Grundy County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter 4 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com April 26, 2006, 9:38 pm Book Title: History Of Grundy County IL CHAPTER IV.* SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT—EARLY SOCIETY—RISE OF CHURCH AND SCHOOL—INDIAN TRAILS AND EARLY ROADS—RAILROADS AND THE CANAL—THE NEWSPAPERS THE pioneers of Grundy County came principally from southern Ohio, with a number from the southern States, and later, a few from Pennsylvania and other more eastern States. Most of these families had been pioneers in older settlements in the States from which they came, or had grown up in frontier colonies which their fathers had founded, and had been trained in the stern school of experience to meet and conquer the difficulties of a new country. But the problem here, nevertheless, presented features and difficulties entirely different from that with which their earlier experience had acquainted them. The timber that skirted the margin of the river and sent out spurs here and there along the banks of the creeks and ravines, divided the vast open sea of grass and flowers into two great divisions. On either side the broad expanse of verdant meadow, marked here and there by a stray clump of undersized trees, stretched away from the river, unbounded save by the horizon, and the pioneer with his little retinue of wagons was lost in this luxuriant wilderness like a convoy of sloops in mid ocean. A party of pioneers came on foot by way of Chicago, in May, 1835, and one of them presents this picture:** "There had been *By J. H. Battle. **Elmer Baldwin's Hist of La Salle County, p. 124. heavy showers for several days, and the low prairie around Chicago was more like a lake than dry land. For seven miles before reaching Berry's Point, the water was from three to fifteen inches deep, through which we worked our weary way. When within about two miles of dry land, one of our companions gave out, and two of us, one on either side, placed our arms around and under his opposite arm, while he placed his on our shoulders, and thus we bore him through. "The next day we walked about forty miles to Plainfield. It gave us our first view of a rolling Illinois prairie. We strained our eyes to take in its extent, till the effort became painful. We descanted again and again upon its beauty and richness, and wondered why such a country had remained so long in the hands of the savage. It was a wonderful country. All was new. Strange sights and sounds greeted us. The piping note of the prairie-squirrel, as he dropped from his erect position, and sought the protection of his hole close by our path; the shrill notes of the plover, scattered in countless numbers, fitfully starting and running over the prairie; the constant roaring of the prairie cock; the mad scream of the crooked-bill curlew, as we approached its nest; the distant whoop of the crane; the pump sounding note of the bittern; the lithe and graceful forms of the deer, in companies of three to five, lightly bounding over the swells of the prairie;—it seemed a new creation that we had entered." Every immigrant supplied his own means of reaching his destined home. The pioneer from Pennsylvania, Ohio, or the Southern States, betrayed his nativity and prejudice in the schooner-shape wagon box, the stiff tongue, the hinder wheels double the size of the forward ones, and closely coupled together, the whole drawn by a team of four or six horses which were guided by a single line in the hands of a teamster riding the "nigh wheeler." His harness was of gigantic proportions. What between the massive leather breeching, the heavy hames and collar, the immense housing of bear skin upon the hames, the heavy iron trace chains, and the ponderous double-tree and whiffle-trees, the poor beasts seemed like humanity in a chain gang, or some terrible monsters that human ingenuity could scarcely fetter securely. The eastern immigrant, from New York or farther east, was marked as far as his caravan could be seen, by a long coupled, low boxed, two horse wagon, provided with a seat, from which with double lines the driver guided his lightly harnessed pair of horses. There was about each part of the outfit, evidences of the close calculation of means to an end, and an air of utility which left no room for doubt as to the purpose of the maker in every part of it. This strange contrast in these early outfits suggests that they may not unfittingly be taken as types of two civilizations that met here on this middle ground, and in many a sterner contest waged an "irrepressible conflict." In the end, these "wooden-nutmeg Yankee wagons," as they were called, prevailed. This prairie country undoubtedly offered opportunities to the pioneer occupant, far superior to those of a timbered country, but the early settlers, imbued with the logical deductions of their early experiences, looked with distrust upon the open prairie. The general impression was that only the timber belts would ever be inhabited; the prairie swept by the fires of summer, and by the piercing blasts of winter, seemed little better than a desert, and for several years there was not a cabin in Grundy County built more than one hundred yards from the timber. The necessity of the early cabins similar in size, style and materials, confirmed this impression, and made it a conviction. The pioneer having selected a site on some prospecting tour, or being attracted to a certain region by the report of friends, came with all his worldly possessions on wagons, and making selection of a farm, chose a site for his cabin, and set at once to build it. Trees were felled; logs of the proper length chopped off and drawn to the chosen site, and willing neighbors for miles about invited to the raising. Rude as these structures were it needed no little handicraft to rear them, and it was not long before the special ability of each member of the community, entailed upon him his special duty on these occasions. The logs trimmed, "saddled," and properly assorted, were placed in the pen shape of the cabin; the gable ends were run up with regularity, shortening logs shaped at the ends, to allow for the slope of the roof; on these the long roof poles two feet apart, stretched from end to end, served as foundation for the roof, which was made up of clapboards, riven by the froe from bolts of oak laid in place and held secure by "weight poles" made firm by pegs or stones. Then followed the sawing out of the door-way and windows, the chinking of the cracks with pieces of riven timber; the caulking with a mixture of mud and chopped hay; the construction of floors and a door from puncheons, and the building of the chimneys of "cat and clay." Hinges were supplied from rawhide, and the wooden latch, reached from the outside by means of an attached leather latch-string passing through a hole in the door, was often the only protection against forcible entrance. Later experiences introduced the use of heavy wooden bars, but the proverbial expression of early hospitality was the hanging out of the latch-string. The local characteristics of the early settlers found their expression in the construction of the chimneys. Few early cabins were more than one story high, and the chimney placed on one side, was constructed in the case of the southerner or the Indianian on the outside of the cabin, while the rest built inside, the top in all cases scarcely reaching the height of the ridge. The interior of the cabin was marked by the same general similarity. In each the wide fire-place shed abroad its genial warmth of hospitality or aided in the preparation of the table's cheer. The "crane," hung with iron pots and kettles, and the Dutch oven, half submerged in coals, were in all cabins the "evidence of things not seen," and furnished forth, under the guidance of the deft housewife, a meal which is still sighed for as the "grace of a day that is dead." The "corn pone," or when so exceptionally fortunate as to be able to use flour, the hop-yeast or salt-rising bread, the "chicken-fixings," the game, the fresh, luscious vegetables,—are memories that more pretentious days have not dimmed in the hearts of the pioneers. The latter-day inventions of saleratus and baking powder had their prototype in the pearlash, which was prepared by burning the potash, so common then, upon the lid of the "bake kettle;" the sputtering, greenish flame produced by the process, in the meanwhile enforcing upon the childish minds of the household the stern doctrines of the hereafter. The frontier cabin, as a rule, contained but one room, which served all the domestic and social purposes of the family alike, unchanged. Curtains arranged about the beds suggested the retirement of sleeping apartments, while the cheerful blaze of the fire-place afforded an unstinted glow to the whole establishment. The women of those days ate not the bread of idleness. They were indeed the helpmates of father, brother and husband, and nowhere in the world did man prove such an unbalanced, useless machine as the unmarried pioneer in this western wild. While the man, with masterful energy, conquered the difficulties of a new country and asserted his sovereignty over an unsubdued wilderness, it was woman's hand that turned its asperities into blessings, and made conquered nature the handmaid of civilization. The surplus product of the frontier farm sufficed to supply a slender stock of tea, coffee, sugar and spices, with an occasional hat for the man and a calico dress for the woman;—all else must be derived from the soil. How this was accomplished, the occasional relics of a flax-wheel, brake, spinning-wheel or loom, suggest. To card and spin, to dye and weave, were accomplishments that all women possessed. Housekeeping was crowded into the smallest possible space, and the preparation of linen, of "linsey woolsey," and stocking yarn, with their adaptation to the wants of the family, became, to vary the catechism, the chief end of woman. About these homely industries gathered all the pride of womanly achievement, the mild dissipations of early society, and the hopes of a future competence; a social foundation, of which the proud structure of this great commonwealth bears eloquent testimony. But with all this helpful self-reliance indoors, there was plenty to engage the vigorous activity of the male portion of the family out of doors. The exigencies of the situation allowed no second experiment, and a lifetime success or failure hung upon the efforts of the pioneer. The labor of the farm was carried on under the most discouraging circumstances. The rude agricultural implements and the too often inadequate supply of these, allowed of no economical expenditure of strength, and for years rendered the frontier farmer's life a hand to hand struggle of sheer muscle and physical endurance with the stubborn difficulties of nature. The location of the cabins along the lowlands that formed the margin of the streams, exposed the early settlers at their most vulnerable point. During a considerable part of the year the almost stagnant water of the sluggish streams tilled the air with a miasmatic poison that hung in dense fog over stream and grove like a destroying spirit. The difficulty experienced in securing good water often rendered it necessary for the farmers to drink from stagnant pools, "frequently blowing off the scum and straining the wigglers from the sickening, almost boiling, fluid through the teeth." That the "fever and ague" should stalk through the land, a veritable Nemesis, was inevitable under such circumstances, and many a hardy pioneer was cowed and fairly shaken out of the country in the chilly grasp of this grim monster. But having withstood these discouragements and secured a harvest, the greatest disappointment came in the utter lack of markets. After a year of labor, privation, and sickness, the moderate crop would hardly bear the expense of getting it to market. How this country was sethed and improved under such circumstances can be explained upon none of the settled principles of political economy. Retreat there was none; and that homely phrase, "root, hog, or die," was borne in upon the pioneer by his daily experience with a benumbing iteration that must have wrought ruin to any class of people of less hardy mental and physical health. In such a community where "The richest were poor and the poor lived in abundance," there was no chance for the growth of caste, and families for miles around were linked together as one neighborhood, by the social customs of the time, which in the spirit of true democracy, drew the line at moral worth alone. The amusements of a people taking their character from the natural surroundings of the community, were here chiefly adapted to the masculine taste. Hunting and fishing were always liberally rewarded, while log cabin raisings, the opening of court with its jury duty, and the Saturday afternoon holiday with its scrub horse race, its wrestling match, its jumping or quoit pitching, and perhaps a fight or two, afforded entertainments that never lost their zest. It was a common remark, however, that "Illinois furnished an easy berth for men and oxen, but a hard one for women and horses."* Outside of "visiting" and camp meetings, the diversions in which women participated at that early day were very few; husking and spinning bees, and "large" weddings where the larger part of the night was spent in dancing, did not have the frequent occurrence so characteristic of the Eastern States, and nothing here seemed to offer any substitute. So long as the community gathered here lacked easy communication with the outside world this state of things continued. There was a market at Chicago at this time, where a fair price could be had for the surplus crop, and the growth of the older settlements further south brought the advantages of civilization nearer to these outlying communities, but the lack of roads prevented the early enjoyment of these privileges. The early lines of travel were along the Indian trails. These were clearly defined paths about a foot or eighteen inches wide, cut into the sod of the prairie, sometimes to the depth of ten or twelve inches. A portion of one of these trails can be seen now on the farm formerly belonging to Jacob Claypool, where it has been carefully protected by a furrow plowed up on either side of it. There were three of these following the general course of the river through the county, and terminating at Chicago, which was at an early time a great resort of the Indians. One of these ran along the north side of the river, between *History of La Salle County it and the present site of the canal up to near the five mile bridge then passing north of the line of the canal, but south of the Catholic cemetery, it crossed both branches of Nettle Creek near where the stone bridges now stand, thence recrossing the canal line near the Peacock bridge, and passing on the ridge through to the Protestant cemetery, it crossed the Au Sable below the aqueduct, and thence through Dresden it took its course over the bluffs toward Channahon. Another on the bottoms south of the river crossed the Waupecan Creek at the quarter corner, of the east line of section 18, in Wauponsee township, thence nearly in a straight line, passing twenty rods north of the center of section 17, it continued to Spring Creek which it crossed at its mouth, and thence it led across the Mazon on section 16, and up the river, crossing the Kankakee one half mile above its mouth. There was a second trail on the south side of the Illinois river, which skirted the points of timber, passed a little north of the present residence of Jonathan Wilson on section 4, 32, 6, and entered Wauponsee about the center of the west line of the southeast quarter section 20, continuing thence in a direct line and intersecting the first trail at the crossing of the Mazon River. There was a "high prairie trail" through Holderman's Grove north of Grundy County, which came to be an important line of travel. There were of course no fences at first to interfere with the choice of road or to serve as guides, and these trails were followed until a wagon path, pretty clearly defined, made traveling between well established points no very difficult matter in the daytime, or on moonlight nights. But the belated traveler on a dark night, or one a little unfamiliar with the fords, found it advisable to make an unexpected bivouac on the open prairie. Even some of the older settlers, when near at home, had some experience of this, as an incident related of Mr. Jacob Claypool, very forcibly illustrates: He and his boys, Perry A. and L. W., had husked corn for Holderman, for one and a half bushels per day. Late in November (1834) they set out from home with two teams, one of horses and the other of oxen, to bring home their hard earned corn. On their return they reached the Indian trail near the west line of section 7, 33, 7, just about dark. To add to the difficulties of the situation, a heavy fog arose as night set in, and knowing that there was no escape from an open air camp, they made the best of their situation by carefully feeling their way along the trail to a point near the present residence of Isaac Hoge, where there were some hay-stacks. Here the party remained until about four o'clock in the morning, when the fog rising and the moon coming out, they started for the ford of the Illinois River, on the west line of section 8. Perry Claypool with the horses led, and fortunatelv striking the right place passed over safely, but the ox team failed to follow closely, and becoming unmanageable, began to swim out of the difficulty with the wagon and passengers. By daylight the party reached their cabin home wet, cold and hungry, and worst of all, with one load of their hard earned corn floating down the river. Such experiences were not uncommon and stimulated the pioneer to the earliest possible efforts to secure roads and bridges. The northern part of the State had settled up so slowly that there was no thoroughfare through Grundy County at all until about 1833. About this time the Bloomington and Chicago road began to be outlined by the droves of live stock going to market, and the return teams hauling salt and supplies. This soon became the principal route of travel, and crossed the county through the northern part of Highland, passed old Mazon and crossed the Mazon River at Sulphur Springs, on section 6, Braceville. From this point it led to the Kankakee River at "Cousin John Beard's ford," about a mile and a half from its mouth. This road was not officially laid out or worked until after the county of Grundy was formed, when the commissioners at one of their earliest meetings ordered it run out from "Lone tree point to Cousin John Beard's ford at the crossing of the Kankakee." It was subsequently worked, and in 1843 a bridge was erected over the Mazon, where the road crossed, but it was soon destroyed. It was the earliest and greatest thoroughfare of its time, but it did not reach the dignity of a mail route, and has long since been abandoned. In December of 1834, the commissioners of La Salle County appointed Henry Green, Benjamin Bloomfield and Sam'l S. Bullock to lay out a road from Marseilles toward Joliet. This was laid out as near as practicable along the Indian trail nearest the north bank of the river. This was afterward divided into three divisions, and Wm. Kuhey appointed supervisor of the western division, Wm. Hoge, of the middle division, and Joshua Collins of the eastern. On July 3, 1839, the "Shaking Bridge" was erected near where the present stone bridge spans the west branch of Nettle Creek on Jefferson street in Morris. To raise this early bridge required the united energies of most of the men in the country about, and was probably the first bridge erected in the county. It was hoped that this road would prove to be the route for the north and south travel of the State, and upon such expectations Lovell Kimball of Marseilles laid out the village of Clarkson on the southeast quarter 12, 33, 6, with a double log cabin hotel as a nucleus about which to gather the expected city. This village aspired to county honors, until the construction of Grundy blighted all such hopes, and remained even then the principal village in this region until the location of the county seat at Morris, when it rapidly went to decay. At Dresden, on the other end of this road in Grundy County, Salmon Rutherford erected a large "framed" hotel, where, by license of the court he was allowed to charge the following scale of prices: "For each, meal, common, 25 cents. " " " extra, 37 1/2 " " " lodging, 12 1/2 " " " horse or ox, hay over night, 12 1/2 " " " 8 quarts corn or oats, 25 " " " each glass of spirits, 6 1/4 " " " " " " extra spirits, 12 1/2 " For this privilege he paid $6 and gave a bond of $100 for the faithful performance of his obligations. Another of these early hostelries was erected about this time on the west fork of the Mazon, and was kept by James McKean, and was for a considerable time the resort of drovers on their way to market with stock. The division of the large northern counties and the demands of the local communities led to great changes in these early highways. Roads were run with some reference to the farmers who lived along the lines of these "through routes," which led, not without an occasional serious struggle, to their abandonment. The result of these changes was to establish the main line of through travel along the high prairie trail by way of Holderman's Grove, etc., on which Frink and Walker subsequently established a line of coaches running between Chicago and Peru. From four to eight four-horse coaches left each terminal point daily, connecting at Peru with a steamboat from St. Louis. Neil, Moor & Co., an Ohio firm, ran a line of coaches between the same points following a route south of the river, but it proved but a short-lived competition, though vigorous while it existed. The latter firm failed and withdrew its coaches in a short time. But with all these improvements, Chicago, which had become the market for this section, was too far off for the means of transportation possessed by the farmers. Everything was hauled in wagons and the roads were stern autocrats of the pioneer's destiny. The treacherous sod that covered the long stretch of swamp about the city would bear up only a moderate load, and thus restricted the amount of produce to be taken by a single wagon. Add to this the rude construction of the best roads and there is a sense of discouragement that might have worked despair if it had not incited to improvement. It may be noticed here that the civilization of the broad tread wagon and that of the narrow-tread, met at the eastern line of Grundy County. With all the other inconveniences, the farmers of this section found that their wagons had a hard road to travel even where it was well constructed, one wheel being on the unbroken or unsettled roadway all the time. This was soon remedied by the adoption of narrow tread wagons, but the other difficulties still remained. The project of connecting the waters of Lake Michigan with the navigable waters of the Illinois River had been talked of since 1812, and urged from time to time on the ground of its military as well as its commercial importance, but it was not until July 4, 1836, that ground was first broken for its construction. The line surveyed for its construction, connecting with the eastern arm of the south branch of the Chicago River, followed the general line of the Desplaines and Illinois Rivers to Peru, where it was proposed to pass by locks into the river. The estimate of its cost varied from $640,000 to $10,000,000, the latter being nearer the actual cost when constructed. There was an urgent demand for greater transportation facilities, and scarcely a year passed without a recommendation on the subject by State or national official, but here the matter seemed to end until 1825. In this year the "Illinois and Michigan Canal Association" was formed with a capital of $1,000,000, which received a charter granting most extraordinary privileges. At this time Daniel P. Cook, the only Representative of the State in the lower House of Congress, was earnestly seeking to secure a grant of public lands in aid of the canal, and he felt that this charter would defeat his plans. He therefore used every effort to have it annulled, publishing an able argument against, the association scheme and sending it throughout the State. The "Association" did not seem to prize its privileges; no stock was ever subscribed, and the charter was voluntarily surrendered soon after its receipt. In 1827, came the grant of public lands, but this was not easily turned into money, and in 1833 the advisability of devoting the grant to the building of a railroad between the terminal points was seriously discussed. "Up to January 1, 1839, the gross expenditure on the canal, derived from the various sources of loans, lot and land, amounted to $1,400,000. All of it, but about twenty-three miles between Dresden and Marseilles, was contracted, and the jobs let were roughly estimated at $7,500,000."* In the meanwhile the public and Legislature had been carried away with a vast scheme of public improvement, and the State involved in great financial embarrassment. After negotiating several loans on account of the canal which involved the State's finances without proportionately aiding the canal, there was a general collapse. The breaking of the State bank in 1842 added to the general distress, and gave rise to an agitation in favor of repudiating the State debt, which then amounted to $14,000,000. It was about this time that the unlet section of the canal was contracted, Jacob Claypool taking section 126 about where the aqueduct is placed. The failure of funds, however, brought the work here to an early close. The effort to secure a loan of $1,600,000 to finish the canal was protracted through some three years, in which the work came to a standstill, but in 1845 its construction was renewed, and "finally, by the opening season of 1848, the Illinois and Michigan canal, a stupendous public work, *Hist. of Illinois, Davidson and Stuve. urged for thirty years, and in course of actual construction for twelve, after many struggles with adverse circumstances, was completed." The influence upon Grundy County was felt at once; warehouses were erected, and a good market for grain of all kinds was brought within easy reach, while goods and supplies of all sorts were as easily secured. Its effect in another way was quite as marked. When the work ceased in 1843 a large number of those employed on the canal, thrown out of work, took up land here, and, industriously engaging in farming, have become well-to-do, and are still here, or represented by their descendants. During the progress of the work the transient Irish element outnumbered the residents of the county, and worked their will for a year or two at the polls. The village of Morris suddenly changed from a rather quiet town to a place "where whiskey and Irish were plenty," together with what such a combination implies, but with the completion of the canal this element passed away, leaving Morris and Grundy County to work out its own destiny untrammeled by outside influences. Closely related with the canal was a scheme for the construction of a railroad from Chicago to the mouth of the Illinois. But the completion of the former and its being placed in trust with all its property and revenues to secure the payment of the English capitalists who had loaned the $1,600,000, discouraged the granting of a charter for the upper part of such a road. The slight dependence to be placed upon the river for through transportation had been demonstrated, and had proved very disappointing to the great expectations entertained of the canal. Through freight shipped by the canal was occasionally seriously delayed because of the inability of boats of ordinary draught to come up the river far enough to make connections. A charter had therefore been granted for a railroad from La Salle to Rock Island. The country through which it was proposed to build this road was not thickly settled, and capital was therefore slow in taking up this enterprise. In the meanwhile, as it languished, Senator Douglas, impressed with the advantage of a railroad from Chicago to Rock Island, began urging his views upon others, and among the rest upon Norman C. Judd, who then represented Cook County in the State Senate. He suggested that the charter for the La Salle & Rock Island road be amended, so as to allow an extension of the road to Chicago. Mr. Judd entered into the project at once, and had no difficulty in enlisting the interest of Wm. Reddick, State Senator from La Salle, Bureau, Livingston and Grundy Counties, and the late Governor Matteson, Senator from Will County. The citizens along the route of the proposed extension were easily enlisted in the cause, and frequent consultations were had. At a conference of the supporters of this scheme, held in the old American House in Springfield, Senators Judd, Reddick, and Matteson, with P. A. Armstrong as clerk, were appointed a committee to prepare a bill for the purpose of amending the charter. This was immediately done, Armstrong drawing up the bill at Mr. Judd's dictation, which was then put upon its passage on the next day. It was obstinately contested by the English interest, but notwithstanding the apparent demands of equity, the bill passed both houses, and went to the Governor for his approval. This was the critical point, as it was understood that Governor French had assured the canal trustees that he would veto the measure. Mr. Reddick, who had been of considerable service in the passage of a bill championed by a brother of the Governor's wife, at once proposed to see Mrs. French, who had the reputation of being a good deal of a politician, and no mean power behind the Governor's throne. The bill was already in the hands of the Governor, and a veto was feared in the morning. So, late as it was in the evening, Mr. Reddick proceeded to the gubernatorial mansion. The Governor's salary was then $1,500 a year, and Mrs. French was her own door-girl. Recognizing her guest, she congratulated him on the passage of his railroad bill. "I am afraid we are not out of the woods yet," he responded. "Why so?" said Mrs. French, "I read in the Register this morning that your bill had passed both houses and gone to the Governor for his approval." "True," replied Mr. Reddick, "but we are informed that Governor French will veto it." Springing to her feet, and looking Mr. Reddick straight in the face, she said, stamping her foot to enforce her words, "But Governor French shall not veto this bill!" The next morning the bill was returned approved. The provisions of this charter which authorized the construction of a railroad from Rock Island "by way of Ottawa and Joliet to Chicago," and changed the name to "Chicago & Rock Island R. R. Company," were peculiar, and explain its success in the Assembly. It was skillfully drawn to "catch votes" and served its purpose. It provided: 1. That the road should pay toll to the canal board upon all freights carried, with the exception of (a) all live stock; (b) on freight carried after the close of canal navigation; (c) on freight carried during the cessation of canal navigation caused by any casualty or otherwise; (d) on freight received from or destined to a point on said road twenty miles west of the southern termination of the canal. 2. These tolls should cease when the interest and payment of the $1,600,000 should be paid. 3. That the canal trustees should grant the right of way free of cost. 4. If the trustees should refuse their assent to this provision on the first Monday in June after the passage of the act, the tolls imposed should be remitted, and the company have the right to construct the road untrammeled. It was further required that the road should be built within a year. It is needless to add that the canal board made a virtue of necessity and yielded. The act was passed February 7, 1851, and the work begun with energy. The route was surveyed in the early summer and before the following January the whistle of the locomotive was heard in Grundy County. At the time this charter was granted, there were only about one hundred miles of railroad in the State, and the "Kingdom of Grundy," as it was jocosely called, considered itself on the royal road to prosperity and fame. This road follows the general line of canal through the county, and has 106,747 feet of main track, 106,747 feet of second main track, and 8,015 feet of side track in the county. The Chicago & Alton road is the second railroad of the county in importance and in the order of construction. It was built in response to a demand for a closer connection between Chicago and St. Louis. It crosses the southeast corner of the county, and affords an outlet for the coal found in that region, which, however, was discovered subsequent to the construction of the road. It was opened in 1854, and has 106,737 feet of main track, 63,641 feet of second main track, and 15,102 feet of side track in the county. In 1874 the Chicago & Illinois Valley Railroad was laid to within a few feet of the Mazon Creek in Braceville Township, and in the following year it was continued through the county by the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Company. These roads are separate in their organization and are likely to become the prey of more important roads. The former has 39,230 feet of track, and the latter 76,992 feet. The Kankakee & Seneca Railroad is one of local interest, connecting these two points and crossing the county diagonally through the southwestern part of the county, having about 107,000 feet of track in the county. The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad appears on the tax duplicate as having 26,740 feet of track in Greenfield Township, the Wilmington Mining & Manufacturing Company some 6,000 feet of track, used to reach the mines of this company in Braceville Township, and the Milwaukee & St. Paul about a mile of track for the same purpose. The railroad interest of Grundy County, however, centers in the two leading roads. Closely following the advent of the first railroad in Morris came the pioneer newspaper, the harbinger of democratic civilization. This was in 1852; arriving in the village on the verge of winter, accompanied with an almost helpless wife, and possessing barely enough material to answer the requirements of his modest office, J. C. Walters began the publication of an anti-slavery paper, the Morris Yeoman. The citizens recognizing the value and importance of having an "organ" contributed such support as they could, and about Oct. 1, 1852, the first number appeared. It was a seven column folio, printed on a sheet 24 by 36 inches in size, and dealt in general topics of news and politics. The "office" was in an adobe hut (an old mud-house is the name by which it is referred to now); the stands and other furniture were home made, and the old "Franklin press," shipped from Ann street, New York, struck off the edition. The editor was unique in appearance, surroundings, and in his literary style. He wore longhair and a cadaverous countenance emphasized by a pair of very dark eyes; his old fashioned press was surmounted, it is said, by an Indian's skull, the eye socket of which served to hold a tallow candle; and his editorials—"philippics" his friends called them—were full of such personal attacks as only the untutored taste of that day could admire. In 1854, the paper passed into the hands of Buffington & Southard and the name changed to the Herald. Subsequently, Mr. Buffington retired and Mr. Southard continued its publication until March 30, 1864, when he was called away and sold the paper to C. G. Perry, who subsequently took Mr. Turner in partnership. On Southard's return after about a year's absence, the proprietors of the Herald, having accomplished some political ends in which they were interested, offered to sell the paper to him again. This was agreed upon, but when the transfer was about to be made, a political consideration was attached to the bargain which defeated the sale. Angered at this turn of affairs, some of Mr. Southard's friends insisted on his starting up a new paper, and the Morris Advertiser was started with Southard as editor and proprietor. It did not take long to demonstrate which was the "fittest," and in accordance with Darwin's formulation of a natural law, the Herald sold out, and the two consolidated were conducted by Mr. Southard under the name of Herald and Advertiser. It had in the meanwhile been enlarged to a nine column folio, and its name simplified to the Herald alone. In October, 1874, the paper was purchased by General P. C. Hays, an Ohio editor of ability, but a native of an adjoining county, who conducted it alone until July 1, 1876, when Mr. Fletcher was added to the firm. It is now a seven column quarto. The Morris Gazette was a six column folio printed on a sheet 21 by 29 in size. It was begun by Andrew J. Ashton in July, 1853. It was Democratic in politics, and of a sharply personal character in all its effusions. The projector of the paper had little or no means, and depended upon party friends to establish the paper. The paper did not succeed, but in 1855, the material was sold to the Herald, leaving a deficit to be paid by those who had aided in its establishment. Another paper of the same political faith was established about 1860 by Matt. Parrott, but it was not a success, and failed in a few months. The next paper was the Reformer, started in 1872, by "Joe" Simpson. This paper was anti-Republican, principally Democratic, but considerably tinctured with green backism. In 1876, this paper passed into the hands of A. K. Barlow, but soon coining back to Mr. Simpson it was closed out. Again, in March, 1880, Col. Blackmore revived Democratic journalism in Morris by issuing the Morris Democrat. The paper added a considerable vigor to the campaign of that year, but its energies were soon spent and it died before the issue was decided. It seems to be simply a question of demand and supply, and there being no demand, any paper of pronounced Democratic tendencies gluts the market and necessarily fails. The Independent is a semi-weekly paper, independent in matter as well as in name. Its first number was issued March 1, 1878. It was established by Messrs. Perry, Crawford & Kutz, who leased the material of the Edwards' Directory office, Morris. It started as a seven column folio, but was increased one column in March, 1881. The business has fallen into the hands of J. A. Kutz, the other members having dropped out. It is the only semi-weekly paper in the Congressional district. The other papers of the county are the Gardner Weekly News, Braceville Miner, and The Independent. The first named is a weekly paper published at Gardner, an 8-column folio, printed on a sheet about 26 by 40 inches. It was established September 29th, 1881, by C. M. King, when the "boom" in coal promised a rapid growth to the village. Mr. King, the editor and proprietor, is a busy, energetic man, and publishes editions of his paper adapted to the locality where issued, for Essex, Reddick and Braceville. The Braceville Miner is one of these editions, and was begun in 1882. It is the same size of The News, but is devoted especially to the interests of the miners, who form the leading part of the paper's patrons. It is Republican in sentiment upon all political matters, but aims more particularly at furnishing the families of this part of the county with the county news. The office of these publications at Gardner is well equipped with material and presses. The Independent, a 6- column folio, printed on a sheet about 22 by 32 inches, is published at Gardner by J. H. Warner. It was established about 1880, as an edition of the paper at Braidwood, in the adjoining county. It aims at local news, and serves its purpose with success. But deeper than all these elements, more important than markets, or railroads, or newspapers, the foundation of social progress, is the church and school. Whatever success the individual lacking these influences, may achieve, a community can never prosper without them, and much that Grundy County may be proud of is due to these benign forces. The early settlements were considerably scattered, and it was for years a difficult matter to get more than two families together for religious services. The pioneer preachers were men of slender education and homely address, but were wonderfully effective in their self-denying earnestness. They visited from cabin to cabin, exhorting, counseling, reproving, as the occasion might demand; they became in every house a welcome guest, and many a weary heart and feeble hand was stayed by these simple hearted servants of the cross. Among the earliest names familiar to this vicinity were those of Adam and Aaron Payne, Stephen Beggs, William Royal and Isaac Scarrett. These were all of the Methodist church which established an early mission at the mouth of Fox River, in La Salle County. It was from this point that the Rev. Scarrett was brought to solemnize the first wedding within the present boundaries of Grundy County—that of James Galloway to Martha Matilda Stype, at the house of Mr. Isaac Hoge. The introduction of a considerable Irish element here brought with it the Catholic church and its earliest representative, Father Dupontaris, who was a worthy man and proved himself an efficient shepherd of a wayward flock. He was at any time ready to administer "extreme unction" or quell a riot, and did either with equal skill. The Mormons were also represented by their itinerants, but the people of Grundy did not seem to take kindly to their peculiar doctrines and gave them little encouragement. In the meantime, while the country part of the county was being molded and modified by these influences, the principal village was rapidly gaining an unenviable notoriety for its boisterous incivility and it required no little moral and physical courage for the first ministers to attempt to hold services in the old Court House. Several ministers were broken down by the rude participation of the audience in the proceedings of the meeting and left in disgust. The Rev. James Longhead, who founded the first Protestant church in the county, was attracted to Morris, principally by a missionary spirit. On his first entrance into town his vehicle was assailed by a huge foot-ball kicked into it by a boisterous crowd of men and boys who occupied the main street for their game, while ruder oaths from every side assailed his ears. It was the roughest town he had met on his travels from the East, and most in need of gospel influence. Thirty-five years of such influence have wrought great changes "this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Hand in hand with the church is found the school. The early library was made up of the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, the Columbian Orator and Webster's Speller. Out of these the members of the family too young for service in or out of doors drew mild draughts of mental exhilaration. Reading came by the devotion of odd moments from the mother's otherwise crowded life, and once in possession of this magic power, the trials and triumphs of Christian with the eloquence of the "Orator" proved both entertainment and instruction. There were very few private schools in the county before the establishment in this county of the "District Schools," about 1851. Since then there has been a rapid development of school facilities and Grundy County with the rest of the State may pride itself on the possession of educational advantages second to none. Additional Comments: HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY ILLINOIS; Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; Biographical Sketches; Portraits of some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc.; ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, Lakeside Building. 1882. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/grundy/history/1882/historyo/chapter446nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 45.4 Kb