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THE Western States of the
Union contain a large proportion of naturalized citizens and their
descendants. The inexhaustible richness of the lands along the
rivers of the West had been heralded in Europe even before the
beginning of the present century. The first foreigners seeking
a home on the banks of the Mississippi and Missouri, were a number
of French colonists arriving here within the first half of the 18th
century, settling near the missionary depots at Kaskaskia and
Cahokia. Among these first arrivals we find several Swiss and
a few Germans from Alsace - Judy Dumoulin, Engle, Schoenberger
and others. The Judys, natives of Switzerland, were
among the first permanent settlers of this county, and their
descendants are to this day well known citizens of the county.
Traces of French efforts at colonization in this county are found at
the present site of Alton where Jean Baptiste Cardinal had
built a cabin probably as early as 1785 (Madison County Gazetteer.)
A number of land claims were located along the mississippi River
from the mouth of Wood River down towards Venice, by French
colonists, but very few of whom seem to have improved them.
Nicholas Jarrot, a Frenchman of distinction, is found among the
early settlers in Madison county; his home, however, was never
permanently located there. The records of the county of 1815
contain a list of names of men subject to road labor, and among them
but very few foreign names are met. The few Europeans who had
found their way to Madison county before or during the first decade
of its organization, made no effort to have colonies or settlements
of their own, such as are found in St. Clair and Randolph counties
or elsewhere. The Judy family mentioned above,
had become thoroughly Americanized before they settled in the
county. Even the orthography of their family name - Tschudy
- a name so well known in their native Switzerland, had been
lost sight of and
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changed to "Judy" before the commencement of this century.
The name appears in the records of St. Clair county of 1798.
Jacob Judy and Samuel Judy presented or filed their
claims for land grants, 200 acres each, one as an equal part of a
Virginia Improvement Right and the other of a "Cahokia head" right
on teh 11th November, 1798. Among the enrolled militia of St.
Clair county in actual service of the United States ion 1783 and
1790, we find Samuel Judy and Jacob Judy, jr.
They received each a land grant of 100 acres, a so-called militia
right, which they afterwards located in sections 32 and 33, T. 4 -
8, Madison county, together with two other militia rights bought of
Louis Bibaud and Barie La Flamme.
In 1799, at an election held at Cahokia "to vote for a
representative for to be sent to General Assembly of the territory,
Jacob and Samuel Judy voted for Shadrach
Bond, who defeated his opponent, Isaac Darneille
by a vote of 113 against 72. Voting was done viva voce,
and the well-preserved tally sheet of said election is on file in
the Clerk's office at Belleville.
George Barnsback, another
foreign born pioneer of Madison county, is made the subject of the
following sketch by Hon. Gustav Koerner, of Belleville, in
his work "The German Element:"
"One of the first German settlers in Madison county, if
not the first, was George Berensbach - Barnsback. He
was the son of a highly respected family at Osterrode, and had
received a thorough education. An employee of a commercial
house, he gave up his position without the consent of his parents
and embarked for America in 1797. He landed in Philadelphia, a
lad of sixteen years. He soon strayed over to Kentucky and
tradition has him serving a season as overseer of a plantation.
We doubt it, because of his youth. After a stay of two years,
he became homesick and embarked for Hamburg and was shipwrecked at
Dover, barely saving his life. His reception at home was most
cordial, the fatted calf was slaughtered in honor of his return.
However he had breathed the air of America, and would not remain in
Europe. In 1802 he returned to Kentucky, rented a plantation
and erected a distillery. But Kentucky was too small for him.
He brought his family to Illinois to what is now Madison county.
Here he devoted himself to farming, and a number one farmer he was.
In the war of 1812, he took service with other volunteers to protect
the settlements against the Indians, the allies of the English, and
remained in the field for fully two years. In 1825 he went to
Germany to collect an estate to which he haad fallen heir.
Returning he resolved to go to Missouri, where he bought a large
plantation in St. Francois county. The system of slavery
disgusted him most thoroughly and in 1830 we find him back in
Madison county. He was now nearly 50 years of age, and wanting
rest, he devoted himself with zeal and success to agriculture, and
left at the time of his death one of the best and most beautiful
farms in the country. He was a tall man of powerful build,
with features betraying energy and maintained an imposing appearance
to his end. He participated with interest in the management of
public affairs, without seeking personal gains, filled various
offices, often against . .....................
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