Historical Encyclopedia
of
Illinois and History of Piatt County
Vol. II - 1917
Transcribed by Sharon Wick

PIATT COUNTY, ILLINOIS

CHAPTER IV.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The First Settler - Builder of Second Cabin - Settlers in 1824 - A prominent Pioneer -
A Notable Event in Illinois - Winter of the Deep Snow - The Big Freeze -
A Personal Experience - Settlers Between 1830 and 1840 - First Births in County -
First Deaths - The "Coffin Tree" - Early Mills - Examples of Pioneer Ingenuity - First Grist Mill -
Pioneer Characteristics - Early Postal Annoyances - Much Typhoid Fever -
Chills and Fever Often Prevailed - Green Fly Pest - Defender of Pioneer Life .......... 632-636

THE FIRST SETTLER

     The first white settler to locate within the present limits of Piatt County was George Hayworth, who came to Illinois from Tennessee in 1822 and erected the first cabin, a primitive affair, on the present Lodge place in what is now Monticello.  A little later Mr. Hayworth replaced his first residence by another cabin a little more substantial, having the assistance of some friendly Indians in its construction.  He left in 1825.
     Following Mr. Hayworth, as the second settler, was James Martin, who arrived in the county in the fall of 1822 from Ohio.  His was the second cabin to be built and he proposed becoming a permanent resident.  However, after Mrs. Martin died in the cabin, which stood on the Roades place, north of Monticello, Mr. Martin went to Indiana, selling his property to a Mr. Daggott.  The next spring he and his nephew, with the latter's wife, returned to Piatt County, and they built a cabin in the vicinity of White Heath.  In the meanwhile Mr. Daggott continued to live on the property he bought from Mr. Martin until his removal into Champaign County, Ill., two years later.

SETTLERS IN 1824.

     The year 1824 brought a Mr. Holliday, whose cabin was built near Mr. Hayworth's, and its site is now included in the city of Monticello.  After a short time he sold this cabin to Solomon Carverm, and the latter in turn disposed of it, after using it for a period, to a Mr. Cordell, who moved into it in 1829.  In this way the cabins passed from one owner to the other.  While wood was plentiful in the growing state, time and tools were required to transform the standing trees into material for even the simplest home.  When a man's family or means outgrew his first cabin, he usually sold it to one whose requirements were less, and built for himself a home more commodious.  The little log shacks were easily moved from one claim to another, and some of them stood for many yeas after the surrounding country and had built up.  Another settler of 1824 was Abraham Hanline, who came to Piatt County in April of that year, accompanied by his four sons, Abraham, Jacob, James, and Nathan.  The good wife and mother of the family had died, and perhaps the father and sons sought a change of home to divert their minds from their great loss.  Abraham Hanline the elder took up a claim of 160 acres in the neighborhood of Coon Spring, north of Monticello, and began at once the usual task of the pioneer of clearing the land and erecting a cabin.  A Mr. York built a cabin in 1824, which was a historic one, in that ti was the first to be put up within what is now Goose Creek Township.

A PROMINENT PIONEER.

     For several years there appear to have been no further settlements, but in 1829 there came into this region a man who was destined to play an important part in the history of the county, for he was James A. Piatt.  Mr. Piatt was a man of more than usual intelligence, and possessed some means.  Having traveled through this part of the state he became so favorably impressed with the section which embraces the larger portion of the present city of Monticello, he bought 600 acres of land and brought his family to it from Indiana.  The history of this typical pioneer and his family will be taken up at length further on in this work, in conjunction with the development of the county.  The original home of the Piatt in 1829.
     In 1830 Mr. Corell, whose son, William, became one of Piatt's reliable co-laborers. built a cabin on what is now known as Madden's Run, and it was the first in that section.  Later a Mr. Stout bought this home, and the stream for a time bore his name, being called Stout's Branch.  That same year David Cordell built a cabin on what was later known as the Wellington place, and his cabin, with that of Mr. York's, and were said to be then the only two north of the Sangamon River between Friend's Creek and Cheney's Grove.  The year 1830 also brought a Mr. Fry, whose cabin was built north of the mouth of Goose Creek; and a Mr. Terry also came to the county in this same year, and not only to the county in this same year, and not only built his own cabin, but one for his mother-in-law, Mrs. Randolph, and these were in what is now the southern part of the fair grounds.

WINTER OF DEEP SNOW

     During the winter in 1830-1 occurred what was known as the "deep snow," a condition being brought about that has not since been equaled in this state.  In the late fall the snow began to fall, and the precipitation continued with but brief intervals during the entire winter.  In addition to the snow, conditions were made worse by storms of sleet, so that there were alternate layers of ice and snow from 3 to 4 feet deep on the level, and many feet deep in drifts.  As the weather was extremely cold, the ice and snow had no chance to melt, and the settles suffered extremely, some dying from exposure, as the cabins were not built to withstand any such extremes of climate.  So hard did the snow become packed that heavily loaded wagons could be drawn over the crust without wagons could be drawn over the crust without breaking through, and it appeared as though nothing could be done to bring about normal conditions of living.  Owing to the unusual severity of the winter, the wild animals either sought hibernating places or perished from the cold, and the settlers who had relied upon the animals they could kill to supply them with meat almost starved for lack of sufficient food.  The effects of the deep snow were felt in the lack of game for several seasons afterward, but at no time until they were exterminated were the wild denizens of the woods and prairies as scarce as during the winter of 1830-1.
     With the opening up of spring, and the increasing heat of the sun, the snow melted, swelling the streams and covering nearly all of the surrounding land with so much water that for a time it appeared that the settlers would suffer as severely from an overflow of water as they had from the surplus of snow.  While Piatt County has never experienced since such a heavy fall of snow, the winter of 1836 was very severe, and it was marked by the "big freeze," as it was locally called.  It was during January of that year that the snow then on the ground was turned by rain into a heavy slush, several inches in depth.  A sudden change in temperature, almost instantaneous, from temperate to frigid, congealed the slush and froze the feet of wild and domestic animals and the human being unfortunate enough to be caught out in the storm.  An authentic account of the change was told by one of the old settlers, Ezra Marquiss, now deceased, as follows:
     "It was raining the fore part of the day and I had been gathering hogs.  I reached home about ten o'clock, ate my dinner, and started out to see how the weather looked. As I went out of the south side of the house, which was 16x18 feet square, it was still raining.  I walked slowly to the west side of the house to find it snowing, and by the time I had reached the north side the slush on the ground was frozen over.  The second or third day after the freeze, a hired man and I started to take our horses over to Salt Creek to be shod.  Father helped us to start and we got the horses over the creek, which was from bluff to bluff, quite easily, by carrying ashes and scattering for them to walk on; but when we reached the prairie the horses could scarcely move in some places.  In order to get them over sloughs and ponds one of us would take hold of the bridle rein while the other would push the horse; but though the start made early in the morning, and notwithstanding the pushing and pulling, night found us only about half way over, five or six miles from home.  We left the horses standing on the icy plain and returned home for the night.  In the morning we returned to the horses, and the remainder of the journey seemed less difficult."
     During 1831, Captain Olney built a cabin on the place later owned by Ezra Marquiss quoted as an authority above.  A son-in-law, a Mr. Lawrence, built the cabin that was the first house owned by Mr. Marquiss.  Captain Olney's sons also became settlers for a time.  Their parents died in the county and were buried at Hickory Point, but the sons later moved away.  The year 1833 brought Abraham Marquiss and his family to the county.

SETTLERS FROM 1830 TO 1840.

Among the settlers of Piatt County from 1830 to 1840 the following may be mentioned in addition to the above:  William Barnes, John and Richard Madden, Samuel Olney, Joseph Mallory, Isaac Williams, Samuel Suver, Syrus Widick, and Michael Dillow.  A little later on came the Aters, the Baileys, James Hart, Jesse, William and Richard Monroe, Samuel Harshberger, James Utterback, Joseph and Luther Moore, Ezra Fay, Daniel Harshbarger, Simon and Nathaniel Skonkwiler, and Samuel Havely.  Not so very long afterward Piatt County's population was increased by the arrival of Abraham, Collins, John Tenbrook, Samuel West, A. J. Wiley, A. Rizeor, John Argo, John Welsh, William Smock, Peter Adams, George and Silas Evans, the Armsworths, the Coons, Dr. Burrill, and others.  The majority of these early settlers were native Americans, but later on in the history of the county England, Ireland and Germany contributed some very desirable and substantial citizens.

FIRST BIRTHS.

     The first white child in Piatt County was one born to a family which had temporarily located near Camp Creek bridge, but as these people soon went out of the county, no record has been kept of either the name or date.  The first recorded birth was that of a daughter of Henry Sadorus, who was born at the home of James Piatt in the spring of 1830.  The first male child born in the county was Jacob Piatt, whose birth occurred in January, 1831.  Probably the next children born to white settlers in the county were: Frances Williams, daughter of Isaac Williams, and Mary E. Monroe, who became Mrs. Gamaliel Gregory.

FIRST DEATHS.

     The first person to die in Piatt County as far as known, was a Mrs. Martin.  The material for her coffin, made by the neighbors, was taken from a walnut tree which stood on an island a little below the Bender ford of the Sangamon River.  Coffins for Mrs. Randolph, Mrs. Terry and Mrs. Olney, who early passed away, were also made from this tree, as were those for Mrs. York, Mr. Holliday, and Mr. Ayres, and it gained the grew some name of the "coffin three."  It not only furnished wood for coffins, but Abraham Marquiss and Ezra Marquiss made a substantial table from some of its branches, while William Piatt secured material for several bedsteads.

EARLY MILLS.

     When the pioneers located in Piatt County they found none of the necessary adjuncts to civilization.  Not only were they forced to raise the commodities needed for food, but they had to crush or grind their grain for use on the tale, as there were no mills within a distance that would permit the hauling of the grain.  In order to crush the corn and wheat into a coarse flour, the settlers used what was called a hominy block.  According to the description of this rude had mill,, given by those who once used it, a hominy block was made by making a hole about 1 1/2 feet deep in a block of wood 3 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet wide.  A block of wood, in which a wedge had been forced was then fastened to a joint of the cabin, the board with its hole was placed beneath the sweep so that when it was forced to the bottom of the hole it would pound the grain and then spring back into position.  The finest portion was made into bread, and the coarse part of the corn was used for hominy.  A little less crude than this appliance was the regular had mill that had mill stones.  Mr. Hanline made a mill that had mill stones.  Mr. Hanline made a mill with two stones 16 inches in diameter, which he fixed in a section o a hollow tree.  The top stone had a hole in its center and another one near its circumference, and in the latter a staff was fastened, its other end being fastened to a cabin joist.  This shaft could be moved so as to make the upper stone rotate upon the lower, but as only a handful of corn could be ground at once, it took three men to grind three bushels of corn a day.

FIRST GRIST MILL

     A very interesting description of the first mill erected in Piatt is given by one of the historians of the county, who quotes William Monroe as saying of the one he assisted in building in Unity Township.
     "When he had returned home after the sudden freeze, Mr. Christopher Mosbarger, who was a millwright, and who had brought his tools  along, was at our house.  We were without breadstuff, and he said to us: 'Boys, get your axes and grub-hoes and cut the ice, and by gracious, we makes a mill with prairie niggerheads'.  All went to work and in about four days a mill was made.  This mill was afterward moved from Mr. Jesse Monroe's to where Atwood is, and was run by horse-power, grinding ten to twenty bushels a day."
     Te above mill, was, of course, only a small one, and the first mill of any size was not built until 1838, when Major McRaynolds, James Piatt, Abraham Marquiss, William Barnes, Mr. Sadorus and William Piatt  formed a stock company and erected the mill that was run by water power, on the site later occupied by the mill owned by a Mr. McIntosh.

PIONEER CHARACTERISTICS

     The pioneers of Piatt County passed through experiences during the early days that were similar to those of other frontiersmen of the Middle West.  As has been stated; they were fortunate in escaping any serious difficulties with the Indians, but endured many privations and when the inclemency of the weather brought unusual conditions for which they were to prepared, there was much suffering.  They were a hardy people, however, and had come to this region fully prepared to give of their best of develop the new country.  Had they been less brave and hardy, willing to work and endure, very probably Piatt County's history would have been entirely different, and as much of its present prosperity would never have come into being.
     The record of many pleasant incidents is preserved, as well as those of graver import, for the pioneers naturally enjoyed mingling with their kind, and the interchange of opinions was as interesting then as now.  They were of a practical turn of mind, and oftentimes made their friendly gatherings yield benefit to the community, or some individual.  When a house or barn was to be "raised," the neighbors would gather, the men doing the outside work, the wives preparing a bountiful meal, and afterward all would join in the social recreations that were then popular.  At other times, when fruit became plentiful, perhaps apple-paring bees would bring the people together, and a traveling preacher or political speaker always met with a warm welcome.  When sickness visited a family, the real kindness of the community was called forth, and friendships were formed and cemented that have been carried down into the present generation.
     There was little wealth in the county during pioneer days, but neither was there dire poverty, perhaps became then one neighbor shared with another, and there were none of the violent contrasts offered in a modern community.  Money was scarce, but the greater part of the foodstuffs were raised on the farm, and such as were not needed were traded about among the neighbors, or for store goods at the nearest trading point.  Thus it was that as their needs were few, their desire for wealth was not strong, although all were possessed with the laudable ambition of providing well for their families, and their hospitality was unbounded.  They, as a class, seemed to desire to amass enough to give the growing children a better chance than was vouchsafed themselves, and when such a spirit prevails, a community is bound to flourish, and its people grown in character and worldly possessions, for it urges to industry and thrift, and guards against idleness and dissipation.
     The early settlers had many annoyances with which to contend that would seem very irksome in the twentieth century.  Government postal service was practically unknown, the mails being carried on horseback in saddlebags by one or another neighbor from the nearest trading point, many miles away.  Postage was very high, being from 10 to 25 cents a letter, according to the distance it was sent, and it was usually paid by the one who received the epistle, although the sender could also pay it if he so desired.  Of course when the stage lines began to run through the county, the mails were carried by them, and letters were much more sure of delivery.  It is easy to see what these hardy people suffered from homesickness and anxiety.  None came into the county without leaving relatives and friends behind, with whom there could be only limited communication.  Little wonder is it that once a member of a family became established in the new home, he sought in every way to have his near and dear ones join him, so that it often happened that there were whole communities composed of those who were bound together by bonds of kinship or warm friendship, and intermarriages were frequent.
     In addition to that severity of the winter weather, the settlers had to contend with the vagaries of other seasons, suffering in the late summer and early fall from the infections caused by malarial exhalations which arose from the swamps and low lands.  As they knew nothing about modern sanitation or preventative methods, typhoid fever was very frequent, and sometimes the visitation of the disease was so heavy as to become a plague, while "ague" was generally prevalent.  Green flies tormented not only the cattle and horses, but people as well, there being well authenticated cases where death resulted from the effects of the sting of these pestiferous insects.  To avoid these pests, during the late summer, nearly all traveling was done at night.  Prairie fires were of frequent occurrence, and the settlers often lost everything they possessed by the ravening flames which they were but poorly prepared to overcome.
     Pioneer life, however, has its defenders.  One of the aged settlers of the county, who vividly recalls the early days when his father's house was the stopping place for all travelers, declares that while people now have more luxuries and their homes are filled with comforts not in existence during his boyhood, the generous, open-hearted hospitality of pioneer days is one of the disappearing virtues.  When he was a lad, according to his statement, none asked who a an was, but welcomed him and gave him of their best, hospitality, as said above, being almost a religion.  This spirit of kindly charity, however, it must be confessed, met sometimes with base return, as is evidenced by the case of the generous settler who sheltered a man and his family, only to have him deprive his host of the very hoe in which they had visited.  Perhaps human nature was much the same then as now, both good and had prevailed in those early days, just as at present.
     With the further opening up of the county, and the coming into it of more people, Piatt County emerged from its pioneer state and took upon itself the responsibilities of a separate organization, and instituted and supported various private and public movements calculated to keep pace with the growth of similar counties.  That its people have succeeded, the remainder of this volume is ample proof.

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