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THE first need that arose after Macon county and its seat of
justice, Decatur, had been laid out, was the need for a court house.
The county had a perfectly good seat of justice, but no place for
justice to sit.
In fact, the court had to go clear outside the
county seat, to the home of James Ward, to sit.
No record has come down to us of the definite action taken to
build a court house. No mention is made in court house records
of the letting of the contact, or the details of starting the work.
We do know that the first court house was erected, or at least
started, in the latter part of the year 1829 and that, like other
buildings of the time, it was made of logs.
The first official mention we have of the court house is in an
order of the commissioners court in June, 1830, allowing Thomas
Taylor $26.18 3/4 for repairing the court house. On Dec. 6
John Hanks was allowed $9.87 1/2 for chinking and daubing,
and Luther Hunting $8 for the floor, which was laid by Isaac
Miller. In September, 1831, Isaac C. Pugh was
allowed $2.37 1/2 for glass.
At the session of the commissioners court at the April term in
1832 James Johnson was allowed until the first day of
November to finish the court house "agreeably to a former contract,
except to build a chimney on the outside." The order goes on
to say that he is to wait for his pay until there is money enough in
the treasury, that is not otherwise appropriated, to pay him.
That old court house, built 100 years ago, is today one of our
most cherished possessions. Standing on a grassy knoll in
Fairview park, it reminds the visitor of the old cabin days, when
history was being made in the county. It is the only building
in Decatur today to link us with the very beginnings of the county.
The log court house originally stood on the west
half of lot 4, block 4, of the newly platted town. That was
the southwest corner of Lincoln square. It was 18 by 24 feet
in size, was a story and a half high, one room below and one above.
The building faced on West Main street. It had two doorways,
one on the north and one on the south. An old fashioned
fireplace furnished the heat. The house had clapboard roof and
puncheon floor.
Evidently there was some argument over the price
to be paid Mr. Johnson, for it seemed necessary to appoint
two men to determine the amount due him. Those two men were
Thomas Cowen and Amos Robinson. Johnson
was allowed $50.62 for lumber, $101.43 for work, $11.31 1/4 for
nails, $4.50 for seasoning plank, 75 cents for the error in lumber
bill, $27.50 for material for chimney, and $3.25 for arch bars.
Others who worked on the court house before its
completion were John Miller, who laid the hearth, for which
he received $21; Joe Querrey and Amos Robinson, who
received $5 each for work. Henry Wheeler furnished the
window shutters for $6.75. Amos Robinson and
Thomas Cowan were allowed $1.50 each for valuing the work
done by Mr. Johnson. This brings the total cost of the
court house up to $286.60.
This court house was used by Macon county for
nearly ten years. It was also used for all public gatherings,
church services, school, and so on.
After the second court house had been built, the
log cabin was sold to Robert Allen, who moved it to his farm
east of town, where it was used first as a home and then as a barn
for many years. The farm passed through several hands, finally
coming to Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Clokey, who, on learning the
history of the building, gave it to the Old Settlers' association
which placed in in Riverside park, in 1893.
Some years later it was turned over to the city
park department and was moved to Fairview park. First it stood
on the south drive but in 1907 it was moved to its present location
at the top of the hill. Park Superintendent Frank D.
Torrence made extensive repairs to it at that time.
SECOND COURT HOUSE
Decatur soon outgrew its log court house and in 1837
it was decided to erect a new building. On Jan. 16, that year,
the county commissioners ordered Charles Emerson, Richard
Oglesby and James Renshaw to contract for a new court
house.
In March they reported that they had contracted with
Leonidas Munsell of Edgar county to build Decatur's
second court house. The contract price was $10,625 and the
building was to be completed within 18 months. One thousand
dollars was to be paid the contractor in advance, and bonds of the
county given for the balance, payable in twenty years, with 8
percent interest.
[INSERT PICTURE OF 2ND COURT HOUSE HERE]
Could it be that Macon county was jealous of McLean
county in 1837? It appears very much like it. At least,
when the contract for the new court house was made out, it specified
that the new building was to "be equal to or superior to the McLean
county court house," Mr. Munsell, who lived in Paris,
doubtless had a reputation for building court houses, for he had
erected such buildings at Shelbyville, Bloomington and Paris.
The second court house was 40 feet square, 32 feet
high, built of brick, with dome cupola on top. The contract
specified it was to have a bell weighing 120 pounds and a
lightning rod. The court room was on the second floor. A
hall divided the first floor, which had four rooms.
After some discussion as to the location, it finally
was decided that the site of the first building was not suitable,
and the court ordered Munsell to build the new court house on
the southeast corner of the square. The order was signed by
Abram Chapin, William Muirheid and James A. Platt,
court commissioners.
The new building was completed in 1838 and was
accepted by he court June 20, 1838.
H. M. Gorin was named agent to rent the rooms
of the old court house. Probably the renting project did not
prove successful, for in December the court decided to dispose of
the property. The lot was bought by Ninian W. Peddecord,
and it was deeded to him March 9, 1839. As stated before
Robert Allen purchased the log cabin.
The community was proud of its new court house.
It had every right to be, for it was the most pretentious building
in the city. This building was used until after the Civil war,
when the county again had outgrown its official home.1
Then rooms were secured in the new Powers building and
occupied in 1870 and they served for county purposes until the
present court house was erected in 1891-92, at a cost of $100,000.
This building now is outgrown, and the matter of providing more
space is a present day problem.
THE JAIL
After the county was provided with a court house,
the next county building needed was a jail. It also was a log
structure and was about twelve feet square. It stood on the
northwest corner of Prairie and Water streets. The building
contained two rooms.
The commissioners' court, composed that year of
Phillip D. Williams, Hugh Bowles and Elisha Freeman,
gave the contract to build the jail to James Johnson, the man
who had erected the log court house, and, as in the previous
project, he was asked to wait for his pay until the county could pay
without distressing itself.
The first jail was moved about 1836 to the northwest
corner of Wood and Church streets, where it burned about four years
later. The county was without a jail then until about 1843
when a brick building two stories high was erected on the site of
the jail which had burned. It contained two cells. This
jail was used until 1867 when a new jail was erected on the south
side of Wood street, between Water and Franklin.2 It had stone
walls and contained twenty-four cells. This jail, enlarged and
improved, is still in use. Adjoining it the sheriff's
residence was erected.
WHIPPING POST
Decatur had another means of punishment in the early
days, but it was used only once. That was the old whipping
post which stood in the public square.3 It was used in 1832
when the two horse thieves William Redmon and Thomas Wyatt,
received the punishment to which they had been sentenced, one to
receive thirty-nine, and the other forty-nine lashes. Sheriff
William Warnick officiated at the whipping. For
performing this duty he was paid $7, and doubtless he felt he had
earned it. All the town turned out to witness the punishment.
It nearly "broke" Macon county to take care of the
two horse thieves in 1832. The two men, Thomas Wyatt
and William Redmon, were probably the first prisoners in the
new jail, and they were confined there for seventy-seven days.
P. D. Williams collected several bills.
One was $57.50 for "dieting" the prisoners, another was $56 for
personal service as guard, another for $7.75 for "service rendered"
Thomas Taylor, guard, and $18.50 for "service rendered" James
Querrey as guard. Evidently Mr. Williams boarded
the guards.
Joseph Stevens also collected $8 for guarding
the jail eight days and nights, and Robert Johnson was paid
60 cents for guarding one night. Sheriff Warnick
received $19 for keeping the horses. There were other bills
for "dieting" the prisoners, and altogether the bills made quite a
large expense total.
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1 The right of anyone
to use the court house was not questioned. That privilege
extended even to animals. It has been told that for years the
cows would be allowed to wander through the lower hall on the first
floor and occupy the rooms which were not then being used. The
court house had four rooms on the first floor, and for a long time
only two of them were being used.
2 Judge W. G. Cloyd of Bement, tells the following
story regarding the building of this jail: "The late I. D.
Jennings was sheriff when the jail was supposed to be finished
and turned over to the county authorities. Three prisoners,
two white men and one colored brother, were locked in. For
some reason dissatisfied with the accommodations afforded at the
Hotel de Jennings, they removed a stone from between two others, and
crawled out. The colored gentleman declined to leave, and the
white fellows were soon returned. Then it was discovered that
the men who superintended the construction had laid the building
stones in mortar, but had not fastened the stones together with
dowell pins. I believe they are called. The incident led
to a newspaper controversy, in which the purchase of railroad land
and other business matters figured.
"The news of the escape of the prisoners spread rapidly, and quite a
crowd assembled. The late Sheridan Wait was there, and
he quaintly remarked, 'Erected in 1867, I see.' Sheriff
Jennings consoled the prisoners by telling them that it was
their business to escape if they could, but his business was to
watch them."
3 The early criminal codes of Illinois were influenced by
the impossibility of providing the punishment by imprisonment.
Many counties had no jails, in spite of repeated statutes that
required that county commissioners provide them. There was no
state penitentiary. Hence, whipping was regarded as the most
feasible method of punishment.
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