to-wit: Be^innincr at the southeast corner of township No. 7 north, in range No. 10, west of the third principal meridian ; thence north between ranges 9 and 10 to the northeast corner of township 12 north; thence west along the line between townships 12 and 13 to the middle of the Illinois River; thence down said river to its junction with the Mississippi River : thence down the middle of the Mississippi River to a point parallel with the southwest corner of township No. 6 north, in range 10 west; thence north with the range line between 10 and 11 to the township line between 6 and 7 ; thence east with said township line to the place of beginning, shall constitute a separate county to be called Greene.

"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, that for the purpose of establishing the seat of justice for said county, the following persons shall be commissioners, to-wit: Thomas Rattan, John Allen, Esq., Thomas Carlin, John Green, and John Huitt, Sr.; and the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall, at some convenient time, between the passage of this act and the first day of March next, meet at the house of Isaac Pruitt, in said county, and proceed to fix the permanent seat of justice of said county, and give the same some appropriate name ; provided the owner or owners of the land whereon said seat of justice is about to be fixed give to the county commissioners of the county a good deed of conveyance, in fee simple, for not less than twenty acres of land, for the use of the county. If the owner or owners of said land refuse or neglect to give the same, then to fix the seat of justice on the next suitable place where the said owner or owners will give the quantity of land aforesaid, and in all cases the said commissioners shall take into consideration the situation and geography of the country, and the future population of the county, to have the same as near the centre of the county as practicable.

" Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, that the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall make a report of their proceedings to the next county commissioner's court of the county, and have the same recorded on the records of said county.

" Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, that all that tract of country within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of township 7, north of range 9, west of the third principal meridian ; thence east to the southeast corner of township 7, north in range 6 west; thence north to the northeast corner of township 12 north; thence west to the northwest corner of township 12 in range 7 west; thence along the prairie between the waters of Sangamon and Mauvaisterre to the head of Balance Creek; thence down said creek to the Illinois River; thence down the said river to the northwest corner of said county, shall be attached to said county, and shall constitute and be a part of said county for all purposes, until otherwise disposed of by the General Assembly of this State.

part of the same, be and compose a part of the first judicial circuit of this State, and the inhabitants of the same shall be entitled to all the privileges of other counties of this State.

"Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, that the commissioners appointed to perform the services required by this act shall be allowed, out of the county funds, dollars for each day's labor and attendance in performing said services. " John McLean,

It will be seen that the limits of Greene County were made to include the territory now known as Greene and Jersey Counties, while to this was temporarily attached what afterward became Macoupin, Scott, and Morgan Counties. The county was named in honor of General Nathaniel Greene, the Revolutionary hero.

Meanwhile, as soon as the discussion concerning the organization of a county was initiated, quick-witted land owners began to lay plans for securing the county seat on or near their property. Prominent among the locations spoken of for the seat of government was Mount Pleasant, the first town laid out in the county.

Mr. W. A. Tunnell, in an article in the Carrollton Press, published in 1860, says of the natural beauties of the place: "It was located on a beautiful mound in the midst of as fine a country as ever occupied a place on the map of the globe, in the prairie, just where a cool, shady grove or point of timber had found its way up the east side, nearly to its summit. From this elevated spot the eve delio-hted to range over the surrounding prairie to the north, the west, and the south, where the sides of the mound sloped gracefully down to the horizon, or to the dark groves of tall trees waving in the soft breeze, and enlivened by the twittering notes of the countless merry little birds. The deep, cool shade afforded a delicious retreat to the wearied huntsman as he reposed on the mosscovered logs beneath their dark green foliage. These gentle slopes shone in the bright sunshine, beneath a clear, blue sky, like some enchanted spot, clothed in all the gaudy colors of the rainbow. It is probable that the sun in all his wanderings has seldom shone on a lovelier spot of earth since the day on which the flaming sword was placed at the gates of Eden. This mound, at present deprived of every vestige of its primitive beauty except its elevation, is situated perhaps a mile and a half west, and a mile south from Carrollton. The public lands of this district, if my information is correct, were offered for sale in the month of January, 1820.* This desirable spot, of which we have been speaking, had attracted the attention of more than one person who had an eye for the beautiful in nature, and when the settlers all met at Edwardsville to purchase their lands moi-e than one felt a sensation of uneasiness growing out of apprehensions that some more fortunate person than himself would become the purchaser of the mound. The principal contestants, however, were John Evans and Robert Hobson, the former an immigrant from Ireland, and the latter from England, both reported to be men of wealth. A compromise was, however, effected between the two, by which Mr, Hobson paid

Mr. Evans fifty dollars, and became the purchaser of the property without an opposing bid. He immediately marked out a town on the spot, and called it - Mount Pleasant,' erected a dwelling and store house, opened a stock of goods suitable to the demands of the country, offered inducements to others to make their homes in the new town, and in general, manifested a commendable degree of energy, enterprise, and business talent. The first persons who accepted the invitation to settle in the place were Ansel Hubl)ard, a blacksmith; Elijah Woodman, also a blacksmith ; and Oliver Bangs, whose occupation I have forgotten. When Gree\ie County was about being organized, the people and friends of Mount Pleasant made a strong effort to procure the county seat at that place, which, however, failed, as I have previously stated. Mr. Hobson died about that time, and the little place that had shown such fair promise of becoming a respectable inland town, fell into a decline from which it never recovered."

Another point which was deemed by some an eligible site for the seat of justice was a wooded mound on Avhat is now called the " Boston Farm," a mile or more southeast of the Court House. It was urged in its favor that it was nearer the centre of county than its competitors, but the fact that it was covered with timber was deemed an insuperable objection.

Thomas Carlin was born near Shelby ville, Ky., in 1T8G. His parents were genuine Kentuckians, and their son was brought up to love adventure and inured to all the hardships of a backwoodsman's life. In 1^0o the family removed to Missouri, and the next year the young man's father died. Mr. Carlin served as a Ranger durimx the war, and was among the first to settle in Greene County, north of the Macoupin Creek, his improvements being made just south of the present site of Carrollton. His mother, a verv worthy woman, his stepfather, Mr. Savage, and his two brothers, James and William Carlin, came with him. The latter was the father of General William Passamore Carlin, of the United States Array, and of Thomas J. Carlin, ex-Circuit Clerk of Greene County. All these gentlemen have held important official positions in the county. In 1814 Thos. Carlin owned a ferry across the Mississippi River, near where Edwardsville Junction is now situated, and while living there he married Miss Rebecca Huitt, sister of John W. Huitt, spoken of elsewhere. Mr. Carlin was a man of medium height, not heavily built, but possessed of a pair of powerful shoulders. His hair and full beard were sandy and his cheery iace was always florid and full of blood. He was a man of iron nerve, much natural shrewdness and skill in dealing with his fellow men, admired and regarded as a friend by every one. He was from the first, and for many years, perhaps the most jjopular man in the region, and was universall}- regarded as a natural leader. His honesty is spoken of as beyond re[)roach, and when he was Register of Lands, at Quincy, his square dealing with the government was repeatedly remarked. While he held this office he frequently drove a team of two heavy horses before a wagon-load of gold and silver (the proceeds of the land sales) through the lonely regions between Quincy and Carrollton, often in the night, entirely alone and unattended. He did not know what fear meant.

He was elected first Sheriff of the county, held various other local offices, was chosen State Senator, and finally, in 1838, was called to the Gubernatorial chair. He died February Itl:, 1852, at his home in CarroUton, on the land which he had entered more than thirty years before. In a struggle with such a man for the location of the county seat, Robert Hobson suffered from every disadvantage. He had money, but in every other regard his cause was very weak. He was an immigrant fresh from England, and that was sufficient to win for him the dislike of all native Americans. The war with England had ended but a few years before, and hatred for Britain and the British still rankled in the hearts of all the sons of Revolutionary fathers. The situation of Mount Pleasant was a beautiful one, but had its site been doubly enchanting, and had it possessed every advantage over the rival location, Thomas Carlin's personal popularity would have carried eveiything before it. Few natives would liave courted a struggle with him, but a foreigner, and particularly an Englishman, could hope for nothing but defeat. But besides this it was urged against Mount Pleasant that, although its site was beautiful, the mound on which it was proposed to build the town was far too small to furnish eligible building lots for the capital of a great county. Moreover, Mount Pleasant was some distance west of a direct road from Alton to Jacksonville, and from the centi-e of the county. Few tlien, except the circle of personal friends with which Mr. Hobson was surrounded, had any doubt what would be the decision of the Commissioners, appointed by the Legislature to locate the seat of justice.

The first movement that was made toward perfecting the organization of the county was the meeting of the Commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to select a place for the county seat. These gentlemen assembled at the residence of Isaac Pruitt, one of the most substantial members of the settlement. He had entered land a few miles west of Carrollton, and built a cabin very near the present position of the David Black residence. Thence, after some preliminaries, they rode to the land of Thomas Carlin.

The commission was a representative body. Thomas Rattan had been a pioneer all his life, and was an excellent business man and money maker. He was reared on Rattan's prairie, in Madison Count}^, whither his parents had came among the earliest settlers. Here he entered land, but soon left it, and for some time owned and managed a ferry at Carlisle, where he Avas very successful in a financial point of view. Subsequently he sold his land in Madison County, and made a settlement in Greene County, north of Apple Creek, as has been previously mentioned. Here Cyrus Tolman and Chas. Gregory, afterwarct opulent farmers, were in his employ. Mr. Rattan, soon after the organization of the county, moved to Carrollton and kept the first hotel there. He was short and heavy, but a thorough man of business. John Allen was from Kentucky, and was a cousin of Zachariah Allen, mentioned elsewhere. John Greene was a brother of William Greene, and father of Singleton F. Greene, afterward sheriff of the county, and the oldest native of Greene County now living. He was tall and spare. John Huitt, Sr., was the father of John W. Huitt, and had followed his son to this county. He was a Georgian, and an upright man of good mind. Thomas Carlin was also one of the commissioners, but as he was interested in the result he refused to act in the matter. After some consultation, it became evident that the commissioners were unanimous in their opinion that the Court House should be built on the land of Mr. Carlin, They were standinj^ near the east side of the present square when they reached that decision. Whereupon John Allen paced fifty 3'ards to the west, drove a stake, and said, "Here let the Court House be built." And so it was decided. The town was immediately laid out, and named in honor of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Maryland.

Up to the time that the decision of the Commissioners was made known not a house was built at Carrollton. Thomas Carlin's residence was about half a mile south of the Square, Michael Headrick lived a mile or more west, and others lived at similar distances. Immediately after their conclusion was made known houses began to l)e put up. Thomas Rattan appears to be entitled to the honor of completing the first building in the new town. It was a log structure and stood at the northwest corner of the Square on the lot now occupied byW. P. Marmon's block. The second building was Jacob Fry's residence. John W. Skidmore very soon erected a building east of the Square. The first brick building put up in the new town stood on the east side of the Square just north of the alley. The first frame house in Carrollton is said to have been a dwelling house, erected on the east side of the Square by Cyrus Tolman and Charles Gregory. The town was surveyed in the Autumn of 1821 by Gershom Flagg, of Madison County, father of Hon. W. C. Flagg, the eminent agriculturist.

February 6, 1821, an act of the legislature was approved, providing: " That on the first Monday of April next an election shall be opened and held at the places designated for holding the courts of the several counties formed during the present session of the General Assembly, at which time there shall be elected in each of the new counties, one Sheriff, one Coroner, and three County Commissioners."

The next evidence of the practical organization of the county was a session of the Circuit Court. The county was attached to the First Judicial circuit, and on the 26th day of April, 1821, the first term of the court was held by John Reynolds, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and who afterward became Governor. No suits were on the docket, and nothing was transacted except to organize a grand jury, who retired and afterwards brought in two indictments for misdemeanors. The officers of the court were Samuel Lee, the clerk, and Thomas Carlin, sheriff. The following named persons were sworn as grand jurors, viz.: John Finley (foreman), Martin Wood, Thomas Gilleland, Nathaniel Wass, Cyrus Tolman, Isaac Pruitt, James McFadden, John Morfoot, Walter McFarland, Hugh Jackson, Jacob Fry, Charles Gregory, Willis Webb, William Costly, Christian Link, John Costley, William Webb and Phillip Fry. Of that number Colonel Fry alone survives. The descendants of many of them are names to be found among tlie most respectable citizens of the county. The court met in a small building on the west side of the Square. As there was no jury-room the grand jury met on the prairie for consultation and discussion. Gen. Jacob Fry acted as constal)le.

For the first ten years afterward, the court was presided over in the order here stated, by John Reynolds, Joseph Phillips, Thomas Reynolds, (afterward Governor of the State of Missouri,) John York Sawyer, and C

Samuel D. Lockwood. Stephen T. Logan succeeded Judge Lockwood, in 1835 ; William Brown succeeded Judge Logan in 1836'; Jesse B. Thomas succeeded Judge Brown in 1837, and William Thomas succeeded Judge Jesse B. Thomas in 1838. Afterward by a reorganization of the judiciary of the State by the Legislature of 1841, Judge Thomas and the other circuit judges were legislated out of office, and circuit court duties were assigned to the Judges of the Supreme Court. Judge Lockwood returned to the circuit, and continued to hold courts until the first election for circuit judges, under the constitution of 1848, when David M. Woodson was elected to the office, in September of that year. Judge Woodson's services in this capacity were so eminently satisfactory that he was re-elected twice, serving for eighteen consecutive years and declining a re-election in 1865.. Charles D. Hodges was chosen his successor, and six years later Cyrus Epler was elected to the position, which he still holds. The General Assembly of 1877 passed a law providing for reducing the number of circuits in the State one half and electing a new judge in each circuit. At the election in the Seventh Judicial circuit, August 6th, for the choice of the additional judge, Albert G. Burr was selected. The terms of all the circuit judges expire June, 1879.

Accordingly an election was held at the time designated, the polls being in Thomas Rattan's building, on the northeast corner of the Square. Thomas Carlin was chosen Sheriff, Jacob Wagoner, Coroner, and Seymour Kellogg, John Allen and Jehu Brown, County Commissioners.

On the first day of May the County Commissioners held their first meeting in the building of Thomas Rattan. The full board was present, Seymour Kellogg, from the Mauvaisterre settlement, Jehu Brown, from the southern part of the county, and John Allen, from the center.

Seymour Kellogg was an Eastern man and had been a Colonel in the war of 1812. In the Summer of 1818, with his brother Elisha Kellogg and Ambrose Collins, he had started for the famous Sangamo country. They came by wagons to the Ohio River. Here they embarked on flatljoats and floated down the noble stream as far as Shawneetown, where they disembarked and puslied on to Carmi. As it was late in the season, they remained here during the Winter, and the next Summer proceeded to Ed wards ville, then a prominent western town. Mr. Collins was taken sick and was unable to go farther. His son Charles, however, proceeded with the Kelloggs. They passed the Wood River settlements, crossed the Macoupin, forded Apple Creek, and continued their northern course beyond the frontier until they finally reached the head of the Mauvaisterre Creek. Here they settled in the Fall of 1819, and thus became the pioneers of Morgan County, although the}^ belonged for several years to Greene County, and hence it was that Seymour Kellogg was one of the first Commissioners of Greene County. They built rail-pen cabins, which were afterward burned down by a prairie fire. Seymour Kellogg was a well-educated man and was universally respected by those who knew him.

Jehu Brown was a Tennessean. He was a spare man of medium height, and and seems to have been looked up to by every one as a man of distinguished probity and ability. His descendants still live west of Jerseyville, in what was formerl}^ a part of Greene Count3^ of Thomas Allen, proprietor of one of the first mills ever built in the county, and was conceded by every one to be an upright and honorable man, just in all his dealings and perfectly reliable in every sense of the word. He was conservative in politics, and few men have ever passed through the fier}' ordeal of a heated canvass more smoothly, and with as little "offense to opponents as 'Squire Allen. He filled many important ofiflces ; was a member of each of the Houses of the General Assembly of the State, where he served for many years receiving the general approbation of his constituents. He died about the year 1842.

" Be it remembered that the County of Greene having been established l)y an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, and John Allen, Jehu Brown and Seymour Kellogg, having been duly elected County Commissioners for said county, and having taken the several oaths required by law before Samuel Lee, Jr., Clerk of the Circuit Court of said county. Wherefore, a special term of the County Commissioners' Court for 'the County of Greene is begun, and held at Carrollton, the seat of justice for said county, on the first day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight "hundred and twenty-one.

" Samuel Lee, Jr., being appointed Clerk of the Court, took, in open court, an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and of the State of Illinois, and the following oath of office to-wit : ' I, Samuel Lee, Jr., being apppointed Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of the County of Greene, do solemnly swear that I will truly and faithfully enter and record all the orders, judgments, and proceedings of the said Court, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties of my said office according to the best of my ability and understanding, according to law;' and also took the oath required by an act entitled ' An act to suppress dueling.'

" And thereupon the said Lee delivered to the Court his bond, with Jacob Linder and Thomas Rattan his securities for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, which bond is approved of by the Court.

" On application of John Wilkins, it is ordered that license be granted him to keep a tavern at his place of residence, on the Piasa Creek, in said county, upon his entering into bond with Samuel White, his security, in the sum of one hundred dollars, conditioned as the law directs, and paying a tax of five dollars for the use of the county and the Clerk's fees. (Bond entered into and tax paid the Clerk in Court.)

" On application of Thomas Rattan, ordered that license be granted him to keep a tavern in the town of Carrollton, upon entering into bond, as the law directs, with Alfred S. Harbin, his security, in the sum of one hundred dollars, and paying a tax of seven dollars for the use of county and Clerk's fees.

" It is ordered by the Court that the following rates for tavern keepers of the county be and the same are hereby allowed and established, to wit :

" The Commissioners who were appointed by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois to fix the permanent seat of justice for Greene County, returned into Court their report together with the deed in said report mentioned, which were received and approved of by the Court, whereupon it is ordered that the said deed be filed and that the said report be spread upon the records of this Court, and which is in the words and figures following to wit : Be it known that we, Thomas Carlin, Thomas Rattan, John Allen, John Green, and John Huitt, sr.. Commissioners appointed to fix the permanent seat of justice for Greene County, by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, entitled ' An act establishing the County of Greene,' have met at the house of Isaac Pruitt, as required in said act, and after examining the most eligible situation in said county, giving due weight and attention to the considerations set forth and required in said act as to the present and future population, situation, geography, etc., of the count}^ are of the opinion that a point eighty-eight poles south from the northeast corner of section No. twenty-two, in township No. ten north in range No. twelve, west of the third principal meridian, is the most suitable place for the said seat of justice, and accordingly and in pursuance of said act, have fixed the permanent seat of justice for the said County of Greene, at the point or place above described, the same being on the line between section No. twentj-two and section No. twenty-three. Thomas Carlin, the owner of the said land whereon the said seat of justice is fixed, having executed a deed to the County Commissioners of the County, as required in said act, for twenty-two acres and three-fourths of an acre of land, which is bounded as follows, to-wit : Beginning eighty-eight poles south of the north-east corner of section No. twenty-two above described, thence running east ten poles, thence north ten poles, thence west ninet}^ poles, thence south forty-three poles, thence east eighty poles, to the line between sections twenty-two and twenty-three, thence north twenty-three poles, thence east ten poles, thence north to the first corner mentioned after the place of beginning, and have given to the said seat of justice the name of Carrollton. All of which is respectfully submitted to the County Commissioners of said county at their next term. Given our hands this 20th day of February, in the year 1821. John Allen,

Thomas Rattan, Thomas Carlin, John Green, John Huitt. " Ordered that the Clerk be authorized to procure two official seals, one for the Circuit Court and one for the County Commissioners' Court of Greene County.

" Ordered that the twenty lots owned by the county in the town of Carrollton be offered for sale on the 12th day of June next, at a credit of six and twelve months. And it is further ordered that a notice of such sale be inserted in the Edwardsville Spectator for four weeks successively.

" Ordered that Seymour Kellogg be recommended to the Governor of this State as a suitable person to fill the office of Justice of the Peace. " Ordered that the Court be adjourned until Court in course."

John Allen, Jehu Brown, Seymour Kellogg. John Wilkins. who was licensed to keep a tavern on tlie Piasa was very well known in Jersey County, even at a recent date. His house was situated about one mile south of Delhi. He was the father-in-law of Perley Silloway, one of the early Sheriffs of Jersey County.

The regular June term of the Commissioners' Court was held June 4th, all theCommissioners being present. The county was, at this time, divided into nine military, or as they were called, company districts, and elections were ordered in each district for military officers.

The following were appointed to superintend the election : In District 1 - John D. Gillham, John Waddle, Samuel Kinkaid. District 2 - Gorham Patterson, William Adair, Nathaniel Rowden. District 3 - John Greene, Walker Daniels, Harrison Higgins. District 4 - Joel Meacham, James Caldwell, Absalom Clark. District 5 - .John Dunn, Young Wood, Philip Fry. District 6 - James McNeary, Alvin Coe, William Potts. District 7 - Samuel Scott, Benjamin Buchanan, Peter Shepard. District 8 - Moses Nash, Thomas Arnet, Elisha Kellogg. District 9 - Jedediah Webster, Samuel Atchison, Joseph Smith. Those familiar with the names will readily see that the numbering of the districts began in the southern portion of the county. District 1, was near the Madison County line ; district 3, near Kane ; district 5, about Carrollton ; districts 8 and 9 in Morgan County, and so on.

The Court during the remainder of the year was mainly occupied in appointing constables, appointing road viewers, and acting on their reports, etc. During this year action was taken with reference to main roads from Carrollton north, south, west, and southwest, besides other less important highways. The road most traveled then was that which led from Carrollton to Alton. Starting from the southwest part of town, it led west to the site of ]\Iount Pleasant, thence south by east past the improvement of Samuel Thomas to the ford of the Macoupin, about one hundred yards west of the present bridge, and so on southward. North of Mount Pleasant, or the Mound, as it is now known, the road led to the Mauvaisterre settlement, by way of the present farms of L. S. Eldred, Esq., David Wright, Absalom Bradley, and so on. The reason for this route was threefold: it followed a ridge of the prairie ; it avoided timber considerably, and, most important of all, it led by a number of fine springs, which were an essential of good camping places.

structure, situated on the west side of the Square, next north of the present location of J. T. Cameron's harness shop. It was erected at a total cost of about $700. It stood with its side to the street, and could not have presented a very handsome appearance. In later years, it was turned around, cut in two, and used for store rooms. The jail was built early the next year, John Dee and Henry T. Garden being the contractors. It stood on the lot now owned by J. E. Fnrgeson, Esq., west of the old court house. It was built of heavy logs. The door was very heavy and thickly studded Avith large nails. The proposals for bids which were made December 20, 1821, provided that the size should be twentytwo feet by twelve feet. That it should be one story high, have two floors, and a partition in the middle. The logs were required to be of white oak, ten inches thick, the roof was to be shingled, and the windows protected by iron bars. Its cost was 1240. A stray pen of posts and rails was erected about the same time for $19, by Baynard White.

At this time there was no taxable real estate in the county. It had just been sold by the Government, and the conditions under which it was purchased expressly provided that it should be free from taxation for five years. The revenue required for county purposes was therefore derived exclusively from personal property, the tax for years never exceeding one-half of one per cent, on the valuation, from fines, and from licenses to tavern-keepers, ferrymen, and peddlers.

In December, 1821, we find recorded the following action of the Commissioners concerning ferries. At that time licenses were granted to John Evans to operate "the ferry commonly known as Simons' ferry." This was across the Illinois River, near the mouth of the Macoupin. It landed its passengers on the other side at a point near where Hardin is now situated. John Evans was also licensed to manage Jacoway's ferry across the Illinois River. This Avas near the present location of Grafton. Permission was granted to Lewis Williams and his brother, David Williams, to carry passengers, etc., across Macoupin Creek, where the bridge south of Carrollton is now situated, and Isaac N. Piggott received license to run a ferry across the Mississippi (Maasippi they called it then), at a point between Grafton and Alton.

In 1821 occurred the first marriage in the county. The contracting parties were David Hodge and Miss Louisa Wentsworth, the ceremony being performed by John Allen, J. P., May 6, 1821. Mr. Hodge was very well known in the county ; for a long time he kept a store on Apple Creek prairie.

officiating clergyman. Miss Finley was the adopted child of John Finley, spoken of elsewhere. He found her, an infant, on his doorstep one morning, and as the child looked sorrowful and sad, he named the foundling "Mourning" Finley.

The first deed recorded in the books of the county is a mortgage, dated May 12, 1821, in which Richard Wilhelm conveys to Elizabeth Leamon the east half of the northwest quarter of section 24, T. 7. R. 7, to secure the payment of $100. The land is now included in Jersey County. The first deed to land in the present limits of Greene County is that whereby, in 1822, Robert Hobson sells to Elijah Woodman tlie land on which Mount Pleasant was to have been built.

Two Episodes Of 1821

During the early Summer of 1821, the whole county was stirred with feeling by a protracted search for a lost child. Tlie following very graphic and very accurate account of the thrilling incident is from the pen of W. A. Tunnell, Esq., of whom mention has elsewhere been made. It will serve two valuable purposes, in giving a very complete, vivid, and accurate account of the whole affair and at the same time in painting a striking and correct picture of life and the condition of the county about the time of its organization.

The late Mrs. Alfred Hinton was visiting her cousins, the children of James Pruitt. She and one of the elder girls started out to the woods in search of "greens" for dinner, when little Matilda, without their knowledge, followed, and unable to keep near them, became bewildered and lost. She was found very near the spot where English's mill is now located. The lost child is still living in the person of Mrs. Hiram Parr, who resides al)Out three miles west of White Hall, in this county. Mr. Anderson Headrick well remembers that a religious meetino: athis father's house was broken up by the announcement that the child was lost. Judge Alfred Hinton was one of the company who started from Madison Countv to aid in the search. But read the affecting tale as it fell from the facile pen of Mr. Tunnell :

" Early in the Spring of 1820, one Major Pruitt erected his log cabin in the edge of Apple Creek prairie, three miles northwest of where Bell's mill now stands. He was one of a numerous family of that name, who had previously settled in Madison, and a portion of Avhom had come to Greene when it had been explored and its fertile lands, its beautiful prairies, and its shady groves began to attract attention. The cohntry was at that time but sparsely settled, a few hardy pioneers had scattered themselves over a large extent of territory, isolated from the more populous districts, and with brave hearts and strong arms, engaged like a band of brothers, in a common cause against the dangers and distresses incident to their exposed condition. The savage still lingered on the hunting ground of his fathers; his wigwam sent up its blue smoke among the tall trees on the banks of the Illinois ; his footprints had scarcely faded from about the doors of the wliite man's cabin. The forests teemed with venomous serpents and ferocious beasts. It was only during the previous year that the sound of the white man's rifle first broke the silence of the primeval forest. The hillsides and little valleys reaching from the prairie down toward the southwest where the ravines fell into Apple C4-eek were clothed with a luxurious growth of vegetation, so rich and dense that with its accumulated weight it sank down into a tangled and confused mass of briers, thorns, nettles, grape vines, pea vines, and every imaginable kind of vine or shrub bearing fruits, flowers, or thorns. But there were few evils which our fathers were unable to turn to some good account, and they found something for which to be thankful, even in those dark brambles, from which they obtained many valuable substitutes for those vegetables usually grown in our kitchen gardens, and feasted on their simple dish of salads, plucked from the dark, cool shades of the forest, with as sweet a relish as ever an epicurean partook of his dainties from beyond the sea, pouring out their souls in thanks to God for so bountifully supplying them with a provision so nicely adapted to their wants.

" Major Pruitt was the father of several children, of whom Matilda was the youngest. She was a bright-eyed little girl of scarce three summers ; the very center around which clustered the fondest afi^ections and the liveliest sympathies of the familr circle. When with blooming cheek and laughing eye she played and prattled around the hearthstone of the humble cabin, "all eyes were turned to catch the fascinating smile that dimpled on the cheek of childish innocence. But when the hand of sickness seized her delicate frame, a heavy gloom hung over the anxious household and a deep stillness pervaded the lonely cabin. ^ Oft in the late hours of the night, her aching head reclined on the patient arm of the kind father, as with slow and silent steps he paced the dimly-lighted cabin, while the weary mother 'caught her short half-hour of rest.' Oft had the anxious parents sat for weary hours beside her bed, watching her fitful slumbers, and administering the cooling draughts of water, or the remedy that was expected to return their darling child to health and cheerfulness. These alternations of sickness and health touched every sympathetic chord vibrating in the hearts of the fond parents and their dutiful children, and to them there was no object in the world so dear and so essential to their happiness as their dear little daughter and sister. It was on a Monday, about the middle of May, while Mrs. Pruitt was prostrated on a bed of sickness, and the duties of the household devolved on her daughters, that one of them, accompanied by a cousin near the same age, left their carding and spinning and went into the woods, to procure from the rich vegetation, materials for the coming dinner. The sun shone brightly from the clear blue sky, the earth was richly arrayed in her dark robes of green, fairly bespangled with bright and beautiful flowers. The sparkling dew, the balmy air, the waving groves, the babbling brooks that danced with joy along their way, the gentle slopes - moss-grown or carpeted with new grown grass - all contributed to make up a picture, at once so lovely and so enchanting that our young friends unconsciously lingered in the cool shade, enjoying the grateful breeze that played beneath the outspreading branches and listening to the melodies of the happy birds, until the morning was far advanced and the sun now approaching the meridian, admonished them that their presence was needed at the house. When dinner was announced the family drew around the tal)le, but the place of Matilda was vacant. * Where is Matilda?" was asked and repeated several times, but no one could answer. Mrs. Pruitt called to her husband and said : ' When the girls went into the woods this morning, ^latilda cried to go with them, and I told her to go out to where you were shearing sheep and stay with you till they came back.' ' Then I fear she is lost,' replied the father, *for I have not seen her.' ' Matilda is lost,' cried the children, and in a moment all was excitement. The family were soon running hither and thither, as if scarcely knowing what they did. The name of Matilda soon resounded through the forest, but no voice responded. The dark woods were to them silent as the shades of death. The playful breeze brought upon its soft bosom no tiny voice to gladden the troubled heart, or relieve tlie bitter anguish of tlie bereaved parents. When death has done its work and torn the tender infant from its mother's arms, she calmly gives herself to grief and seeks relief in tears; many comforts press their suits, and consolation finds its way into her heart. But from the agony of the parents, produced by this awful shock, there was no escape ; their suspense was more terrible than death itself. Visions of poisonous serpents, prowling wolves and screaming j^iinthers stole across their minds, and in imagination they beheld the great black bear already winding his leisure way across the hill in the direction of the wandering child. No time must be lost - every moment the child was wandering farther from home, and the difficulty of finding her increased. Runners were at once dispatched to differents parts of the neighborhood for assistance, and soon the whole settlement was on the qui vive. Before night, many men, armed with guns, and carrying trumpets or horns, came galloping into the woods and engaged in the search. They pressed on vigorously to recover the child, if possible, before the close of da}'. Apprehensions that she must suffer the horrors of the night, unrescued, in that dark wilderness of danger, pressed heavily on their minds, and grated on their nerves, stimulating them to increased exertion. There were no privations they would not suffer, no obstacles they would not oppose, and no efforts they would not make to restore her to her parents before the coming darkness placed it out of their jjower. But the evening sun still glided down the eastern sky ; his last rays lingered for a moment on the distant hills, then vanished and left the world in night. With blazing faggots to dispel the darkness, they urged their toilsome way through the dense foliage, as if determined to take no rest, and spare no effort until the object of their search should be accomplished. Hunger and fatigue pressed their calls in vain, those strong limbs, inured to toil, and those stout hearts, accustomed to self-support, flagged not, but gathered new strength from each opposing obstacle. During that long night those torches lighted every hill ; the savage beasts, amazed, forsook their revels and crept to some securer spot ; the timid bird, affrighted, twittered from its i^erch to some more distant place, and the voice of man, before unheard among these rugged hills, now echoed down the narrow vales, inspiring strength and courage to pursue the search. Down the deep valleys, and up the steej) hillsides, through the entangled brush-wood - with anxious hearts and unabated strengtii, they urged their way until the morning's glimmering light arose and ushered in the day. Tlien, at the sound of a trumpet, came men from all the woods around, in tat- tered garments drenched Avith dew, to take the first refreshment since the searcli began. They spent an hour rehearsing what was past, and planning for the future, then mounting their faithful steeds, urged them once more into the thorny brushwood, or, on foot, pressed through the thickest brambles.

" During the night men had been dispatched to Madison County for further aid, and instructed to rouse the settlers on their way. No sooner was the intelligence received that their aid was wanted than these men leaped from their beds, snatched their rifles, mounted their horses and galloped off to assist in the search. As they arrived and mingled with those already on the ground, the growing numbers swelled the long extending line, which, taking in a wide range, increased the chances of success. The sad news spread as if by magic, and men came pouring in from many miles away. The woods were closely scanned in every direction, no spot of ground was left unsearched, and when the day had gone, and left no tidings of the lost child, it was a matter of the gravest surprise that she had not been found. But the search did not close with the day ; after taking refreshments, the labors of the previous night were repeated, its cares, its anxieties and its disappointments again experienced, and men toiled long and patiently till the morning came. With the morning came a host of friends from Madison County. They were greeted with a wild shout of jo3^ It was the first time since the sun shone on this fair land that the voices of so many white men had echoed through the wild woods of Greene County. And never did men enter more fully into all the feelings or sympatliize more heartily with their bereaved friends. Thev banished all care of home, of their business and of their families, and entered upon the search with all the zeal and determination that could have been expected of men whose lives depended on their efforts.

" The day soon became dark and dreary. The north wind moaned through the swaying trees. A murky darkness hung over the forest and deadened its echoes. No sound was heard save the voices of men, the sighing of the wind, or the rustling of the branches. Distant objects were unseen, or fell upon the eye in undistinguishable confusion, and the line defining the horizon was shut out from view. A cold, gloomy vapor shrouded the groves, and men drew their thick coats around them and quickened their step, the better to resist the chilling blast. It may be imagined, then, with what anxiety they sought the tender child, then roaming in some unknown part of the forest, clad only in a thin " slip " of check cotton, worn as a protection against the heat that prevailed when she was lost, when now the piercing winds caused the teeth to chatter, though wrapped in jeans or blankets. They labored most assiduously during the day ; many became weary and discouraged with the length and fruitlessness of the search, and almost despaired of its successful termination. But the report of a rifle came feebly up through the dark vapors from a ravine below, bringing the welcome news that some traces of the missing child were discovered. Her footprints appeared neatly pressed in the loose sand, where she had Avalked along the dry bed of the stream. Men gathered round and examined them with the most interest, and, with shouts of joy, rushed through the woods in every direction, elated with the hope of finding her before night. The same little tracks were soon afterward found in various places, wliere fallen trees had been consumed by fire, leaving a soft bed of ashes, in which she had delighted to walk, as there were no briers or thorns to wound her feet. These discoveries so animated those in search of her that the}- forgot the fatigues they had undergone, and leaped for joy ; everywhere they were seen moving on with life and spirit, galloping over the hills, or groping through masses of grape vines, until with painful forebodings they discovered that in several places the little footprints were accompanied by those of a bear. Apprehensions were now felt that she had been destroyed, but the search was continued with unabated vigor until near night, when some one in the company had the good fortune to kill the bear. A j^ost mortem examination relieved all apprehensions and quieted all fears entertained on his account.

" During the night the dark clouds moved away, and the morning came bright and beautiful as ever dawned on those green hills. A flood of mellow light came down among the branches, and dispelled the vapors of the previous day. Sweet strains of music floated on the passing breeze that played among the trembling leaves. The face of nature glowed in smiles of radiance and serenity unusual for the season, and even on those grave countenances, marked by the lines of care and anxiety, induced by the labors of a three days' search, there shone a brighter ray of hope and a smile of satisfaction at the prospect of success. Whilst all were assembled on that morning. Major Pruitt stood among them, bearing on his countenance traces of the deepest sorrow. He had spoken but seldom, and those few words bore evident marks of mental suffering. His friends gathered around him to offer consolation, and learn his wishes in regard to the plans of the day. He stepped upon a fallen tree, and in a sad but firm voice, addressed them sul)stantially as follows : ' My neighbors and friends : No event in my humble life ever placed me under so great and lasting obligations to others as the present. The deep and abiding interest you have manifested in my present unhappy condition, and the tender sympathy shown towards my lost child, impress themselves upon my heart too deeply to be ever effaced by the hand of time. I return you my heartfelt thanks for the kind assistance, and the generous sympathy you have so freely extended to me during the last few days of sorrow and bereavement. The alacrity with wiiich you flew to my aid, and the untiring energy and perseverance with which you have prosecuted this prolonged and laborious search have cheered me through the darkest hours of bitterness, and enabled me to endure the most painful suspense and the deej^est sorrow. Hap[)y would I be if I could dispense with your aid now. This day will probaljly crown our efforts with success ; then with what joy will your wives and children, who in their lonely cabins have so long and anxiously wished your return, greet you when 3'ou meet them at the door and tell them the poor little wanderer is found at last. Your wives will shed tears of joy, and your children will clap their little hands and shout " Tm glad, (), I'm glad I " ' As lie brought his brawny hands together, tears gushed from tlie eyes of those standing around, and for a few moments all were silent. The search was renewed with all the spirit and eagerness manifested on tlie day of its commencement. Tiiere were many nolde men engaged in that search - old settlers of prominence and respectability, whose influence was pow- erfully felt by the younger and less considerate, wlio sometimes ventured to express their opinion that all chances of finding the child were hopeless, and the search must of necessity be abandoned. Nor is it wonderful they should entertain such sentiments, as their impatience increased under the labors and hardships that accumulated from day to day. Prominent among the friends of Major Pruitt was one Walter McFarland. He had taken a deep interest in everything relating to the search from its commencement, and from what we can learn of him, he was a man of energy and determination not easily discouraged by adverse circumstances, nor diverted from any object he had set his heart upon. He was always consulted when any plan of operation was being discussed, and his advice was received with much respect. He manifested a considerable amount of shrewdness in all that related to frontier life, and frequently pushed his researches far in advance of his comrades, roaming the wild woods alone. Thus it was on Thursday morning, the morning of the fourth day of the search. Mr. McFarland found himself alone in a beautiful grove of giant oaks overshadowing the bluffs of Apple Creek, in the neighborhood of Beeman's old mill. The deep shade of the thick grove had kept the earth destitute of vegetation ; it was carpeted only with a light covering of short grass. He looked around him, admiring the beaut}^ and seclusion of the place. It was indeed a lovely spot, cool and shady, fanned by a grateful breeze, and enlivened with the notes of countless little birds. ' Just such a spot,' thought he, ' as I would like to find Matilda in, and why may I not find her here ? She has wandered through briers and thorns, her feet are lacerated and give her pain at every step. She is exhausted, and would love such a place as this, in which to lie down and go to sleep. We have searched the woods thus far and have not found her, she must be somewhere in this shady grove.' And as he thus mused, a presentiment came over him that she was near. His step quickened, he went peering about in every direction as if in a state of excitement, occasionally listening attentively to catch any sounds that might come from the woods around ; suddenly his pulse became quick, perspiration ran from his brow, his heart beat audibly, a trepidation came over him, and he sat down and buried his face in his hands for a few moments. ' Well, this is singular,' said he. ' It is strange. What can cause it ? It certainly means something.' After becoming somewhat calm he proceeded to the foot of the bluff, and upon examining a small pond in the creek bottom, discovered where, in the soft earth, a little child had lain down to drink from the pond. There were the prints of her toes in the mud, and her fins^er marks in the edo-e of the water which was yet turbid, showing that she could not be far away. He stood as. if confined to the spot, and closely gazed in every direction, but was unable to discover the child. ' Well, I felt a presentiment she was in that lovely grove.' said he, ' and now it is certain that she is somewhere near, I have a proof that I was right in thinking she was near. Why should it be so ? I can not tell, but if that presentiment means anything, she is in that grove, and I need go no where else to look.* Thus reasoning, he turned back, and passing a little to the right of where he came down, proceeded nearly to the summit of the bluff, when his attention was arrested by the rustling in the leaves, and a little squirrel ran chattering high up the stem of a magnificent oak, and disappeared among its thick foliage. He walked 'round the tree, peering through its thick branches, to catch a glimpse of the squirrel which still evaded his sight. It occurred to him that he had seldom seen so grand a tree. Its great size, its immense height, the great spread of its branches, and the beautiful symmetry of its shape, at once marked it as the ' King of the forest.' His eyes ran along down the large and tapering trunk to the ground. He started with silent wonder ; his rifle dropped from his hand ; there, wrapped in sleep, and motionless as if in death, lay the lost child.

"No language can describe the joy he felt at finding her still alive. He raised her softly in his arms and called her name. She started, stared wildly and strangely around, and drew to him as if for protection. Presently she looked imploringly in his face, while large tear-drops gathered in her eyes, and said: 'I want to go to my mother.' The touching appeal melted the strong man to tears, and when he had fully discovered the extent of her wretched condition, his heart overflowed with sympathy. Her scanty clothing was torn in tatters, her neck and shoulders blistered Avitli the heat of the sun, her feet and ankles lacerated and swollen, and her flesh everywhere pierced with briers and thorns that still remained sticking in the wounds. She had subsisted alone on green leaves of the wild sorrel. Mr. McFarland gave her part of a biscuit, which she instantly devoured, and pleaded for more. He soon recollected that there were others in the wood, to whom the child was dear, and who would greatly rejoice to see her. He therefore discharged his gun twice in quick succession. As the last report rang through the forest, and, reverberating among the hills, died away in the distance, there came back the wild shouts of a hundred voices, and a response of a hundred guns, and soon a hundred horsemen came dashing over the hills, leaping logs and ditches, waving their hats, and shouting in a frenzy of enthusiasm. Such a scene as followed utterly baffles all powers of description ; it was a scene of the most tumultuous joy. Men sent up shout after shout, threw up their hats, clapped their hands, leaped, laughed, and cried at the same time. Those who had dismounted soon sprang again to their saddles, and, with Major Pruitt at their head, carrying the child in his arms, galloped off to the house of the sick mother, still filling the woods with their J03-ful shouts. She was in transports of joy, and, while the family were gathered around the little girl in the cabin, the men outside rode round the house, firing guns, shouting, laughing, and talking. Those who were present declare that they had never heard so many guns fired, or so much shouting, on any other occasion. After the tumult of joy had partially abated, provisions were brought out, and the friends of the good old Major partook of a comfortable dinner, and departed for their homes. How many anxious mothers came from the doors of their lonely ca])ins, to inquire of the passers-by if the lost child had been found, and thanked God for the good news, we can not now tell, but we are sure that they were not few. By this time it was known in St. Clair County that the child was lost, and Gen. Samuel Whitesides hastily collected a company of men, and hurried on to assist them in finding her. They met their Madison County friends, from whom they learned that she was recovered, and they all returned to their homes, spreading the glad tidings to all the settlers on their way, by shouting and firing their guns. Mrs. Pruitt was a woman of a frail constitution and feeble liealth, and such was the shock upon her tender frame, that during the time her child was lost, she never closed her eyes in sleep, or took a morsel of food. She lingered for a short period, but her days were soon numbered, and she sank into her grave. Her husband, though possessing a powerful constitution and uninterrupted health, quailed for a time beneath the weight of this severe stroke of affliction, refusing consolation, refreshment, or sleep, till he saw his little daughter placed safely under his own roof. He lived esteemed and respected for many years, and died at a good old age."