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DECATUR is a prettier, neater little
village than many others of loftier pretensions through which I have
passed." This is what Edmund Flagg wrote to the Louisville, Ky.,
Journal in 1836, after a trip through Illinois. He described the
Sangamon as "little more than a respectable creek, with waters as
clear as crystal flowing over clear, white sand." Mr. Flagg
had forded the creek without trouble. He had come to Decatur
on horseback from Springfield, and from here continued the journey
by way of Shelbyville. Decatur today can be proud of the fact that
the city early in its career began making a good impression on its
visitors. PRAISED CEMETERY Coming to Decatur from the west, Mr.
Flagg saw the town's cemetery, and he praised communities that kept
up their cities of the dead as did Decatur. The cemetery
referred to as known as King's cemetery and was located on the
Robinson farm land. Today its location would be described as
West Wood street between Oakland and Haworth avenues.
THE SANGAMON, A "RESPECTABLE CREEK" Mr.
Flagg
was much impressed with the many big boulders he saw on the
prairies, and considered them a great mystery. Scientists
agree, however, that there is no mystery about them, but that they
were left by the last glacier which covered Illinois ages ago.
Even before the visit of Mr. Flagg, glowing accounts of the Illinois
land and of Macon county had been printed in eastern newspapers, due
particularly to the boosting propensities of one of the early
landholders, Philo Hale. Though they were gross exaggerations,
sometimes, they doubtless had considerable influence in bringing
adventurous folk from the east to help settle the new country.
Mr. Hale had entered large tracts of land himself and had influenced
others to come here. CENSUS OF 1830 The Macon
county census taken in 1830 shoed that the total population of the
county was 1,122. This census also showed that the county was
provided with the following: One cotton spinning machine.
Three horse mills.
One water mill.
Two distilleries
The census that year was taken by Daniel McCall.
RENSHAW'S STORE At the beginning of the 1830-1840 decade the most
pretentious building in town was Renshaw's tavern and store.
It boasted two stories. This tavern was the first place in Decatur
to provide accommodations for the traveler. James Renshaw,
proprietor, familiarly known as "Uncle Jimmy," was a hospitable man,
and his tavern was the center of village life. Renshaw's account
book, still preserved by members of the family, gives a good idea of
the business activities of that day, when cash was scarce and
storekeepers took articles in trade. One of the first entries in
that book shows credit given to William Hanks for 104 pounds of
fresh killed pork, for which he was allowed one and one-half cents a
pound. One day Lewis Ward brought in 55 pounds of deerskin, for
which he was given credit for 18 cents a pound. Samuel McKay was
credited $1.32 for seventeen pounds of beef hides. William King
brought in two bushels of mortar broken meal, and was credited 50
cents for it. Many citizens came in to buy whisky and rum, which
they had charged to their accounts. Thomas Lincoln, father of
Abraham Lincoln, was a good customer for "barks" during the fall and
winter of 1830. When Renshaw first started his tavern his business
amounted about $10 a day. But as the town grew, his business
increased. Often he would drive cattle down to St. Louis
markets, and bring back loads of merchandise for his store. He
made money, and bought land. He laid out an addition to
Decatur, in the northeast section. After he retired from the
tavern business he lived in a log cabin at the corner of Condit and
Broadway streets until he built a brick home there. Mr.
Renshaw died in 1860. Thee was another store in Decatur as early
as 1831. It was run by Isaac C. Pugh, who afterwards became
one of Decatur's most noted generals. John Ward ran a store at
Indian Bluff on the Sangamon, south of Decatur, and there he carried
a stock of groceries and some dry goods. The store was
particularly for the benefit of the Ward settlement. Tea, sugar
and coffee were very high in that day and were little used, as they
were regarded as luxuries. There were substitutes, however.
The early citizens used maple sugar, wild honey and molasses for
sweetening. Sassafras tea, sage tea, and mint tea were popular
beverages, and parched rye, barley and other grains did for coffee.
WATER STREET IN 1833
QUIET AND PICTURESQUE One has to rely on one's imagination to
picture Decatur as it was in the early 30s. One early writer
has said that in the spring of 1834 Decatur had eleven buildings;
seven were dwellings, two store buildings, one a court house and one
a jail. A cluster of log cabins, mostly in timber, it must
have been a picturesque, quiet retreat. Streets, as laid out
in the town plat, were scarcely discernible as yet for the cabins
were few and scattered. Among the pioneers who called Decatur
their home then were James Renshaw, the tavernkeeper mentioned
before; William Cantrill, storekeeper; Landy Harrell, who became a
tavern keeper; Daniel McCall, county official; James Johnson, the
village blacksmith; Phillip Williams, justice of the peace; Thomas
Cowan, the village carpenter, William Glasscock, storekeeper.
Every man had his place in the village life. Some of the settlers
residing near town then were William and John Hanks, Isaac C.
Pugh,
Amos Robinson, Elisha Freeman, Buel Stevens, John Lee, David Owen,
Ben Frazee, David Miller, Parmenius Smallwood, Joseph
Davis, David
Allen, William Warnick and James Ward. Here the pioneers lived in
their humble, yet comfortable lot huts, in the midst of trees and
flowers and brooks. Isaac Pugh's store, according to report, was
on West Main street. One writer, however, says that he had a
store for a short time in a log cabin which stood on the spot now
occupied by the north end of Central block. In the year 1832
William Glasscock sold goods in that cabin, but afterwards moved his
store. CANTRILL's STORE In the summer of 1832
Bell and Tinsley of Springfield sent a stock of goods which were put
in the room formerly occupied by Mr. Renshaw. A youth named
Hawley was sent along as clerk, but he soon became tired of living
"in the sticks," and returned to Springfield. When William
Cantrill first came to Decatur in 1833 he came as a clerk for that
same firm. The store which Cantrill opened with his stock from
Springfield was Decatur's first real general merchandise store.1
It was located in a long structure at the southeast corner of East
Main street and the public square, the site now occupied by the West
drug store. In this building, Mr. Cantrill served as postmaster in
1835 and 1836 stowing the letters away in a small box in a corner.
Sometimes he carried them in his hat. Mail was a luxury then
and the postmaster's job didn't call for any over-work on his part.
The population of the town then was little more than a hundred.
Before coming to Decatur Mr. Cantrill had served in the Black Hawk
war, being a second lieutenant in Captain Levi Goodan's company.
Mr. Cantrill afterwards became county treasurer and was a member of
the state legislature. Another of Decatur's early stores was run
by the Dewees brothers. They occupied a brick building on
South Main street which was the first brick house in the town.
John Miller made the brick for the house. The Dewees brothers were
brick masons themselves and did some brick work. The first
brick yard was located south of Fairview park. The old jail at
Wood and Church streets was built of Decatur made brick but it was
said that it "could be picked to pieces with a darning needle."
Evidently the brick made at that time was not very satisfactory.
In 1835 Benjamin R. Austin took the census. The county's
population then was 3,022. In 1840, when S. G. Nesbitt took the
census, the population was 3,233. SOCIAL LIFE
Young folks of the '30s and '40s and their gay times, as young folks
always have. One of the belles of that day, Jane Williams,
later Mrs. Watt Culver, saved invitations to parties she attended.
Only recently those relics which have been dept in her family were
turned over to the Art Institute. They tell of parties and
balls at the Central house, the Decatur house, and at homes.
Parties in those days began at 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
SOME EXCITEMENT There were often wild times in those days, also.
Whisky drinking was common, and as a result fights were frequent.
For some time Tom Johnson ran a "barrel house" in a brick building
south of the square. When a man wanted a drink he went to the
barrel and drew what he wanted, in the tin cup. A drink then
cost a picayune (about 6-1/4 cents). Much of the small change
in use then was Spanish coins. During the political campaigns of
1840 and 1844 times were exciting. For a meeting hall the
second floor of the old brick building, which occupied the present
site of the Bachrach store, was used in 1840 by the Harrison club.
A barrel of cider was always on tap, and in that room politicians
held forth. Enthusiasm stirred up at the meetings there added
life and zest to the village. Both Lincoln and Douglas spoke
in that hall, according to B. H. Cassell.
EARLY DAY FUNERALS
Death often visited the homes in those days. Malaria, the
dreaded disease, took a big toll. There were more burial
grounds around Decatur then than now, though they were not such
extensive ones. B. H. Cassell used to say, in telling of the
funerals of early times: "There was non of the ceremony that now
marks a funeral. When anyone died the men friends offered
their services to dig a grave. We would dig down about six
feet and then at the bottom dig out a receptacle just the shape and
size of the coffin. "The cabinet makers would make the coffins.
They were shaped so they were wide where the shoulders lay and
tapered toward the ends and were made of light walnut three-quarters
of an inch thick, and sometimes would be varnished or polished.
The coffins cost $10 to $12 each. "Sometimes there would be a
minister to conduct services, but there were no flowers or elaborate
ceremonies. It was impossible to have anything of the kind for
the reason that the houses were too small. If a preacher did
not conduct services, perhaps some one would make a few remarks, and
sometimes nothing would be said. A horse and wagon would be
procured from the man who carried the mail and the coffin would be
put in this and conveyed to the burying ground and the few
attendants would follow on foot." The earliest burial grounds long
ago ceased to exist. Once there was a burial ground at the
corner of Eldorado and Franklin streets. Another was near the
intersection of the Wabash tracks and North Main street. On
West Main street, on East Wood street, and on East Clay street there
were graveyards. All of these, and others also were smoothed
over when streets were laid out. AN EARLY DAY
WEDDING Ben Frazee almost ran Old Louisiana to death when he went
about the country inviting guests to the wedding of his sister,
Sarah to William H. Henson, along in the lat '40s. But
all the neighbors had to be invited, and it was up to Ben to see
that they got word of the big event that was coming off. So he
mounted his trusty steed and set forth. A hundred folks were
present for the wedding supper. Ben Frazee know, for he
counted them. The wedding ceremony had proceeded all O.K.,
Justice James Harrell officiating, the supper was a grand spread,
and everything was lovely until it began to rain. The rain, it
appeared, cared not for weddings and wedding guests. It came
to stay a while, and couldn't be persuaded to go away. It just
kept on raining. The next morning, after the wedding, it was
still raining. Sixty of the wedding guests were still there,
for they hadn't been able to get away to their homes. It was
quite some time before the party had all departed. They had three
kinds of bread at the wedding supper, undercrust, overcrust, and
crumb. The bread was baked by a neighbor, Mrs. Rife. It
took a lot of pumpkin pie to go around, but there was plenty. Mrs.
Henson had been born in Claremont county, Ohio, Sept. 27, 1830, and
had come to Illinois when just a year old, her parents making
the trip in a prairie schooner. They lived first at what
afterwards was numbered 1834 East William street, moving out to the
country later.2 Her husband entered forty acres in
Harristown township and built a home there. From 1849 until
her death at the age of 93 she lived on that farm. Mr. Henson
added to his land holdings from time to time until at the time of
his death he had several hundred acres.
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1 After selling out
his store Uncle Billy Cantrill lived on a farm near town for a year,
then moved back to Decatur and made his home on North Main street,
between Prairie and William. He died in 1881. Cantrell
street is named for him though it is spelled differently from the
way Mr. Cantrill spelled his name. Uncle
Billy was about the most popular man in the county for a long time.
while an office holder, Uncle Billy looked from his window in the
court house down over the hitching yards - that is, the old square
where farmers always hitched their horses when they came to town.
As soon as Uncle Billy saw a farmer drive in and tie
his team, out he darted to the square to shake hands with the
newcomer, ask him how he was getting along in the world, and inquire
about other members of the family. The Uncle Billy proceeded
to help unhitch the horses. He did that so much that he became
an expert in unhitching. It was said that he could unhitch
horses faster than anybody in the country around.
Whenever he chose to run for office in those days
nobody was able to beat him. He served on the town board of
trustees, and was the thirteenth county treasurer serving four
years. Mr. Cantrill was a Democrat,
politically. That was before the days of Macon county became
heavily Republican. 2 Ben Frazee, who was
born in Decatur in 1834, used to say that when he wanted spending
money he used to gather up a couple dozen goose quills and sell them
to Captain Allen for ten cents. Another way
he made money was to trap quail and sell them to Kirby Benedict for
37-1/2 cents a dozen. He also used to catch
and clean rabbits and sell them to George Gepford for 5 cents each.
Gepford would take them to Chicago with his poultry just before the
holidays.
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