Jasper County, IL - Early History

This file is a part of the complete text transcription of "Counties of 
Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois.", published in 1884 by F. A. 
Battey & Co. of Chicago. Pages 427 - 457

Scanning and OCR by Joy Fisher


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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT.

EARLY SETTLERS AND MODES OF LIFE.

	The pioneers of Jasper County came principally from Kentucky, with a 
number from Indiana, Ohio, and the far Eastern and Southern states. Most of 
these families were nurtured in the older settlements of the states, and had 
been trained in the stern school of experience to meet and conquer the 
difficulties of a new country. But the problem here, presented difficulties 
which required personal ingenuity, perseverance and courage, to successfully 
treat. The timber which skirted the margin of the numerous rivers, divided the 
country into timber land and prairie into almost equal divisions, offering to 
the superficial view the happiest combination for the frontier farmer.

	Every immigrant supplied his own means of reaching his destined home. The 
pioneer from Pennsylvania, Ohio and the Southern states, betrayed his nativity 
and prejudice in the schooner-shaped 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 housings of bear skin upon the names, the heavy 
trace chains and the ponderous double-tree and whiffletrees, the poor beasts 
seemed like humanity in a chain gang, or some terrible monsters which 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 horses. There was about 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 practicality of the maker in 
every part of it.

	The open country, where circumstances favored, was undoubtedly tar 
superior for farming to the timber land, but aside from the flies that infested 
that portion of the country and the general wet condition of the soil, the 
settlers imbued with the logical deductions of their earlier experiences, looked 
with distrust upon the prairie. The general impression was, that only the timber 
belts would ever be inhabited; the prairie swept by 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 Jasper County built more than a hundred yards 
from the timber.

	The necessity of the situation made the cabins similar in size, style and 
material. 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 building site, and willing neighbors for 
miles about invited to the raising. Rude as these structures were, it needed no 
little handicraft to erect 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 them at the ends, allowed 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 clapboards, which, riven by the froe from bolts of oak, were 
placed and held secure by "weight poles" held firm by pegs or stones. Then 
followed the sawing out of the doorway and windows, the chinking of the cracks 
with pieces of riven timber; the calking with a mixture of mud and chopped hay; 
the construction of floors and a door from puncheons, and the building of 
chimneys of "cat and clay." Hinges were supplied from rawhide or timber, 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 cropped even in 
the construction of their chimneys. Few of the early cabins were more than one-
story high, and the chimney placed on one side was constructed in the case of 
the Southerner or Indianian on the outside of his 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 rude fireplace 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 those who knew them. 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 unchanged. 
Curtains arranged about the beds suggested the retirement of sleeping 
apartments, while the cheerful blaze of the fireplace 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 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 border of the 
lowlands that form the site of most of the timber, exposed the early settlers at 
their most vulnerable point. During a considerable part of the year, the almost 
stagnant water of the sluggish streams filled the air with 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. 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 greater 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 settled 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 
times, 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." So long as the community gathered in 
Jasper County lacked easy communication, but little progress was made toward a 
higher civilization with its greater advantages and responsibilities. Indeed, 
not until the coming of railroads, which put the community somewhat nearer the 
level of the surrounding communities, did Jasper lose its early reputation of 
lawlessness and low standard in morals.

	EARLY TRAVEL AND EARLY ROADS.

	To one who has known nothing more difficult than to follow the plainly 
marked highways of later days, the discouragements of frontier traveling are 
incomprehensible. The alternations of timber and prairie were unmarked save by 
the trail of the hogs that led a winding and uncertain way to their favorite 
places of wallowing. The earliest thoroughfare was the Palestine and Vandalia 
road, which passed through the territory of Jasper County on the township line 
between townships number six and seven. This was the line on which it was laid 
out, but the method of establishing a road at that time left its course much 
plainer upon paper than upon the face of the country. For a time the temporary 
stakes and markings served the ingenuity and skill of the early teamster 
sufficient to bring him to his journey's end, but a little later all certain 
trace had disappeared. The character of the prairie sod and the lightness of the 
travel prevented the establishment of the usual wagon trail that one of to-day 
might expect, but there were other indices that were scarcely less sure, under 
favoring circumstances, to the pioneer. The concentrated travel had the effect 
of killing out the stemgrass, the place of which was soon occupied by a yellow 
blossomed, gummy, resinous weed of little height, and which thus served to mark 
the established trail. This trail, however, varied very considerably from the 
established route, each traveler, unchecked by fences or cultivated fields, 
marking out his own particular course along the general line. This guide, it 
will be observed, was an uncertain one even in a clear day to one accustomed to 
such experiences, but the frequent points of timber here furnished to the 
initiated never-failing landmarks which the settler learned to distinguish with 
the precision of a modern signboard. To strangers (and there were many such in a 
growing community) all this was not so intelligible, and once sure of a trail 
its various divisions and crossings were confusing and distracting to the last 
degree.

	Travel in the daytime, however, was not attended with great risks, but the 
swarms of "green-headed flies" which infested the prairie practically disbarred 
the traveler from using the larger part of the day in prosecuting his journey. 
The unfortunate animal exposed to their attack would be covered with these 
voracious insects from the drying of the dew in the morning until its fall in 
the evening, and such was the vigor and effectiveness of their attacks that no 
animal could sustain it long. Horses and cattle became frantic as when attacked 
by bees, and work and travel were practically suspended from 9 o'clock until 
dew-tall in the evening. The timber was free from these pests and the early 
trails led along its border, but even these trails were abandoned during the 
heat of the day. Traveling was consequently done principally at night, which 
gave rise to very serious experiences. Crossing the uncultivated prairie after 
dark was a very uncertain venture, even to the most expert. If the night was 
clear the stars were a reliable guide, and the pioneer became quite proficient 
in the simpler rudiments of astronomy. In a cloudy night and a snowy or foggy 
day their resources were less sure. A steady wind often proved the only guide. 
The traveler, getting his bearings, would note how the wind struck his nose, the 
right ear or the left, and then, keenly alive to these sensations, would so 
maintain his course as to keep the bearing of the wind always the same, and 
regardless of all other guides would generally reach his destination without 
difficulty. To do this required no little skill and a steady wind. If the latter 
changed gradually, the better the skill, the wider the traveler diverged from 
his proper course. Without these guides it was mere accident if a person 
succeeded in crossing even a small prairie.]

	An incident is related of a man, well acquainted with the prairie road, 
who set out from Saint Marie. The prairie was only seven miles long, and to make 
assurance doubly sure, proceeded on foot, leading his horse. In a short time he 
became bewildered, lost, and was forced to remain until the morning light gave 
him the guidance of familiar landmarks. The tendency is to move in a circle, and 
when once this is begun and observed by the traveler, the only resource is to 
camp in the most convenient place and manner, and thus wait for the morning. It 
was the custom of each family living in an isolated position, when one of its 
members was out from home, to keep a light so placed that it might be seen and 
recognized at a considerable distance. It was a frequent practice to elevate a 
lantern upon the top of a pole, supported beside the chimney. To be lost in the 
prairie or timber was an experience frequently attended with very serious 
results, and unfortunately were of frequent occurrence. One man attempted to 
reach Saint Marie from Newton. It was not considered a difficult or dangerous 
undertaking, but missing his way, he was discovered three days later, worn out 
with his exertions and nearly famished. Such experiences, to which every 
settlement could add its share, impressed the general community with the 
necessity for good roads, and yet such were the natural difficulties in the way 
that but little improvement could be effected before 1850.

	The great early thoroughfares lead from east to west, and in this region 
were the Palestine and Vandalia, Vincennes and Saint Louis, and the National or 
Cumberland road, leading in this region from Terre Haute to Saint Louis. The 
courses of these roads are now generally marked, for a greater or less length, 
by railroads. The "Palestine road," as it was early called, was the first 
constructed of the National thoroughfares, and was the only one in Jasper County 
at the time of its organization. On March 25, 1835, a petition was presented to 
the county board by sundry citizens, asking that a road be established "from the 
Lawrence County line, where the Shelbyville State road strikes said line, and 
from thence to Newton via James Jordan's on Fox River; thence to the Coles 
County line at or near the old crossing of Muddy Creek in a direction to 
Charleston." Wagon roads at this time were mapped out much upon the same 
principle as railroads are now-with strict reference to terminal points, 
connections, and surface of the route. The line projected connected the points 
of the judicial circuit, connected the principal parallel thoroughfares, and was 
subsequently varied to suit "the lay of the land." "Viewers" were appointed, and 
in the following June they made their report, locating this first road of the 
county. It is a curious record, and illustrates the simplicity of the early 
times, the alternations of prairie and timber, the location of many of the early 
settlers, and its transcription may not prove wholly uninteresting in these 
pages. The course led north across Lawrence County "to a stake marked 'C. L.'; 
thence to Jordan's, the west side of his dwelling house; thence in a straight 
line through prairie to three hickories at edge of prairie; thence to John 
Barnes' lane, through said lane, and thence northwest to the line of John 
Garwood's land in Township 6 north, Range 9 east, to the southwest corner of 
said land; thence north on a straight line to the south end of Van Buren Street 
in Newton; thence along said street to the public square; thence west with 
Jordan Street to L. W. Jordan's fence; thence north to the mouth of Jordan's 
lane; thence west along said lane to John Reynolds' house; thence northwest to a 
black oak at the edge of the prairie; thence to the schoolhouse, thence to the 
prairie in a north direction to a black oak; thence through prairie to a black 
oak and large hickory; thence to Abbott Lee's farm, through said farm in a north 
direction to a stake; thence to W. M. Richards,' between house and barn; thence 
north through Richards' farm, thence through prairie to two post oaks; thence 
through timber to Turkey Creek; thence to three post oaks at the east side of 
the point of Turkey Creek timber to four post oaks; thence through prairie to a 
black and post oak on a direct course north to Mint •Creek to a large white oak 
marked with a blaze and two notches; thence through timber to pin oak; thence to 
stakes to the west side of the north fork of Mint Creek to a small blazed oak; 
thence to the point of the post oak grove; thence to a stake at the last point 
of Mint Creek; thence on a north direction to the head of Marsh Creek; thence 
through prairie on a straight line to the last point of Marsh Creek; thence 
along the old trace to the Coles County line to a large oak stake marked on the 
south side-'J. C. line.' " From this description it would be difficult to locate 
the true line of road, but fortunately, later changes and surveys have modified 
and fixed its course in more definite terms.

	In June, 1836, a blazed road was laid out from Newton to Greenup; in 
December, a road from Newton to Effingham was projected; in December, 1839, from 
Bockman's mill west to the Vandalia road; and in September, 1844, from Newton to 
Saint Marie. By an act of the legislature, March 2, 1839, a road was established 
from Newton to John Deremiah's in Marion County, via Louisville, Clay County. 
This road was chopped out, graded and bridged in the course of that year and the 
following. The clearing was done in Jasper County at $17 per acre, the whole 
amounting to six and three quarters acres, H. Wade being the contractor. Other 
contractors on the various parts of the work were L. W. Jordan, J. I. Pullis, 
Silas Barnes, Benj. Harris, Sr., L. D. Wade, James Barnes and William M. 
Richards. The aggregate cost was a trifle less than $700. This large increase in 
traveling facilities, however, did not make the country an easy one to the 
teamster.

	FERRIES AND BRIDGES.

	The streams reaching out in every direction, in an early day, proved very 
embarrassing obstacles. Fords were to be found in certain times of the year, but 
for several months crossing1 them was very uncertain. The Embarrass River was 
the most important, and a ferry was established across it at Newton at a very 
early date, by Garwood. At certain times in the year teams could ford the river, 
and the business was of more convenience to the public than profit to the owner. 
It was abandoned and re-established from time to time, and continued until about 
1857. A ferry was established across the same river in 1848, near Saint Marie, 
which continued with an experience similar to the older ferry until about 1860. 
Another, across the stream "in the Dark Bend," continued until 1880. These 
ferries were maintained in the simplest fashion. A rope stretched from bank to 
bank provided the ferryman the means to pull his boat and cargo across the 
stream. The boat was a square-end flat-boat, large enough to receive horses and 
wagon. Business was never very brisk, and travelers were occasionally obliged, 
in the absence of the ferryman, to swim across the stream after the boat, and 
work their own passage. The tariff allowed at Newton and Saint Marie varied 
somewhat, but is as follows, the Newton rate being named first:- For four-horse 
team and wagon, 50 and 20 cents; for two horses and wagon, 37 1/2 and 15 cents; 
for pleasure carriage and one horse, 25 cents; for two horses, 40 cents; at 
Saint Marie the tariff was 25 cents for either; for man and horse, 10 cents, 
Saint Marie same; footman, 5 cents, both the same; neat cattle, per head, 5 and 
3 cents; hogs, sheep or goats, per head, 3 and 2 cents; loose horses and mules, 
5 cents per head at each place.

	Such exactions, while apparently necessary, became at length irksome and 
gave rise to repeated demands for bridges. On March 4, 1837, the legislature 
appropriated $300 toward building a bridge across the Embarrass River at Newton, 
but this was insufficient for the purpose, and the county was unable to raise 
the balance necessary to build it. The money was therefore loaned at 10 per cent 
interest until in June, 1844, the sum of interest and principal had reached 
$500. The money, however, had been used in building the brick court house, and 
the County Court, urged by the petition of citizens, and the consideration that 
unless used for the purpose for which it was appropriated the amount would draw 
interest at the expense of the county treasury, ordered a bridge built, and 
appropriated the $500. Beyond the levying a tax and creating a fund, the bridge 
got no nearer construction, as in the following December the virtuous resolution 
of the court was rescinded. So the matter lingered, never finally dismissed nor 
actually begun until March of 1857. At this time $4,000 was appropriated, the 
contract subsequently let to Brillhart & Gaddis for $4,400, and the bridge 
completed and accepted, at a cost of $4,450, in August, 1858. This was an open 
bridge. It finally fell down, and was rebuilt in 1861, the county assisting the 
township of Wade to the extent of $1,000.

	The bridge at Saint Marie was built in 1861, by J. D. Tripp, contractor, 
at a cost of about $3,500. This was built by the county; the Board of 
Supervisors were temporarily restrained from proceeding in this matter; the case 
was heard in the Circuit Court and dismissed, and in 1861 the county did for 
Saint Marie what it had done previous to township organization for Newton. These 
two covered wooden structures are the only considerable bridges in the county. 
There are some eight or ten bridges of some thirty feet in length over the 
smaller streams of the county, but on the whole the expense of bridges in the 
county may be said to be comparatively light.

	RAILROADS.

	Peoria, Decatur & Evansville--Until 1876, Newton was an inland village, 
and Jasper County subsidiary to Olney. The merchants found this their nearest 
shipping point, and wagoned their goods over fifteen or twenty miles of tedious 
road. From this point the mail was carried daily on horseback to Saint Marie and 
Newton, and the growth of these towns was absorbed by the prosperity of Olney. 
This state of things could not fail to arouse the dissatisfaction of business 
and observing men, but there were not wanting large numbers who, while desiring 
a railroad, demonstrated to their own satisfaction that the country could not 
support any more than then existed. The construction of the Illinois Central 
left the southeastern corner of the State unprovided for and at disadvantage in 
competition with the central portion, and there was an effort made for a 
competing line as early as 1855. About this time a line of road was projected 
from Mattoon to Grayville on the Wabash River. A company was organized under a 
charter granted February 6, 1857, and some effort was made to construct the 
proposed road, but up to the beginning of 1876 nothing had been accomplished. 
During this year matters revived, and thirty miles of road out of ninety-three 
proposed, was graded. The friends of the road had not been entirely idle in the 
meanwhile, but it was a large undertaking at that time, and many discouragements 
were met. Contractor after contractor undertook the construction and failed; the 
enterprise depended prinicipally upon local capitalists whose means hardly 
entitled them to the name, and the people were not easily persuaded of the 
advantages of such a road. The discussion had proceeded so far in 1866, that it 
was proposed to submit the question of taking $100,000 in stock of the road to 
the people at a general election, but it was discovered that the charter did not 
provide for this. In March, 1867, the charter was so amended as to provide for 
subscription to the road's capital stock by county courts. In 1866, $1,000 had 
been appropriated for the survey of the proposed route through Jasper County, 
and of this amount $722 was expended in this work. In the following December, in 
accordance with the amended charter, the proposition of subscribing $100,000 was 
again brought up, and in the spring of 1868 affirmed by the people. The money 
thus voted, however, was to be expended only on the construction of the road 
within the county, and the bonds to be issued as the work progressed. The first 
spike was driven on the Indiana division in 1871, but the work languished hero 
until 1876. In the early part of this year the road was finally located through 
Newton, and late one Tuesday afternoon the work began here. Chas. Wakefield 
broke the first furrow for the grade, Fuller Nigh was the first to shovel the 
dirt into a wheelbarrow, "Uncle Bob" Leach had the honor of dumping the dirt on 
the road-bed, and I. M. Shup made first payment on the work done. The payment 
was made in coin, and consisted of a silver three-cent piece which it was 
jocosely said he had carried since the Mexican war; and everybody helped to 
drink the keg of beer which was furnished for the occasion. The revival of the 
work in this year brought the road into Newton, and for a time this place 
constituted the northern terminus, with round-house and turn-table. In 1878, the 
road reached Mattoon, and about the same time Grayville.

	It was a part of the original design to find an outlet through Indiana, 
and the Mount Vernon and Grayville Company was organized. In March, 1872, the 
two companies were consolidated under the name of the Chicago & Illinois 
Southern Railroad Company. The Decatur, Sullivan and Mattoon Company had been 
organized under a charter granted in 1871, and was consolidated with the other 
two roads in 1872. On May 5, 1876, these consolidations were dissolved by order 
of the United States Court for the Southern District of Illinois. This left the 
Grayville & Mattoon with thirty miles of grade and without any through 
connection.

	The Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur Railway Company was organized under a charter 
granted in 1870, and the road opened from Pekin to Decatur, 67.9 miles, in 
November, 1871, by its original owners. In the following year it was leased to 
the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railway Company, by which it was operated until 
August, 1876, when it was sold under foreclosure sale. The road was subsequently 
extended from Pekin to Peoria, a distance of 9.2 miles, and opened for traffic 
March, 1878. This road then purchased the Decatur, Sullivan & Mattoon and then 
the Grayville & Mattoon, the first train from Newton arriving in Mattoon on July 
4 of that year. This road re-organized in 1880, under the name of the Peoria, 
Decatur & Evansville Railway Company, then possessed the property and franchise 
of the four corporations. The Mount Vernon & Grayville road existed only on 
paper. The subscription of Mount Vernon had been diverted to the building of a 
new court house, and the five miles of road which had been constructed had been 
abandoned. Under the new organization new life was infused into the whole line. 
New bridges were constructed, new depots built; those parts of the grade 
shabbily built were re-built, and the Evansville division pushed and completed 
to its new terminus.

	The experience of the people of Jasper County in securing this line of 
railroad was not such as to encourage them in building others. The work was 
prosecuted under the most discouraging circumstances, and those who were 
concerned with its construction labored without the hope of reward. To this 
experience was added the pang of ingratitude on the part of the road. The usual 
ordinances were passed to maintain a passage for vehicles along highways 
crossing the track, which, after repeated violation, were enforced, and the 
company forced to pay some $600 as fines. This enraged the management of the 
road and Newton was dropped as a station. The depot was closed, the telegraph 
facilities removed and neither freight nor passengers were taken or left at the 
town. A spirited legal struggle was maintained, and the company, after a week or 
two of annoyance, forced to yield. Subsequently the company achieved a victory 
in another contest over the payment of the bonds subscribed. An abbreviated 
statement of the case is as follows, taken from the decision of the United 
States Supreme Court:

	"The Grayville & Mattoon Railroad Company was incorporated February 6, 
1857, and on the first of March, 1867, its charter was amended so as to allow 
counties to subscribe to the stock and issue bonds in payment, if a majority of 
the voters of the county, at an election called by the County Court, should vote 
in favor of such a subscription. The county of Jasper, through which the road of 
the company ran, was under township organization, and its Board of Supervisors 
called upon the voters of the county to vote at an election to be held on the 
seventh of April, 1868, whether or not a subscription of $100,000 should be made 
to the stock of the company by the county, payable in bonds of the county, to be 
issued as the work progressed, one-sixth of which were to fall due annually from 
the time they were put out. The election was held and resulted in a majority in 
favor of the subscription. At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, January 
23,1863, the chairman was authorized to subscribe the stock as soon as it might 
legally be done. An act of the general assembly of the State, approved March 
27,1869 (Acts of 1869, vol. 3, p. 360) relating .to this company, and to votes 
which had been taken for subscriptions to its stock, contained the following as 
section 3:

	"That all elections held for the purpose of voting said stock, and the 
manner in which said stock was voted, are hereby legalized in all respects, and 
the stock to be subscribed in the manner the same was voted."

	On the authority of these several acts and this election, the Board of 
Supervisors issued one hundred bonds of $1,000 each.

	The bonds fell due, some in 1877 and others in each year thereafter, until 
and including the year 1883. It nowhere appears when the bonds were put in the 
hands of the Trustee, but none of them bore date prior to October 19, 1876.

	At all the times when these several things were done there was in the 
county of Jasper a County Court as well as a Board of Supervisors.
	* * * *

	Under authority of an act of the legislature, passed April 14, 1875, the 
Board of Supervisors called an election of the voters of the county, to be held 
on the third day of April, 1877, for the purpose of voting for or against 
funding the "bonds issued to the Grayville & Mattoon Railroad Company for the 
sum of $100,000, drawing ten per cent interest: said hundred bonds to be due in 
twenty years, and payable at the option of the county in ten years; said bonds 
to be payable semi-annually at the treasurer's office in Jasper County." At this 
election a majority of the voters were found to be in favor of the measure. 
Afterwards funding bonds were issued in exchange for old bonds.

	* ******** * *

	After these bonds were put out the indebtedness of the county, exceeded 
somewhat five per centum of the value of the taxable property ascertained by the 
last preceding assessment. The plaintiff below, and defendant in error here, 
being the owner of coupons cut from some of the funded bonds falling due in May 
and November, 1878 and 1879, which were unpaid, brought this suit to recover 
them. He was the holder and in possession of a part or the whole of the original 
bonds when the funding took place, and took the funding bonds in exchange for 
such of the original bonds as he then held.

	Upon this state of facts the court below gave judgment against the county. 
The case is now here by writ of error, and the single question is presented, 
whether the county made out a valid defense to the coupons sued on. In our 
opinion the county is estopped from setting up the alleged invalidity of the 
original bonds as a defense in this action. It is true the funding law only 
authorized the funding of "binding and subsisting legal obligations," "properly 
authorized by law," but no new bonds could be issued in lieu of old ones except 
on a vote of the people. All outstanding bonds were not to be taken up in this 
way, but only such as were recognized by the people, acting together in their 
political capacity at an election for that purpose, as binding and subsisting 
legal obligations. After such a recognition the corporate authorities could make 
the exchanges, but not before.

	The law under which the original bonds were put out was sufficient. No 
complaint is made of any illegality in its provisions. The only objection is 
that there was a mistake in carrying it into execution. The election was called 
by the wrong corporate agency. The County Court should have brought the people 
together and not the Board of Supervisors. This, if there had been nothing more, 
would, under the rulings of the highest court of the State, made long before the 
vote was taken, render the bonds invalid, (Schuyler Co. vs. People, 25 Ill., 
185.) It was for this reason undoubtedly that the Board of Supervisors, at their 
meeting at the election, authorized the subscription to be made and the bonds 
delivered in payment as soon as it might lawfully be done, and that the act to 
legalize the election was passed in 1869. * * *

	As was very properly said below by the learned Circuit Judge, "there must 
be an end of these contests and defenses some time or other." There must be a 
time when the people in their political capacity are concluded by their 
contracts as much as individuals, and we think that where the people of a 
county, at an election held according to law, authorize their corporate or 
political representatives to treat certain outstanding county obligations as 
"properly authorized by law " for the purpose of negotiating a settlement with 
the holders, and the settlement which was contemplated has been made, all 
contests as to the validity of the obligations must be considered as ended. * * 
*

	When, therefore, the people were called on to vote whether the old bonds 
should be funded, the facts they had to consider were these: A valid law 
authorizing the subscription and an issue of the bonds had been passed. The 
people at an election which had been irregularly called had voted to make 
subscription and issue bonds bearing ten per cent interest, and all payable 
within six years. An act had been passed to legalize the election, and under it 
the subscription which had been voted was made and bonds such as were 
contemplated had been issued and were then outstanding in the hands of various 
parties. Whether these bonds were valid was, so far as any direct decisions were 
concerned, an open question, and certainly not free from doubt. Under these 
circumstances the question was directly put to the people of the county, in a 
manner authorized by law, whether they would recognize these bonds as "binding 
and subsisting legal obligations" and issue in lieu of them other bonds having 
twenty years to run and bearing seven per cent interest, instead of ten, and 
they by their votes said they would. There is no complaint of any illegality in 
this election or of fraud or imposition. So far as the record shows, the 
proposition to fund went from the county authorities to the bondholders, and not 
from the bondholders to the county. The facts were as well known to one party as 
the other. If the people intend to rely on their defenses to the old bonds, then 
was the time for them to speak and by their vote say they would not recognize 
them as being obligations. By voting the other way they, in effect, accepted 
them as legal and subsisting for the purpose of the proposed extension of time 
at reduced interest, and said to the holders if their proposition was accepted 
no question of illegality would be raised. Their offer having been accepted they 
are now estopped from insisting upon an irregularity which they have by their 
votes voluntarily waived, with a full knowledge of the facts.

	Danville, Olney & Ohio River.-This company was organized under a charter 
granted March 10, 1869, and proposed to construct a road from the north bank of 
the Ohio Eiver, in Massac County, Illinois, "thence northwardly to the city of 
Chicago, or such place from which an entrance may be effected, by construction 
or connection, and the line of railway to be located on such survey as may come 
within the range and purview of the charter of the company, about 340 miles." 
Considerable stock was subscribed to this enterprise along its route. The 
townships of Grandville, Willow Hill and Saint Marie, each voted $30,000, but 
the construction was delayed, and June 30, 1876, there was but eight miles 
graded. In June, 1878, this eight miles of road, from Kansas to Westfield, was 
put in operation and the construction of the balance of the road languidly 
pushed. The work was subsequently revived, and in 1881, the line was completed 
to Olney, which is the present terminus of the road. Grandville successfully 
resisted her subscription on the ground that the company did not comply with 
conditions on which the subscription was made. Willow Hill and Saint Marie would 
probably have been equally successful, but they did not contest the question. 
This road was originally built with narrow-gauge, but in 1882, when the company 
had fifty-seven miles in operation, changed the gauge, and extended it to Olney.

	Indiana and Illinois Southern.-The "Narrow Gauge," as it is popularly 
known, is the result of twenty years' agitation. A charter was obtained about 
1857, for a road to be called the Springfield, Effingham and Southeastern. The 
movement got little beyond the securing a charter until 1881, when under the 
auspices of this organization the "Narrow Gauge" came to Newton. As projected, 
the line of road was to extend from Effingham, Illinois, to Hamilton, Ohio. The 
Illinois division extended from Effingham, Ill., to Sullivan, Ind., a distance 
of seventy miles; the Sullivan division, extended eastward through Indiana to 
the Ohio line, 165 miles, making a total of 235 miles. The projected line passed 
through the following counties in the State: Owen, Greene, Brown, Monroe, 
Bartholomew, Decatur, Ripley and Dearborn, with the intention of pushing it 
forward to Hamilton, Ohio. In November, 1882, the Indiana and Illinois Southern 
Railway Company was organized "to construct a railway and acquire the 
Springfield, Effingham and Southeastern Railway." The plan of this company was 
to extend the road westward in Shelby County to a point on the Pittsburgh, 
Chicago and Saint Louis Road, and eastward to combine with the Bloomington road. 
This new company was formed of Boston capitalists, and the road was sold to them 
by the Receiver, but the court refused to confirm the sale in order to protect 
the rights of the creditors of the road. It was subsequently sold to __ Sturgis 
et al, of the construction company and has since fallen into the hands of J. B. 
Lyon, of Chicago. The eastern terminus is Swiss City, Ind., and while there have 
been rumors of its extension to Cincinnati and Saint Louis, there are no 
tangible evidences of such extension. A train each way on each of the two 
divisions suffice for the traffic of the road, and while it proves a convenience 
for certain isolated villages, it is on the whole an aggravated disappointment.

	Terre Haute & Southwestern.-Of late years Newton seems to be the center of 
the railroad cyclone. Scarcely a season passes without the regular charter, 
preliminary survey, and general felicitation upon the prospect of the railroad 
which is to bring metropolitan greatness to the quiet village of Newton. Of 
these transitory excitements, the T. H. & S. W. promises to be more permanent in 
its results. This road was originally chartered as the Terre Haute and Iron 
Mountain Railway, and in 1880, after lying dormant for years, the project was 
revived. The Times gives its history as follows: "This road was surveyed, 
subsidies were voted to it, and some work done towards Terre Haute, about eight 
years ago, since which time it has peacefully slumbered until recently, when it 
was again revived in Terre Haute, and a new surveying corps sent out. The old 
survey line made Newton a point, passing on down through our county in a 
southwest direction to Ingraham, Clay County, and to Flora, thence on to 
Chester, opposite Cape Girardeau, Mo., where it connected with the Iron Mountain 
road. Newton is on a direct line from Terre Haute to Chester, but since the 
revivication of the road meetings have been held and committees appointed to 
wait on the authorities at Terre Haute, both in Robinson and Olney. Therefore, 
it was thought necessary for our people to hold a meeting and appoint a 
committee to wait upon the moving forces at Terre Haute, laying before them our 
inducements, and also learning what would be expected of us, else we might as a 
county and town be cheated out of a most valuable railroad line that properly 
belongs to us by virtue of our location, by our own lethargy and the enterprise 
of our neighbors."

	The projected road is still occupying a good deal of public attention, and 
under date of June 18,1883, a letter from one of those interested in the 
project, gives the following: "We located a line from Oblong to Annapolis, which 
is straight, and the finest line you ever saw. We are assured of the right of 
way and money to make the survey and set the county to work. There is a splendid 
coal bank on the line of the road; shaft sunk and coal being taken out. The vein 
is four feet thick, and choice coal only forty feet deep. We also strike the 
finest stone quarry in southern Illinois, both lime and sandstone. The stone and 
coal on this line alone will pay to build the road, besides being through the 
finest agricultural country in southern Illinois. The people along the line will 
render the necessary aid, and I see nothing in the way of building the road at 
once."

	Toledo, Texas & Rio Grande--This road is projected north from Cairo, Ill., 
passing near Kansas, in Edgar County, will continue north to intersect with the 
Toledo, Chicago and Saint Louis system of narrow-gauge roads. This road will 
pass through Newton, the line of track according to the present survey, crossing 
the line of the P., D. & E. and the "Narrow Gauge" near their point of 
intersection.

	PRESS AND POLITICS.

	Among the prominent indications of a community's advancement none affords 
a better opportunity to accurately measure the true value of the social progress 
as the newspaper. In the county communities of this land, the establishment of 
the newspaper, sooner or later, is inevitable. The enterprising spirit which 
leads to commercial advertising, leads the American to do the same thing for his 
native or adopted village, and the establishment of the press often bespeaks 
more approval for his public spirit than for his judgment. The moving influence 
which brought the first newspaper to Jasper County is not easily discovered. It 
is probable that the idea was suggested, not so much by the demand of the people 
or the necessity of the village, as by the peculiar situation of the first 
editor.

	The early settlers came here provided with a political faith and a stock 
of political prejudices, but as the first importation came principally from one 
section of the Union, there was a general unanimity in political sentiment for a 
time. Immigration from other portions of the country succeeded and brought in 
other political ideas. From the first, the adherents of the Democratic 
organization were in the majority. In fact, so large was this majority that 
there was little or no organized opposition in county matters. The year 1860 
found the two parties then opposed in general politics, still represented here, 
but in more evenly balanced rivalry. The extremists of both parties had 
sympathizers in the county, and the electioneering indulged in was more deeply 
tinged with the colors of national questions. In 1872, during the partial 
demoralization of the dominant party, the Republicans elected William Carter as 
County Judge, in 1872, and his successor, R. B. Moffet, in 1876. At this time 
the "Grange Movement" was the disturbing element, and the County Treasurer, D. 
P. Smith, was elected by the "farmer" combination. He was elected his own 
successor as a personal vindication against wanton aspersions upon the honesty 
of his administration. Personal popularity has again elected him, though a 
Republican, when the general ticket was carried by the opposition. The politics 
of the county is unusually characterized by its provincial scope, and the 
balance of power is so placed as to make the best man generally successful. The 
present County Clerk, a member of the dominant party, is elected without 
opposition upon a unanimous primary nomination. The Democratic party leaders 
count upon a reliable majority of about 500 in their favor, though the evidences 
seem to show a growing Republican strength, and the majority is such as to be 
available, in most cases, only for the best fitted candidate.

	The first newspaper was Democratic in its political affiliation, and was 
established in 1856. George E. Hoar was a lawyer by profession but incapacitated 
in later years for the practice of his profession by paralysis. It is probable 
that the success or the prospect of success-it is uncertain whether the paper 
was established before or after, Buchanan's election-of the Democratic 
Presidential candidate, promised to make a journalistic venture here a 
profitable undertaking. The county then resorted to Greenup, Marshall or 
Robinson, for the necessary publication of legal notices and the field was 
clear. Mr. Hoar bought his press and material in Cincinnati and placed before 
the people the Enquirer. The paper ran a short career. The proprietor found 
difficulty in meeting the paper he negotiated for his office material, and 
becoming still further incapacitated for business by paralysis, the paper was 
bought in 1858, and Mehaffey & Odell became proprietors. Under their 
administration the name of the paper was changed to the Jasper County Democrat. 
There may be something in a name, but this change did not bring prosperity, and 
about 1862, the material, editors and good will of the office, were transferred 
to Paris. The weight of its influence was never more effective than upon this 
journey. Six yoke of oxen attached to a heavy wagon, transported the press and 
material, while the editors with their families took passage behind a team of 
horses. Shortly after leaving the town the road became a bottomless bog, and it 
was not until the next day that the ox team relieved of part of its load, came 
into Effingham, the bare-legged young teamsters scarred and bruised by the thin 
ice that covered the road, and the poor beasts worn out and dispirited with the 
heavy progress of civilization as indicated by the press. Mehaffey & Odell were 
pronounced in their political views, and in a few months found themselves in the 
hands of the "minions of the law," for utterances that were less acceptable to 
the Parisians than to the people of Jasper.

	In the meanwhile the Plain Dealer was established, the first issue 
appearing on the first Saturday of February, 1858. It is difficult to learn from 
the numbers extant what its political faith was. It was probably termed by its 
founder, J. H. Graham, an independent democratic journal. It was certainly less 
pronounced in the expression of its sentiments, and the number of legal notices 
published forbids the idea of its being Republican in sentiment. Its life, 
however, was brief, and was succeeded by the Democratic Watchman. This was 
substantially the same office and paper and continued with varying fortunes 
until 1865, when Dr. T. H. Walker bought the business and material, engaging a 
Mr. Spears as editor. The latter subsequently became a partner. The business did 
not prosper, more from a lack of proper management than from any inherent 
necessity, and the paper which had been changed to the Newton Weekly Press, was 
purchased by Mr. Stotler for his son. James Stotler had come into the office as 
a typo, and rapidly rising, became the editor. After about four months' 
experience his sudden death left the paper upon the hands of the elder Stotler. 
A. N. Walker, aided by his father, bought the paper for $300, and at once 
assumed the editorial function. Walker was a typo in the office when first owned 
by his father, and occasionally ventured on an item of his own selection. One 
day he ventured to insert an item reflecting upon persons who had just left the 
village. This was not discovered until the edition was all printed and the; city 
mail delivered, but it is never too late to mend, and young Walker was required 
to go from one subscriber to another, shears in hand, and cut out the offensive 
item.

	On Wednesday, May 24, 1882, he announced the sale of the paper and made 
the following review of his editorial career: "Nearly eighteen years ago, when a 
mere boy we assumed the editorial management and control of the Newton Weekly 
Press, under straitened circumstances-without money, knowledge or experience, 
with but few friends, and with prospects, I dare say, which were anything but 
encouraging. Our father loaned us $300 with which, we 'drove' what eventually 
proved to be a good deal, in the purchase of the old material on which the paper 
was then printed; and with this pecuniary assistance he bade us seek our own 
way, and we accepted the situation as the only alternative. There has been 
wonderful changes since that memorable day, and we shall not attempt to recall 
them. Suffice it to say that many friends who then rallied to our standard and 
met us with kind words of cheer, have gone hence to return no more, and among 
that long list of names was that of James Foltz. It was of him we obtained a 
loan of $5 with which to purchase our first bundle of paper, and which sum we 
repaid in one dollar weekly installments." The reason for the sale is stated as 
follows: "First, we have hundreds of dollars due us in accounts and otherwise, 
and feel that it is a duty we owe ourself and family to close the books for 
settlement. Second, we were offered what we consider a handsome price for the 
same, and believe that we can better our condition financially." The sale was 
made to John H. Shup, who associated with himself F. L. Shup, as editor. 
Subsequently the editor became part proprietor and John sold his remaining 
interest to Isaac Shup, and the business is now carried on under the firm name 
of Shup & Shup. The paper is an eight column folio, and uses the auxiliary 
print. It is devoted to the interests of the Democratic party, and is 
characterized by a vigorous support of its principles.

	The first Republican newspaper came to Newton about 1859 or 1860. It came 
about the time when the forecasting shadows of political events began to outline 
in vague figures the culminations of old time antagonisms. It was rather in 
anticipation of the demand that the Western Star was established in Newton, by 
R. A. Conner and T. H. B. Bridges. At the breaking out of "the war" the 
proprietors entered the army, and the paper became the property of Fraud and 
Sidney Wade. By the new proprietors the establishment was moved to Marshall, 
Clark Co., Ill., very soon after the purchase. In December, 1866, S. P. Conner, 
who had been one of the attaches of the Star office, returned to Newton and 
issued the first number of the Jasper Union. The times seemed favorable for such 
a venture here, but the isolated condition of the county and lack of necessary 
qualities in the man proved the effort vain. The office was subsequently sold to 
John W. Welcher, who removed the office to Olney. After the failure of two 
Republican organs, a third was established in 1874, by E. B. Gorrell. It was 
established rather as a "grange" paper, called the Clipper, and sailed into 
public favor upon the political tide that brought D. P. Smith to the county 
treasury. In 1876 the paper was leased to Henry Gregory, who conducted its 
publication for a year. At the expiration of this term Gorrell resumed its 
management, changing the name to the Jasper County Times. In April, 1882, the 
firm was changed by the addition of Mr. Bell, and in June, 1883, the firm was 
again changed by the retirement of Mr. Gorrell to Bell and Heep. The paper was 
originally a seven column folio; it was temporarily increased to eight columns 
under the administration of Gregory, but was reduced to its original size by 
Gorrell. This continued the size of the paper until January, 1883, when it was 
enlarged to a five column folio. June 13, 1883, the Times contained the 
following retrospection:

	"With this issue we begin the tenth volume of the Times. Nine years ago, 
shortly after a hot contest in which Daniel P. Smith was first elected Treasurer 
of this county, Mr. E. B. Gorrell had a press, a couple of hundred pounds of 
type and two printer's stands hauled in wagons across the country from 
Effingham, and setting the same up in the second story of the building now 
occupied by Hynes & Hall's planing mill, on Jordan Street, commenced the 
publication of this paper.	* * * Such a thing as getting a column of local 
advertising at that time in Newton was an absolute impossibility. The people 
here, however, lived and enjoyed themselves, and the Times, then called the 
Clipper, lived, and by incessant, honest, continued effort, lived to prosper. * 
* * During the nine years this paper has been a part of Jasper County-it has 
assisted in every possible way in our present general prosperity-it has dealt 
some hard blows, and let us say, successful ones, too, for better county 
government, and as the representative and medium of the Republican party in this 
county, it has made a record that no newspaper in Jasper can but feel justly 
proud of. It will be our effort in the future to keep the Times in the front 
where it has always been, in working for the prosperity of our town and county, 
and in the advancement of the principles of the Republican party, and we trust 
we shall merit the continued support of its many friends."

	In 1882, Charles M. Davis came from McLean County to investigate this 
point as a site for newspaper work. He found the papers here doing a quiet, 
prosperous business, and determined to establish himself in Newton. On November 
3, he issued the first number of the Newton Mentor. In this number the editor 
outlines the principles of the publication as follows:

	"What we have to say by way of an introduction for our paper may be said 
in a few words. It will be newsy, giving especial attention to what transpires 
in Newton and Jasper County, and a brief summary of the news of the State, 
nation and world at large. Our facilities for securing the news of the county 
are unsurpassed, as we have secured the services of able correspondents in every 
township, village and neighborhood in the county to write us the happenings and 
represent our paper in their respective communities.

	"We shall aim to publish an independent paper. Having no axes to grind nor 
hobbies to ride, the Mentor is not intended to be the vehicle of any peculiar 
ideas. As a rule, its politics will be nonpartisan as its religion will be non-
sectarian. In local affairs it will labor for the election to office of the most 
honest and capable candidates without regard to their party affiliations. It 
will oppose 'rings,' 'cliques,' 'the machine,' and all combinations that by 
means of trickery subvert the will of the many in order to further the private 
interests of the few. As the farmers and laboring class are the great wealth-
producers of the nation we hold their interests to be of paramount importance 
and shall favor such legislation, both State and national, as shall conduce to 
their prosperity. The condition of affairs that makes it possible for colossal 
monopolies to be created, controlling millions of money and wielding absolute 
power over the price of the products of the country and to regulate rates of 
transportation in their interests and to the detriment of the producers, is 
radically wrong and should be changed." The paper is a six column quarto with 
auxiliary print, and has secured a good circulation.

	THE CHURCH.

	Enough has been written in the foregoing pages to give good grounds for 
the inference that the early settlers of Jasper County, as a whole, were not 
inclined to build churches nor to encourage the preaching of the Gospel. This 
feature of the early settlement was an unfortunate circumstance, and acted 
unfavorably for the rapid growth of the great civilizing power of the church.

	The first church influence established within the limits of the county was 
that of the Catholic Communion, at Saint Marie. The colony planted here by 
Joseph Picquet was made up of devout members of this church. The first priest 
who ministered here was Father Badin, the first priest ordained in the United 
States. He had been a missionary in Kentucky and was intimately acquainted with 
Boone, and had served in his community. Soon after the founding of the Colonie 
des Freters, Father Badin was appointed by the Bishop of Vincennes to minister 
to the spiritual wants of this little frontier settlement. The priest was not 
settled here at first, but at stated intervals Mr. Picquet drove to Vincennes to 
bring him to Saint Marie, and in the same way returned him to the city. A little 
later the colony was organized into a regular congregation, and about 1840 
regular services were held here. About 1849 or 1850, the brick church, which 
still serves as a place of worship, was erected. This is a good brick edifice, 
35x80 feet, surmounted by a wooden steeple, and was built at a cost of about 
$3,500. This church influence dominates the entire community of the village, and 
has established a school under the charge of an order of sisters. From this 
point the influence of the church has extended, establishing a church at a point 
a little northeast of Newton, called Saint Peter's Church, about 1848. Joseph 
Shedioner donated ten acres, on which a log church was at first erected. This 
has given way to a large, frame building, located upon the original spot of the 
first structure. Father Fisher was the first priest, and John Schackmann, W. 
Michaels and Valentine Dorn were among the earliest members. The church has been 
discontinued as an independent charge, and is now connected with the Saint 
Thomas Church, at Newton, and now numbers some thirty families in its 
congregation. The church at the latter place had its beginning early, but did 
not have a regular place of worship until 1850, when the small, modern edifice 
which still serves as a schoolhouse, was erected. In 1880, a fine, brick edifice 
was projected, which was finally completed by the addition of a fine steeple, in 
1883. The entire cost of this structure was about $7,000, and is the finest 
church edifice in the county. A school for children is maintained by the sisters 
of Saint Joseph, for whose residence a fine brick building is now in course of 
construction opposite the new church building. A church of this sect exists at 
Island Grove, with a congregation of some ten or fifteen families, and is served 
by the Franciscan Fathers, of Tentopolis.

	At Newton, church services were held in the court house by itinerant 
ministers who came here as missionaries or on the invitation of members of the 
various denominations who lived here. The Methodists were here early and had an 
organization earlier than any other, save the Catholic, church in the county. 
Daniel Doty was an early preacher of the Baptist denomination, and an early 
settler in the eastern part of the county. He was eccentric in his manner, 
rather illiterate, but master of a rude, effective oratory that commanded the 
respect of even the more educated. He was a frequent preacher in the court 
house, and was supported largely by those who were not members of any church. 
These denominations are both well represented in the county at present. The 
Methodist Episcopal Church have places of worship in the Kibler neighborhood, at 
Pleasant Ridge, Rose Hill, Yale, at West Liberty and Newton. The latter is the 
older organization; has a neat, framed church building, and a strong, thriving 
membership. Besides the organizations represented by these church buildings, the 
Methodist Church has several appointments about the county in various 
schoolhouses. A Missionary Baptist Church was organized in Willow Hill Township 
April 15, 1858. Among the original members were James and Sarah McConnell, James 
and Nerlinda Hopper, James and Elizabeth Stewart, W. C. and L. A. Wilson, Jessie 
and Sevina Brown, Nancy Miller, W. F. Christie and others. A place of worship 
was begun before the war, but it was never finished. Their present structure was 
erected in 1875. The church numbers about sixty members. There is another 
organization of this denomination in North Muddy. The United Brethren in Christ 
have a church in Crooked Creek Township, which was organized in 1838, with ten 
members. No regular place of worship was built, however, until 1881. It numbers 
some sixty persons in its membership. The Christian Church has several 
organizations in the county; the Universalists have one at Rose Hill; the 
"Church of Christ" at the northern boundary of Wade Township; the Quakers or 
Society of Friends in Fox Township; and the Presbyterian Church at Newton. With 
the exceptions noted, the church influence was established in Jasper County 
about 1850. Itinerants and chance preachers held services earlier, and some more 
or less permanent organizations were formed here a few years earlier, but these 
met not only indifference but active opposition from a considerable number. The 
change has been gradual but effective, and while the county does not appear as 
favorably in church statistics as some others, the improvement in this respect 
is rapidly progressing, and as the farming community becomes more wealthy, more 
and finer edifices will be erected.

	THE SCHOOLS.

	The basis of the school system in Illinois is the Act of Congress donating 
a section in each Congressional township for the support of free public schools. 
The ordinance of 1787 declared knowledge, in connection with religion and 
morality, "to be necessary to the good government and happiness of mankind," and 
enjoined that "schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged." 
Accordingly, Congress, in the Enabling Act for this State, April 18, 1818, 
appropriated three per cent of the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands 
lying within her limits, for the encouragement of learning, one-sixteenth part 
thereof to be exclusively bestowed on a college or university. Two townships, 
one then and one sometime prior, were also donated for founding and maintaining 
a seminary of learning. The proceeds of the 3-per-cent fund and the sales of the 
seminary lands were blended in 1835, and borrowed by the State at 6 per cent, 
the interest to be annually distributed for school purposes. In 1845, the 
receipts of the proceeds of the 3-per-cent school fund were suspended for a 
time, owing to the embarrassed-condition of the finances. This State, like many 
others, had stopped paying interest on her public debt, and Congress, by 
resolution, ordered the 3-per-cent fund to be withheld from them and applied 
toward the payment of interest on bonds held in trust by the General Government. 
The free school system entered upon in 1855, however, marks the initial movement 
toward the present effective system of the State. The right of the State to 
maintain such a system is founded upon the fact that when ignorance 
predominates, vice and crime are its inseparable accompaniments, and that by 
education the masses will be elevated, society benefited, offenses lessened and 
good government promoted.

	Under the present law there are four territorial divisions, the State, the 
county, the township and the district, the latter only being of variable extent. 
The township is identical with the Congressional township established by the 
Government surveys. The "district" is a term of variable meaning as to 
territorial extent, conveying in itself no definite idea of the amount of land 
embraced in its limits. It is in area just what the Township Trustees see fit to 
make it. The officer for the State is a State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, who has charge of the whole system, with the necessary executive 
powers. For the county there is a County Superintendent of Schools who is 
invested with the general supervision of schools and school business of the 
county; he examines and licenses teachers, and is a strong power in molding the 
character of the public schools. For the township, a board of three trustees are 
elected, who have special charge of establishing and changing school districts, 
and the apportionment of the school fund. In the district a board of three 
directors are elected, who employ and pay all teachers; provide and furnish all 
schoolhouses and grounds; levy such taxes as may be necessary to support the 
schools and defray incidental expenses, and attend generally to all school 
business for their district.

	The permanent funds for the support of the schools are derived, besides 
the 3-per-cent fund above mentioned, from the Surplus Revenue Fund, which was 
received by the State from the General Government under President Jackson's 
administration. This was the balance in the National treasury after the 
extinction of the National debt, the share of Illinois amounting to $335,592.32; 
the Seminary Fund, arising from the sale of the seminary lands, amounting to 
$59,838.72; the County Fund, being the surplus of the State Fund divided among 
the counties under the act of February 7, 1835, but since repealed, amounting to 
$309,899; the Township Fund, being the net proceeds of the sale of the one-
sixteenth, or school section in each township, amounting to something over 
$4,000,000; the State Tax Fund, arising from a levy of two mills on every 
dollar's valuation of taxable property in the State, producing over a million 
dollars per annum; District Tax Fund, arising from a special local tax in the 
respective districts of the State, which reaches a varying sum, between five and 
six millions; and from fines and forfeitures, collected by Justices of the 
Peace, et. al., and amounts to a varying sum from nine to fifteen thousand 
dollars. The total amount of these funds reaches an amount of upwards of ten 
millions of dollars annually.

	The school interests of Jasper County developed slowly, and it was not 
until 1876 that they began to take rank with those of the surrounding counties. 
The first district was established in March, 1838, and included Townships 6 and 
7 in Range 9, and included seventy-two square miles. The schoolhouse was then in 
Newton, and was used for school purposes, court and church. It was a little log 
building, and now, weather-boarded so as almost to lose its identity, serves as 
a marble cutter's shop. The early schools were of the subscription sort, where 
the children learned the rudiments of a pioneer education, aptly described in 
the "Hoosier Schoolmaster" as "lickin' and larnin'." As the county settled up, 
and communities began to form in various parts of the county, schools were 
maintained in each neighborhood until the free school system of the present gave 
freer access to the civilizing influence of education. In 1855, T. J. Martin was 
one of the directors in the Newton district. Up to this time a single-storied 
building had served the purposes of schoolroom, and even this was so dilapidated 
as to create apprehensions in regard to the safety of the children. Mr. Martin 
determined to secure a better building, and partly by his exertions and partly 
by his own money, a two-story frame schoolhouse was secured. This was considered 
by a majority of the patrons as a very extravagant project. It was confidently 
predicted that Newton would never have pupils enough to fill it, and when the 
directors went further and hired two lady teachers at $25 per month each, the 
indignant surprise of the community could be restrained no longer." The County 
Superintendent of that time remonstrated with them on such extravagance, 
pictured the bankruptcy that was sure to follow, and cited the fact that his 
wife, when a girl, worked for 75 cents and $1 a week. But it did not convince 
the directors of error, and the event proved that Martin and his backers were in 
the right way. In the fall of 1876, the present brick structure was erected at a 
cost of some $6,000; it has five departments, under the instruction of six 
teachers.

	However advantageous the school system may be, it requires an appreciative 
administration to achieve the highest results. This seems to have been lacking 
in Jasper County up to this date, and in September, 1876, the subject was 
thoroughly agitated through the county papers. One writer reviews the subject as 
follows: "Let us find out the causes why the schools of Jasper County are not in 
a better condition. The county was originally settled by emigration from a 
section where popular education was never favored. The county has never, until 
the election of the present incumbent, been blessed with a practical teacher for 
the office of County Superintendent. Our county-seat is without a high school, 
and when the heart is rotten, what can be expected of the members? We have over 
fifty-three teachers with a second-grade certificate, and thirteen with a first-
class. * * *

	" We observe in the report of the State Superintendent that the number of 
days designated by the County Boards in the State are from 25 to 200 days. Our 
Board allows the County Seperintendent sixty days. Jasper has 95 schools in 
operation, 134 teachers, 4,897 school children, no libraries, and in 1874, paid 
the sum of $16,276 to teachers. How can the County Superintendent perform his 
duties prescribed by law, when the days designated by the Board are 
insufficient? He must neglect his work, violate his oath of office, and become 
liable on his official bond. * * * The Supervisors have the power in their own 
hands to improve and cultivate, intellectually and morally, the character of our 
youth.

	"All other counties in the State donate from $50 to $100 for the Teachers' 
Institute, and when our Board can furnish money to the Agricultural Fair to 
improve mules and cattle, we can not see why it cannot follow the example of 
other Boards in the State. In the diligent visitation of the schools by the 
County Superintendent, lays the power to extinguish all second-grade 
certificates, and soon we shall find the competent teacher awakening the 
sympathy of the parents for our system of education, and without compulsion the 
children regularly attending the schools."

	Much has been done to improve this state of things in the county during 
the past seven years, but there is still room for improvement. The grade of the 
schools has been wonderfully improved; there are two graded schools, one at 
Newton and one at Saint Marie, but no high school in either place. From the 
reports of the County Superintendent, the following statistics are compiled:

                                                                 
                                                                            Year
                                                  1861           1864          1865           1866           1868         1869
Whole number of districts                           65             79            78             83             84           80
Whole  number of schoolhouses.                      50             54            63             74             74           71
Whole number of schoolhouses erected                 2              5             4             11              7            2
Average paid male teachers per month               $22         $23.19        $27.32
Average paid female teachers per month             $17         $17.04        $19.69
Whole amt. ex'd for school purposes             $9,373     $11,084.53    $12,442.17     $16,461.42     $19,276.07   $15,866.45
Whole number in attendance                       3,021          3,322         3,846          4,798          4,538       4,03_
Number of log schoolhouses
Number of frame schoolhouses
Number of brick schoolhouses
Value of school property

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                            Year    
                                                                 1870          1871           1872           1874         1880
Whole number of districts                                          85            85             95             94          100
Whole  number of schoolhouses.                                     81            83             85             86          101
Whole number of schoolhouses erected                                3             2              6              6            6
Average paid male teachers per month                                                                      $33.83
Average paid female teachers per month                                                                    $24.44
Whole amt. ex'd for school purposes                        $17,292.53    $18,509.79     $23,746.56     $25,200.00   $26,726.61
Whole number in attendance                                      3,894         1,975          3,732          4,949        4,449
Number of log schoolhouses                                         38                           28             24            8
Number of frame schoolhouses                                       42                           54             60           85
Number of brick schoolhouses                                        1                                                        8
Value of school property                                   $20,506.75                                                 43,266.60


	In 1882, the statistics show two graded schools; income from distributable 
funds, $8,332.22; total receipts, $34,929.10; paid teachers, $15,817.26; for new 
schoolhouses, $3,802.32; for repairs, $1,814.72; for furniture, $1,296.83; for 
books for poor children, $46; for district libraries, $112.07. No attempt has 
been made to harmonize the discrepancies in these statistics. The reports have 
been faithfully copied and they doubtless give the main facts in the case. The 
schools of the county have made rapid, advancement in the last few years, and 
are now nearly abreast of the most improved.

	BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.

	The great benevolent societies of the world have representative lodges 
here. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was the first to establish itself 
here, Newton Lodge, No. 161, being chartered October 12, 1854. Among the charter 
members were T. J. Martin, A. M. Peterson, Benjamin Miller, John Kern, Armstead 
Ward, David Scott, William Nigh, and W. H. Webb. This Order has been fairly 
successful here, though none of the principal Orders have attained the growth 
found in many places. The Order of Free and Accepted Masons, came to Newton 
second in order of time and established Newton Lodge, No. 216, by a charter 
dated October, 1856. The charter members were D. B. Brown, E. J. Tichenor, A. M. 
Peterson, John Jackson, A. C. Burford, Johnson Colwel, J. I. Whitney, and 
others, the foregoing persons filling the first term of the respective offices 
in the regular order as named. A Royal Arch Chapter was chartered under the name 
of Newton Chapter, No. 109, October 4, 1867, with T. J. Martin, Simpson Johnson, 
John W. Wilshead, James Lewis, S. J. Mann, C. M. Wakefield, G. W. Pritchard, 
John Winterode, W. Mayo, W. H. Eidson, and Joseph Cooper, as charter members. A 
Chapter of the Eastern Star was chartered here on February 9,1871, as Mayo 
Chapter, No. 54. Of this, Mrs. T. J. Martin, Martha J. Brown, L. Brooks, S. B. 
Brown, Mary Morrell, Sue Staley, and Angeline Harris, were charter members and 
first officers of the Chapter. The Masonic Order has prospered here, and while 
it has not grown to a large membership in the various degrees, a good interest 
in the work has been maintained and comfortable rooms secured and maintained. 
The different organizations named, occupy the same room on different evenings. 
It is situated in the second story over the store on the corner of Jorden and 
Van Buren streets, and while not expensively furnished, is comfortably fitted up 
and provided with all the paraphernalia of the Orders. The American Order of 
United Workmen has a Lodge here, as also the Knights of Honor.

	The Mutual Protection Society is an organization of the Medical Fraternity 
of the county, originated, as its name suggests, for the protection of its 
members. The Society was organized February 20, 1880, though the subject was 
agitated for some three or four years previously by Dr. Picquet, and others. The 
object of the organization, as set forth in its constitution, is "to protect its 
members against individuals who make a practice of going from one physician to 
another without paying any doctor bills; to try to collect doubtful bills by 
such laws as the Society may hereafter enact; to promote harmony and good 
feeling among its members; and to promote mutual improvement in the science and 
practice of medicine in all its branches, by papers, reports of cases, 
discussions," etc., etc. The laws of the Society are very strict, and have thus 
far proven of value to the membership, which includes most, if not all, of the 
profession in the county.

	Post No. 158, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Illinois, was 
organized at Rose Hill, Jasper Co., Ill., with the following soldier-boys as 
charter members: William and A. Hammer, R. H. Brown, M. S. Cowger, William A. 
Powell, John W. Lee, William D. Cummins, Henry Sowers, J. L. Elder. A. McGahan, 
T. R. Jones, A. J. Goodwill, George W. Sutton, W. A. Jones, E. J. Filer, 
Jonathan B. Cowger, Jr., Charles P. Ross, J. W. Swick, and C. E. Garwood. 
Charter was granted October 11, 1882, when they proceeded to an election of 
officers with the following result: Commander, M. S. Cowger; S. V. Commander, G. 
W. Sutton; J. V. Commander, T. B. Jones; Chaplain, J. L. Elder; Surgeon, Dr. W. 
A. Jones; Officer of the Day, W. D. Cummins; Officer of the Guard, R. H. Brown; 
Quartermaster, J. W. Lee; Adjutant, A. McGahan; Sergeant-Major, A. J. Goodwill; 
Q. M. Sergeant, Charles P. Ross. The Post now has fifty-nine active members; is 
in a very flourishing condition, its hours of meeting at 8 o'clock the first and 
third Saturday evenings of each month.

	June 20, 1883, the following persons, old soldiers of the last American 
war, held a meeting at Yale, for the purpose of organizing a Post of the G. A. 
R.: S. D. Odell, W. W. Chapman, L. S. Ryan, Jonathan Lenex, A. J. Cramer, C. L. 
Comstock, J. M. Bagwell, Jesse H. King, William Ayers, George Clark, David H. 
Hardley, and James Thompson. The charter was issued June, 1883, the Post to be 
No. 272, and named Coblentz Post, Department of Illinois. The election for 
officers resulted as follows: Commander, S. D. Odell; Senior Vice-Commander, L. 
S. Ryan; Junior Vice-Commander, W. W. Chapman; Officer of the Day, C. L. 
Comstock; Quartermaster, George Clark; Sergeant-Major, A. J. Cramer; Chaplain, 
Jonathan Lenex; Adjutant, T. S. Odell. The Post was begun with seventeen 
members, is in good condition and fast filling up.