The earliest known white settlers who came to what is now Putnam County
were certain fur traders, who located at the most eligible points for their
business along the Illinois River. The first of these represented the
American Fur Company. Antoine Des Champs, a Canadian Frenchman, was the
general agent. He established himself at Peoria in 1816, and in 1817 was
succeeded by Gurden S. Hubbard, now (1880) of Chicago, who will introduce
himself in the letter below, addressed to the Hon. A. T. Purviance, County
Clerk of Putnam County:
CHICAGO, April 8th, 1867. A. T. PURVIANCE:
Dear Sir: Yours of the 4th received. The trading house occupied by
Thomas Hartzell was erected in 1817, and occupied by Beaubien, in the
employment of the American Fur Company. The following year I was with him as
his clerk, for he could not read or write; besides, was old, and passed most
of his time sick in bed. I was then sixteen years old, and he had entered
the employment of American Fur Company in May of that year. Hartzell was at
that time trading on the river below, in opposition to the American Company.
Some years after, I think about 1824 or 5, he succeeded Beaubien in the
employment of the American Fur Company. There was a house just below, across
the ravine, built by Antoine Bourbonais, also an opposition trader, who,
like Hartzell, went into the employ of the American Fur Company under a
yearly salary. My trading post, after leaving Beaubien, was at the mouth of
Crooked Creek till 1826, when I located on the Iroquois river, still in the
employ of the American Fur Company, and so continued till 1830, when I
bought them out.
The last time that I visited the old spot where the
trading house stood, the chimney was all that remained. This was made with
clay and sticks. Four stakes were driven firmly in the ground, then small
saplings withed across about two feet apart. Clay mortar tempered with ashes
laid on long hay cut from the low lands, kneaded and made into strips about
three feet long and three thick, laying the center over the first round of
saplings, twisting them in below, until the top was reached, when the
chimney inside and out was daubed with the clay and mortar smoothed off with
the hand. The hearth of dry clay, pounded. It was our custom to keep rousing
fires, and this soon baked and hardened the chimney, which gave it
durability. The roof was made of puncheons, I think; that is, split boards,
the cracks well daubed with clay, and then long grass put on top, held down
by logs of small size to keep the grass in its place. The sides of the house
consisted of logs, laid one on top of the other, about seven feet high. The
ends of these logs were kept in place by posts in the ground. The ends were
sapling logs set in the ground, upright to the roof, pinned to a beam laid
across from the top of the logs, comprising the upper sides of the building.
A rough door at one end, and a window at the other, composed of one sheet of
foolscap paper, well-greased. It was a warm, comfortable building, where
many an Indian was hospitably entertained, and all were jolly and happy.
There I first knew Shaubena. His winter lodge was on Bureau River, at the
bluffs. I became very much attached to him, and he to me. I never knew a
more honest man, and up to the time of his death our friendship did not seem
diminished. Yours, etc., G. S. Hubbard.
We copy the above because it
is reliable and valuable as historical fact, and for the reason that it
describes the first house ever built by a white man in this section of
country.
At these trading houses pelts and furs were obtained from
the Indians in exchange for powder, balls, tobacco, knives, and beads and
other trinkets, and shipped in boats called batteaux to the headquarters of
the Fur Company, or to the larger independent traders at New Orleans or in
Canada.
In 1821, two cabins were built near that of the Fur Company,
one of which was occupied by Bourbonais, or "Bulbona," as he was called, and
the other by Rix Robinson, a Connecticut Yankee. Both had married squaws,
and were raising half-breed children. The Frenchman went to what became
known as Bulbona's Grove, and established a trading post, which he occupied
for many years.
At this time there were few white people north of
Springfield, and the entire northern part of the State was a wilderness,
inhabited by Indians and wolves. Hubbard affirmed that in passing from his
trading post at Hennepin he found no white settlers until within eighteen
miles of St. Louis.
In 1825, says Peck's Gazetteer: "In Northern
Illinois there was not an organized county, a post-road or a considerable
settlement. Chicago was little more than a village in Pike County, situated
on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of Chicago Creek, containing twelve or
fifteen houses and about sixty or seventy inhabitants. Peoria was a small
settlement in Pike County, situated on the west bank of the Illinois River
about two hundred miles above its junction with the Mississippi. A few lead
miners had clustered about the lead mines at Galena, but a road through the
wilderness was not made until late this year, when 'Kellogg's Trail' pointed
the devious way from Peoria to Galena. Not a white man's habitation nor a
ferry was to be seen along its entire route."
The Military Bounty
Land Tract was the first to be settled by American emigrants. It was
surveyed by the Government, in 1815 and 1816, and the greater part
subsequently appropriated in bounties to soldiers of the war of 1812. It
extended from the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, running
north 169 miles to a line drawn from the great bend of the river above Peru
to the Mississippi, containing 5,360,000 acres.
Pike County was laid
off in 1821, and was immense in its boundaries. It included all that part of
the State north and west of the Illinois River, from its junction with the
Kankakee to the Mississippi River, and east of the Kankakee to the Indiana
line, and running north to Wisconsin! In 1823 it had seven or eight hundred
inhabitants.
January 13, 1825, among other counties, Putnam was
created. It embraced a territory extending from the present northern limit
of Peoria County, along the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers to the Indiana
line, and thence north to Wisconsin, and west to a point thirty-five miles
from the Mississippi; thence due south 105 miles, and east to beginning,
comprising 11,000 square miles! In 1830, Putnam and Peoria Counties united
contained 1,310 whites, Putnam alone about 700. But this county was never
organized, however. Its judicial business appears to have been transacted at
Peoria, when there was any.
In 1829, '30 and '31, settlers had begun
to come in and locate along the margins of the timber and at the edges of
the larger groves. But still they were few and far between. There being no
ferries, goods were taken across the river in canoes, while horses were made
to swim.
In 1831 Thomas Hartzell established a ferry at Hennepin,
the first on the river above Peoria.
In 1831 Putnam County was again
created, with new boundaries, and in the spring of that year organized in
accordance with the act of the Legislature of the January previous.
Chicago had not then a municipal existence, but was a lively village of 250
inhabitants, including the garrison of Fort Dearborn. The Indian title to
most of the land in Northern Illinois had not been extinguished, and no land
outside of the military tract was for sale. But a single steamer had yet
troubled the waters of the Illinois River above Peoria. There were a few
settlers in the vicinity of Lacon and Hennepin, and on Round and Half Moon
Prairies, in what is Marshall County now, as well as on the Ox Bow Prairie,
and at Union Grove, in Putnam County.
The new county, as created in
1831, comprised thirty-eight full and thirteen fractional townships, and
included nearly the whole of what is now Bureau, Putnam, Marshall and Stark
Counties - a greater territory than the entire State of Rhode Island.
Commissioners to locate a county seat were appointed, consisting of John
Hamlin, of Peoria; Isaac Perkins, of Tazewell, and Joel Wright of Canton.
The act of incorporation provided it should be located on the Illinois
River, "as near as practicable in the center of the county, with a just
regard to its present and future susceptibility of population, and to be
named Hennepin."
The Commissioners accordingly met early in May, and
after examination of the various sites along the river, were about deciding
to locate the county seat where Henry, in Marshall County, now stands, when
the inhabitants of the Spoon River region interposed a plea that its
location there would delay them in the formation of a new county, which they
desired to have set off as soon as population would justify. The Commission
gave due attention to this plea, and resolved upon another site. As an
understanding had already gone abroad that the location would be made at
Henry, a chalked board was set up at that point, giving notice that another
locality had been chosen. On the 6th of June, a report was made to the
County Commissioners' Court, then sitting near Hennepin, that "they have
selected, designated, and permanently located the said seat of justice"
where it now is. Provision was made in the organic act for its location upon
Congress lands, if deemed advisable.* [*Ford's "History of Marshall and
Putnam Counties."]
The boundaries of the new county, as fixed by the
act of January 15, 1831, were defined as "commencing at the south-west
corner of Town 12 north, Range 6 east, running east to the Illinois River;
thence down the middle of said river to the south line of Town 29 north;
thence east with said line to the third principal meridian; thence north
with said meridian line forty-two miles; thence west to a point six miles
due north of the north-west corner of Town 17 north, Range 6 east; thence
south in a right line to the place of beginning."
The first election
under the law was to choose county officers, and was held at the house of
Wm. Hawes, on the first Monday of March, 1831. The judges of election were
Thomas Hartzell and Thomas Gallaher, while James W. Willis performed the
duties of clerk.
The day was cold and dreary; roads were unknown
save here and there a bridle-path; there were no bridges, and not a great
deal of enthusiasm was manifested.
But twenty-four votes were cast,
and as there was but one set of candidates, they were declared elected. They
were: Thomas Gallaher, George Ish and John M. Gay for County Commissioners,
Ira Ladd for Sheriff, and Aaron Cole for Coroner.
Hooper Warren was
Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, County Clerk, and also, when
he had nothing else to do, was Justice of the Peace.
Putnam was
assigned to the Fifth Judicial Circuit, comprising fifteen counties, of
which Hon. Richard M. Young was Judge and Hon. Thomas Ford (afterward
Governor) District Attorney.
The new county seat was named in honor
of Father Hennepin, the well-known explorer, and the first white man who is
supposed to have set foot on the shores of the Illinois at this locality.
The name was fixed by the law creating the county, so that all the different
places seeking the location of the seat of justice, and failing, thus
escaped the honor of bearing the name of Hennepin.
The first Circuit Court in Putnam County was held on the first Monday of
May, 1831. In accordance with law, the County Commissioners' Court had
selected the house of Thomas Gallaher, Esq., on the bank of the Illinois
River, about one-fourth of a mile above Thomas Hartzell's trading house, as
a suitable place for holding court.
Accordingly, on the day named
the Court met, and there being no Clerk as yet provided, the Judge appointed
Hooper Warren to the position, and fixed his official bond at $2,000. John
Dixon and Henry Thomas became his sureties. The Sheriff made due
proclamation, and the Circuit Court of Putnam was declared in session.
The Grand Jurors for the term were: Daniel Dimmick, Elijah Epperson,
Henry Thomas, Leonard Roth, Jesse Williams, Israel Archer, James Warnock,
John L. Ramsey, William Hawes, John Strawn, Samuel Laughlin (foreman), David
Boyle, Stephen Willis, Jeremiah Strawn, Abraham Stratten, and Nelson
Shepherd,
Summoned, but did not appear: Thomas Wafer, George B.
Willis, John Knox, __ Humphrey, Jesse Roberts, and Lemuel Gaylord, Sr.
The Petit Jurors were: Wm. Boyd, Hugh Warnock, Wm. H. Ham, Lewis Knox,
Samuel Patterson, Joseph Ash, Christopher Wagner, Joseph Wallace, John
Whittaker, Wm. Cowan, Wm. Wright, Ashael Hannum, Anthony Turk, John Burrow,
John Myers, Ezekiel Thomas, Mason Wilson, Smiley Shepherd, Justin Ament, and
William Morris.
The Grand Jury held its sessions on a log under the
shade of the trees. The only work done was the finding of an indictment
against a man named Resin Hall and a woman named Martha Wright. He had a
cabin in the woods, where he openly lived with two wives, to the great
disgust of his bachelor neighbors, who thought where women were so few there
should be a more equal distribution. Before the setting of the next court,
Mr. Hall and his two wives folded their tents and disappeared.
There
was no further business before this court, which lasted but one day and
adjourned. At the next term, September, 1831, James M. Strode, Esq., was
appointed Prosecuting Attorney, pro tem, in the absence of State's Attorney
Thomas Ford, and Clark Hollenback indicted for malfeasance in office as
Magistrate.
Court was afterward held at the house of Geo. B. Willis,
and whereever it could find room for a year or two, until more permanent
quarters could be had.
At the May term, 1832, John Combs, summoned
as a juror, failed to appear. The Court sent an officer, armed with an
attachment, after the delinquent, brought him in a prisoner, and fined him
$5.00 and costs.
David Jones, of rather tempestuous fame, was
recognized to keep the peace, and gave bonds in the sum of $50.00, with
Roswell Blanchard and Elijah Epperson as his sureties that he would be
peaceful to all the world, and especially as to George Ish.
In May,
1832, Clark Hollenback's case came up, but for some unknown reason the
State's Attorney quashed it. He had been indicted for some crookedness as
Justice of the Peace, but the affair never came to trial.
A new Court House and jail had been contemplated, and October 8th, 1831,
the County Commissioners "ordered that a new Court House be built on plans
furnished by John M. Gay, Esq., by May, 1832."
December 9th, 1831, a
jail was ordered to be built. It was to be seven feet in the clear, the
upper and under floors to be made of hewn timber, one foot square, the roof
"raved clapboard," three feet long. "The door to be made of inch boards
doubled, nailed together with hammered nails six inches apart, to be hung
with iron hinges, the hooks one inch square, six inches long, boarded, the
hasp of the lock to go two-thirds of the way across the door, the window to
be a foot square, with two bars of iron each way. To be twelve feet square,
and cost eighty dollars."
This costly structure was erected
according to specifications, and accepted; and it is on record that one of
its first prisoners, with a little outside help, pried out a log and
escaped.
August 14th, 1832, "Notice was ordered given in The
Sangamon Journal (Springfield), that three several jobs of building a court
house will be sold the third Monday of September, 1832.
"1st. The
foundation to be of stone, fifty feet on the ground each way, out to out;
wall three feet high, two feet thick, one foot six inches under ground.
"2d. Brick wall to be equal in extent to foundation, twenty-two feet
high, first story twelve feet, two and a half brick thick; second story ten
feet high, two brick thick.
"3d. Carpenter work all to be done in
good style, and the whole to be finished by September, 1833."
Until
1833, the Circuit Court had no regular place for holding its sessions, and
among bills audited were several for payment of rent of room used, the usual
price charged being two dollars for the term, which if in winter included
the firewood used.
In March, 1833, Ira Ladd was employed to build a
new jail, of the following dimensions:
"Lower floor to be double, of
hewn timber white or burr oak, one foot square sixteen feet square; the
lower tier of timber to be laid close side by side; second tier to be of
same material and size laid crosswise, so as to make both solid making it
two feet thick, sixteen inches square, and sunk in the ground to a level
with the top of the floor, four to eight inches above the ground. The outer
wall to be sixteen feet from out to out, and each way sixteen feet high, of
square timber hewn or four-sided; walls one foot thick, logs to be close,
the corners plumb, notched dovetail, corners cut down true and smooth, iron
spikes in each log at the corners, of three-quarter inch iron, to be driven
in .in presence of witnesses; the lower seven feet to be of white or burr
oak. Inner wall twelve feet square, one foot thick, seven feet high, corners
notched; one foot of space between inner and outer wall, to be filled with
good hard timber, except walnut or ash. Space to be filled with one foot
square timber seven feet long, set on end. Second floor of timber one foot
square, sixteen feet long; upper story nine feet nine inches high. One
window, one foot square, in lower story between the fourth and fifth logs,
grated double, with one and one-quarter inch iron rods, and a door and
window in upper story, securely made. A hatchway connected the upper and
lower stories. The cost of this model log fortress was fixed at $334!
The next important record is found January 7, 1836, when it was "ordered
that $14,000 be appropriated for a court house," and Wm. M. Stewart was
appointed to make out the plans. The contract was to be let March 3, 1836,
and an advertisement was ordered inserted in the Chicago Democrat and
Sangamon Journal to that effect.
Gorham & Durley obtained the
contract for Wm. C. Flagg, a prominent contractor and builder of the
Bloomington, Ottawa, and other court houses. The building cost $14,000.
The temporary court house ordered constructed September 2, 1833, was not
completed and occupied until December, 1835, and in the June following it
was formally accepted in behalf of the county, by James G. Patterson,
Commissioner. The new building being now well under way, the temporary one
was offered for sale almost immediately upon its completion.
In early times deeds were not as promptly recorded as now. The fact that
a man had given a warranty deed to a tract of land was accepted as
conclusive evidence of his right to do so. The title was still in the United
States Government for the great body of land in the country, and the
conveyances from one individual to another were few. When a settler had
acquired his "patent" he felt safe enough, and was content to exhibit this
unquestionable proof of his ownership, the very highest title known. The
precious document was safer with the proprietor of the land it described
than elsewhere, and these "patents" were seldom placed upon record, not one
in fifty ever finding its way to the Recorder's office, at least for years
after. There was little danger of the Government issuing two patents for the
same land, and the man in possession had the "nine points" of the law.
Until possible cities began to be thought of, there was but little
changing of titles among the people. The pioneer having made his claim
through much hardship and toil, regarded it as his future homestead, and was
loth to part with it.
The first conveyance on record in Putnam
County is a deed from Robert Bird and wife to John Strawn, for a piece of
the north end of the north-east fractional quarter of Section 35, Town 30,
Range 3 west, in Columbia (Lacon), August 15, 1831, for $38.00, acknowledged
before Colby F. Stevenson, Notary Public. This was followed by other
conveyances of town lots here and there, and now and then a certificate of
entry, for its better preservation, for its loss was a serious obstacle to
getting the coveted "patent." About 1834, Eastern capitalists were attracted
to the West as affording new and profitable fields for speculation, and
occasionally a deed turned up for a township or so of land, bought "unsight
unseen." July 30, 1834, we find a deed for forty-six quarter sections of
land, from Southwick Shaw to Dr. Benjamin Shurtliff , of Boston, for $4,500,
- 7,360 acres. Also, another from Humphrey Howland to Arthur Mott, for
sixty-four quarter sections, or 10,240 acres, for $8,320. Another from John
Tillson, Jr., to Walter Bicker, of 18,040 acres, for $8,000. One dated
October 7, 1834, from John Tillson, Jr., to Walter Mead, for 30,360 acres,
and another to Mead for 57,910 acres, June 30, 1835. The largest deed,
however, is dated December 7, 1835, from Stephen B. Munn and wife to Charles
F. Moulton, for $220,000, and conveys several counties of land. The
descriptions in this deed occupy twenty-three pages of the record.
The old financial court of the county, the simple and inexpensive system
of county government, which for the sole reason of its economy, has many
advocates as against the cumbrous, half legislative body called the "Board
of Supervisors," first met "in special session" at Hennepin, April 2d, 1831.
Present - "The Hon. Thomas Gallaher," Judge of the Probate Court, and George
Ish and John M. Gay, "Associate Justices of the Peace," for such were the
high sounding titles of those gentlemen of that day. Hooper Warren was
appointed Clerk. .
Ira Ladd had been elected Sheriff of the new
county, but his commission not having arrived to give him such power as the
court could confer, "he was appointed to discharge the duties of the office
of Sheriff of said county till said commission should come"! He was also
requested to designate the place of holding this honorable court, which he
did by selecting a place in the woods on the river bank! He was likewise
required to furnish a table, benches, and stationery for the court !
On the 6th of June the Commissioners' met, and heard the report of Joel
Wright, John Hamlin, and Isaac Perkins, Commissioners to locate the seat of
justice of Putnam County, which was ordered filed. It fixed the honor upon
the south-west fractional quarter of Section 9, Town 32, Range 2 west.
The Court having examined said report, find that the Commissioners have
made a mistake in the quarter section, and directed the County Surveyor to
examine the levies of said quarter section and report.
Thornton
Wilson, Geo. Hildebrand and John Whittaker were appointed the first School
Trustees in the county, for the school section in their neighborhood -
Section 16, Town 31, Range 1 west.
Also, on the petition of Wm.
Smith and nineteen others, John B. Dodge, Charles Boyd and Sylvanus Moore
were appointed Commissioners to locate a road from Hennepin to Smith's Ford,
on Spoon River, and required to meet and begin their labors July 4th, 1831.
June 17th, 1831, the Court, on the petition of Christopher Hannum
and seventeen others, appointed Ashael Hannum, John Strawn and Ira Ladd to
locate a road from Hennepin to the county line between Tazewell and Putnam
Counties.
The first tax levied in the county was fixed by the
Commissioners' Court at one-half of one per cent on personal property only,
for county purposes.
James W. Willis was appointed the first County
Treasurer, and his bond required to be one thousand dollars. Thomas Wafer,
Samuel D. Laughlin and Stephen D. Willis became sureties, and the bond
accepted.
The county was at this term divided into four election
precincts, viz.:
Sandy - Including all the county south of the south
branch of Clear Creek to the Illinois River.
Hennepin - All the
county south-east of the Illinois River, and north of the above mentioned
line.
Spoon River - To include all of the county south of the direct
line from the head of Crow Prairie to Six Mile Grove, thence north-west to
the county line.
Bureau - All of the county north-east of the above
and northwest of the Illinois River.
The first election after the organization of the county was held August
1st, 1834, and the officers to be elected were, a Member of Congress, a
Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, as they were known, and a Constable for
each precinct. The vote was small, and was taken by each elector calling the
name of the party for whom he desired to cast his ballot, which the clerk
reported, and, along with his name, inscribed in the poll book. This is what
is termed voting "viva voce." We give for the benefit of their descendants a
list of persons who voted at that election:
SANDY PRECINCT.
Judges - Wm. Cowan, Ashael Hannum and John Strawn. Election held at the
houses of Jesse Roberts, John H. Shaw and Abner Boyle. The voters were:
Ashael Hannum, Wm. Cowan, John Strawn, George H. Shaw, Abner Boyle, Lemuel
Gaylord, William Hart, Lemuel Horram, Robert Bird, Wm. Hendrick, John Knox,
James Finley, George Hildebrand, Hiram Allen, Daniel Gunn, Zion Shugart,
Jesse Roberts, Isaac Hildebrand, John S. Hunt, William Eads, Wm. H. Hart,
John Hart, Ephraim Smith, Peter Hart, Obed Graves, Hartwell Hawley, William
Graves, Wm. Lathrop, Jesse Berge, Ezekiel Stacey, Litel Kneal, William
Hawes, Wm. Knox, Marcus D. Stacey, J. C. Wright, Thos. Gunn, John Bird,
Samuel Glenn, Elias Thompson, Robert Barnes, James Adams and John G.
Griffith - 42.
HENNEPIN PRECINCT.
The Judges of Election
were: Thornton Wilson, Aaron Payne and George B. Willis; Smiley Shepherd and
John Short, Clerks. Election at the ferry house, opposite the mouth of
Bureau Creek.
The voters were: James W. Willis, Ira Ladd, Hooper
Warren, Christopher Wagner, David Boyle, James C. Stephenson, Samuel
McNamara, Alexander Wilson, John McDonald, Wm. H. Hamm, John Griffin, James
G. Dunlavy, Colby T. Stephenson, James A. Warnock, John E. Warnock, Jeremiah
Strawn, Aaron Whittaker, Aaron Thomasson, Aaron Payne, Jos. Warnock, Stephen
D. Willis, Madison Studyvin, Samuel D. Laughlin, Hugh Warnock, Anthony
Turck, Jonathan Wilson, Joseph Wallace, James Garven, George Ish, Joseph D.
Warnock, Robert W. Moore, James G. Ross, James Hayes, John L. Ramsey,
Williamson Durley, Thos. D. Hayless, Thornton Wilson, John Short, George B.
Wilson, Smiley Shepherd, James S. Simpson - 41.
SPOON RIVER
DISTRICT.
Judges - Wm. Smith, Greenleaf Smith and Wm. B. Essex; John
C. Owing and Benj. Smith, Clerks. Election at the house of Benj. Smith.
The voters were: W. D. Garrett, Sewell Smith, John B. Dodge, Sylvanus
Moore, Benj. Essex, Thomas Essex, Thomas Essex, Jr., David Cooper, Harris W.
Miner, Isaac B. Essex, _ Greenleaf, B. Smith, Wm. Smith, Benj. Smith, John
C. Owings - 14.
BUREAU PRECINCT.
Judges - Henry Thomas,
Elijah Epperson, and Leonard Roth, at the house of E. Epperson.
The
voters were: Henry Thomas, Elijah Epperson, Leonard Roth, John M. Gay, Mason
Dimmick, Samuel Gleason, Curtis Williams, Justice Ament, John Ament, John W.
Hall, Henry M. Harrison, Abner Strutton, Elijah Thomas, Hezekiah Epperson,
Edward W. Hall, Adam Taylor, Daniel Dunnic, Thomas Washburn and Anthony
Epperson.
In all the precincts there were but one hundred and
sixteen votes cast.
By order of the County Court, all business men were required to take out
licenses, for which fees were charged according to their supposed profits.
Peddlers were looked on with suspicion, and a fee was exacted double that
required of the merchant, who could secure one while court was in session
for eight dollars, but in vacation the Clerk was directed to assess sixteen.
This we suppose was to make men respect the Court's dignity.
The
county being hard up, George Ish and Thomas Gallaher were authorized to
borrow $200 on its credit, to purchase the land of the United States
Government upon which the State had located the seat of justice, but here a
new difficulty arose; for County Surveyor Stevenson having, in accordance
with the request of the Court, surveyed the fractional quarter section upon
which the Commissioners had located the new countyseat, and found it to
contain only twelve acres - far too little for the future great metropolis,
- the Court appointed John M. Gay to proceed to the residence of any two of
said Commissioners and get them to alter their report so as to include the
south-east quarter, or else to make a new location. They were easily
persuaded to amend it in accordance with the merits of the case; so they
designated the south-east fractional quarter of Section 9, Town 32, Range 2
west as the future seat of justice, and George Ish was sent to Springfield
to enter the same at the Government Land Office, for the benefit of the
County of Putnam.
September 5, 1831, John B. Dodge, Thomas Gunn,
William Smith and Thomas G. Ross, having been elected Constables in August,
presented their bonds, and the same were approved.
September 6,
Dunlavy & Stewart took out a license to sell merchandise from August 1,
1831; also a like legal authority to sell goods was granted to J. & W.
Durley, from August 11, 1831.
September 7, 1831, twelve blocks of
the future town of Hennepin were ordered to be surveyed, and Ira Ladd
allowed eighteen and three-fourths cents per lot for surveying.
A
road leading from Hennepin west to the State road from Peoria to Galena, was
ordered to be surveyed; also a road to Smith's Ford, on Spoon River, to be
re-surveyed and marked, and another to be laid out from Hennepin to
Holland's settlement in Tazewell County (now Washington); another was laid
out from the county seat to the McComas place.
The first sale of
lots in Hennepin was ordered to be made, at public auction, on the third
Monday of September, 1831, half the purchase money to be paid down, and the
balance in two payments, in six and twelve months. A general sale was
ordered to take place on the first Monday of December, 1831, on similar
terms, to be advertised in the newspapers at Springfield and Galena,
Illinois, and Terre Haute, Indiana, the then most considerable papers in the
west.
The first Commissioner of School Lands was Nathaniel
Chamberlain, who was appointed September 26, 1831.
The ground where
the new town was located was heavily timbered, if we may credit the
following notice "from the Court," which "Ordered, that notice be given to
all persons cutting timber on the streets of Hennepin, to clear the whole
tree they cut down from the street even with the ground, and all who
infringe upon this rule will be prosecuted."
Ira Ladd was next
called upon to survey eight additional blocks, and he complied by laying out
eighteen, for which he was paid $3.50. Samuel Patterson was auctioneer at
this sale, and was allowed the surprising sum of one dollar for "crying"
them.
December 8, 1831, George H. Shaw, Thomas Wafer, Elijah Smith
and Benjamin Smith were appointed Overseers of the Poor - the first in this
county. The same day the Court confirmed a permit issued in vacation to
James S. Simpson, to sell goods; and also transferred a license from Ira
Ladd to Thomas Hartzell, for merchandizing.
March 6, 1832, James W.
Willis was appointed Treasurer, and filed his bond at the same time.
Up to March 7, 1832, all efforts had failed to acquire title to the land
set apart as the seat of justice, and a new endeavor was made.
The
taxes of 1832 were fixed at one and a half per centum on all personal
property.
At this session of the Court, Erastus Wright and Win.
Porter, who were running a ferry at the mouth of Sandy Creek, were taxed
$5.00 for the privilege. This was March 16, 1832, and was probably the first
ferry established at Henry.
July 2, 1832, the Precinct of Columbia
was created out of Sandy Precinct, and embracing "all the country east of
the Illinois River, south and south-west of Geo. H. Thompson's. Robert Bird,
James Dever and Robert Barnes were appointed judges, and the first election
was ordered to be held at the house of John Strawn.
No title to the
land where Hennepin stands had yet been acquired, although Hooper Warren had
specially visited Springfield for the purpose, and at the July session James
G. Dunlavy was dispatched to St. Louis upon the same errand.
Elisha
Swan was granted a license to sell goods at Columbia, September 3, 1832.
James W. Willis, for assessing the entire property of the county, was
allowed $25.00.
September 3, 1832, Thomas Gallaher, Jr., for selling
goods without a license, was brought before Hooper Warren, a Justice of the
Peace, and fined $10.00.
September 10, 1832, Aaron Whittaker was
employed to build a "stray pen, according to law."
John Lloyd, John
Myers, and Bradstreet M. Hays were appointed to locate a road from Hennepin
to Ottawa, and a former survey on that route was ordered to be vacated.
The Commissioners of Peoria County having granted a license, December 3,
1830, to Thompson & Wright to keep a ferry at the mouth of Sandy Greet
(Henry), the Commissioners of Putnam, October 6, 1832, ordered the same
continued in the name of E. Wright and Wm. Porter, who seem to have in some
way succeeded the former owners.
The new ferrymen were required to
pay to the county $2.00, and give bonds in the sum of $100 that they would
run the ferry according to law and the following ferry rates:
Foot
passengers, each 6 1/4 cents.
Man and horse 12 1/2
Dearborn, or
one-horse wagon 25
Sulky, gig, pleasure carriage with springs, chaise or
other wheel carriage drawn by one horse 50 "
Same, or wagon or cart
drawn by two horses or beasts 37 1/2
Same, by four horses or beasts 75
Each additional horse 6 1/4
Each head of cattle 6 1/4
Hog, sheep
or goat, each 3
Goods, per 100 pounds 6 1/4
When the water is out of
its banks, double the above rates.
Ira Ladd was authorized to keep
the Hennepin ferry.
October 6, 1832, it was ordered that a lot be
donated in Hennepin for the benefit of the public schools, and lot 17 of
block 7 having been selected, the same was deeded to the school district.
October 6, 1832, a road was ordered surveyed from Columbia (Lacon)
past Strawn's and Dever's places, south to the county line of Putnam and
Tazewell. John Robinson, Anthony Turck, and B. M. Hays, Commissioners.
October 6, 1832, "Lemuel Gaylord came before the Court and made
affidavit that he was aged sixty-seven years; that he entered the service of
the United States Government for one Ithurial Hart, of the Quartermaster's
Department, under command of Captain Tuttle, in June, 1780; continued till
December, 1780; re-enlisted in April, 1781; drove team till December 27,
following; was with the expedition to Yorktown, and after the taking of
Cornwallis, hauled a piece of artillery to Newburg, and baggage back. In
April, 1782, enlisted again; went to headquarters at Newburg, remained under
the command of Major Skidmore till December 20, following, and believe
myself entitled to a pension," etc.
This affidavit bears the
signature of Edward Hale and Peter Ellis, ministers of the Gospel, who
certify to Gaylord's good character and truthfulness.
In further
explanation, it should be stated that Gaylord was a minor at the time, and
his father was entitled to the pension, but the latter having been killed by
the Indians at the massacre of Wyoming, it had never been allowed. Mr.
Gaylord was fortunate in securing what he was so justly entitled to, and
spent his remaining days at his home on Sandy. He was universally respected,
and after living to an advanced age, was gathered to his fathers, and sleeps
in an honored grave in Cumberland Cemetery.
December 25, 1832,
Roswell Blanchard surrendered his license to sell goods, and in its stead
applied for one to keep a tavern at Hennepin, which was granted for a fee of
fifty cents, and bonds required in the amount of $200 that he would, among
the duties of landlord, strictly live up to the following rates of charges:
Horse one night, 25c.; one feed, 12 1/2c.; one horse twenty-four hours, 37
1/2c.; man, one meal, 18 1/4c; night's lodging, 6 1/4c.; whisky - one gill 6
1/4c., half-pint 12 1/2c., one pint 18 3/4c.; brandy, rum, gin and wine, one
gill 12 1/2c; half -pint 25c., pint 50c.
December 29, 1832, Captain
Brown's Rangers, a body of militia organized to protect the white people of
the frontier against the Indians, were quartered near Hennepin, and
occasionally had to use the ferry. The Court made the following special
order: "Captain Brown's company of Rangers are granted the use of the ferry
to cross at Hennepin, for $2.00 over and back, or $2.00 per week, as Captain
Brown may choose.
March 6, 1833, Hooper Warren, Justice, reported
that he had fined Roswell Blanchard $3.00 for an assault upon Leonard Roth.
Also, George Wilmarth seems to have perpetrated an assault and battery upon
the devoted person of David Jones, somewhat noted as a pugilist. George
having apparently got the best of this encounter, the Justice fined him
$5.00 and costs.
The entire taxes collected in 1832, in the County
of Putnam, amounted to - cash, $88. 19, and county orders, $104.62 1/2.
A road from the mouth of Crow Creek, up the Illinois River, under the
bluffs, through Columbia, and along the bottom to the mouth of Sandy
(opposite Henry), was ordered to be laid out, and Jesse Sawyer and the
County Surveyor were appointed Commissioners to perform the labor, June 3,
1833.
Peter Barnhardt, paymaster of the Fourth Illinois Militia,
filed his bond in $200, as by law required, and the same was approved.
September 2, 1833, J. W. Willis was sent to Springfield to get patents
for the land occupied by Hennepin and the county buildings. All previous
efforts in this direction had regularly failed. The county had been selling
and conveying property to which it had as yet no title, and nervous
purchasers and tax-payers who feared that some audacious claim-jumper might
steal the county property, or that which had been claimed for court house
and jail purposes, kept the Honorable Commissioners' Court in the warmest of
hot water, and every previous attempt to get titles having so wretchedly
miscarried, they were becoming desperate.
December 16, it was
ordered that the Commissioners' Clerk and Sheriff relinquish their fees for
this term of Court. No explanation is vouch-safed, and we are left in the
dark as to whether the county was unable to pay its public servants, or the
Treasurer had grown so weak he could not draw the necessary orders.
September 1, 1834, Alex. Tompkins was granted a license to run a ferry at
the mouth of Negro Creek, at the house of John Cole.
Elisha Swan was
allowed a ferry license at Columbia, March 2, 1835, and was taxed $15.00;
and at the same time was granted a merchant's license.
March 2, a
license was given Wm. Hammett to run a ferry at the mouth of Crow Creek.
By 1835 Putnam had 3,948 whites and eight negroes, of whom two were
registered servants, or more plainly, slaves.
The county was growing
rapidly, and the location of the county seat being found inconvenient for
many, the project for a new county was agitated, and the result was the
formation of the magnificent county of Bureau, with Princeton for its county
seat.
This was followed by another division, and Marshall County
formed. Thus from being the largest county in the State and leading all
others in population, wealth and political influence, Putnam was shorn of
its fair proportions, and made the very smallest. The student of history as
he reads this will wonder why this wrong was permitted, and ask if there
were none in the Legislature to plead for and protect her just rights. We
cannot answer.
In the "Bribery Act" of 1837, whereby millions of
money was voted to railroads never constructed, the consent or silent
approval of counties not benefitted was secured by loans of money, and under
its provisions Putnam was entitled to and received $10,000 as her portion of
the "steal." But "ill gotten gains are treacherous friends," the proverb
hath it, and so it turned out, for the Treasurer, Ammon Moon, loaned it out
so securely that it has never been recovered.
The last act of the
Commissioners was to divide the county into townships in accordance with an
act of the Legislature and vote of the people, and this duty was assigned to
Guy W. Pool and Jeremiah Strawn.
The labors of the old County
Commissioners' Court ceased April 16, 1856, when the new County Supervisors
met at Hennepin and took upon themselves the dignity of office. The first
Board consisted of Townsend G. Fyffe, of Magnolia, who was elected chairman,
and James S. Simpson of Hennepin, Benjamin F. Carpenter of Senachwine, and
Joel W. Hopkins of Granville.
Colby F. Stevenson was the first Probate Judge of Putnam County, and
performed its duties in addition to those of Surveyor.
The first
case for adjudication was the estate of Daniel Bland, of Round Prairie, who
died on the 8th day of February, 1831. The circumstances of his death will
be more particularly referred to hereafter. His widow, Nancy Bland, was
appointed administratrix, under bonds of $1,250. Robert Bird became her
surety.
John P. Blake was the next Judge, and his first official act
was administering upon the estate of Zion Shugart, who died February 13,
1833. His widow was appointed administratrix, and Samuel Glenn became her
surety. Dr. Condee, of Columbia (Lacon), appears to have been physician to
deceased, since his bill is allowed.
Aaron Payne, the missionary,
presents a bill of $11.25 for officiating at the inquest of Daniel Gunn, who
hanged himself on Oxbow Prairie, and the same was allowed.
December
8, 1831, James Reynolds died, and Jane M. Reynolds was made executrix.
Another record is the indenture of Caleb Stark to Elias Isaacs, who
agrees "for three years' service" to instruct his apprentice in the "art,
trade or mystery of currying." After one year's service the contract was
abrogated.
September 7, 1831, Wm. Wauhob, Sr., died on Round
Prairie. January 5, 1835, Robert, his son, comes to the County Court and
complains that his brother William has appropriated the entire estate of
their father, and wants an account rendered and a division. After a long
contest over the matter, the parties got into court and settled.
James Dever died in December, 1834, and his will was proven in January,
1835.
We close our records with the following death notices of
settlers whom many will remember: Thornton Wilson died March 9, 1835; Jos.
Babb, April 7; Oliver Johnson, August 6; Alexander Wilson, July 22; William
Britt, June 25; and Naomi Ware, October 3, of that year. The last named left
by will a considerable portion of her estate to the New School Presbyterian
Church of Hennepin.
Extracted 22 Dec 2017 by Norma Hass from Records of the Olden Time, 1880, by Spencer Ellsworth, pages 79-98.
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LaSalle |
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