Habits and Pastimes --- The Borah Family --- Cannons --- Owens --- Halls --- First and Second Settlements in the County --- First Schools and Churches --- Gatherings of Old Settlers and Their Names --- Nathan Atteberry --- W. W. George --- David Wright --- Ellidges --- Andrew Crews --- Alexander Campbell --- And Many Others --- Incidents and Anecdotes --- The Disappearance of the Indian --- Wild Game, Etc., Etc., Etc.
THE writer remembers an interview some years ago with a couple of very aged ladies, and of the early times and their recollections, he finds the following in his note book:
When we came West it was known as the Louisiana. Then, in a flat-boat, from Kentucky. It was in the year 1801, and I remember the trip well; chiefly, perhaps, because a little colored girl was drowned in leaning over the edge of the boat to draw some water. It made the strongest impression on me of anything that happened.
"You remember the earthquakes in 1811?"
"Oh, yes, well, I can't tell how long they lasted, but there were so
many shocks that we began to get used to them. They came on
sometimes at night, and sometimes by day. First there would be a
roaring we'd seem to hear in the west, like a storm. If it was in
the day the sky would appear dark. Then the ground would commence
to shake. The shaking would be so hard that when we tried to
stand up and hold to the palings we couldn't do it. I remember
the earth opened in a great crack right through the streets of St.
Michael's. It must have been six or eight feet wide, and I
couldn't tell how deep, only it seemed to get narrower. Right
where the crack opened there was a party of miners camped, and their
things went down in the crack. After a long time the earth came
together slowly. At New Madrid the earth opened in cracks so
large that whole houses, with people in them, went down. Between
where we lived and New Madrid large trees went down through these
cracks. We were badly scared at first, but we gradually got so we
didn't mind the earthquakes so much. At one time the shaking
lasted half an hour.
"When the first one came father called out, 'What's going to be?' Mother said, 'Oh, it's only an earthquake. I've felt it before.'"
The old lady drifted readily into some of the features of housekeeping in those days.
"Tell the reporter how you made combs," suggested a bright-eyed grand-daughter.
The old lady laughed heartily and replied, "We used to take ox-horns and boil them. That made them soft. Then we would saw them to make the teeth. They weren't like the combs you have now, but they did very well, we thought. We made our spoons from the horns, too."
"We didn't have the groceries handy to run to for every little thing. We had to make our own bluing for one thing, and this was the way we did it: We gathered an herb called indigo weed, and put it in a barrel with water. This we had to churn and then we squeezed it. After that we had to put a little lye in to break the indigo from the water. The blue would settle, and we poured off the water. That was our indigo. We made starch ourselves, too, and very nice starch it was, in this way: We took wheat-bran and put it in water till it soured. Then we squeezed it through blankets and let the water settle. The starch formed in a cake at the bottom and we dried it in old platters."
A counterpane was produced and shown. "I made it fifty-five years ago," she said with a touch of pride. "I made it all, too, raised the cotton, picked it, carded it, spun it, and then wove the cotton and worked the figures on it afterward."
There was a large rose bush with branches, leaves and blossom worked in the cloth. The design was faithful to nature. "How did you do that," was asked. The old lady laughed and explained, "I laid my cloth over a counterpane that another lady had made and pressed it over the figures with one of the pewter plates we used then. The rose bush left the impression, and I worked it on my cloth. The other lady got her impression this way: She went out and dug up a rose bush from the garden, spread out the branches and leaves and roses and pressed her cloth upon them and got the impression which she worked in that way. We didn't have any stamping in those days."
"Did the Indians ever trouble you?"
"Oh yes; many a time the men would get all the women and children together and 'fort up,' and then go out to drive the Indians off. Most of the time they were peaceable, though, and we used to get our cooking lard of them."
Here both ladies indulged in a cheery laugh over the recollection. "It was bear's grease. The Indians used to bring it in tied up in a deerskin sewed up in a bag. We would buy it and put it into pots. After it became warm we put in slippery elm to clarify it. It would come out as clear and pure as oil. Then we would put it in a hide drawn up with a thong so as to make a bag with the top open. The oil never turned bad, and we dipped it out with a gourd and used it for cooking. Oh, it was nice! We didn't have crocks in those days. Most of our vessels were gourds, some of them big as buckets. I've seen 'em big enough to hold half a bushel."
"It was nice to bake the old-fashioned French pancakes with. You don't see those kind of pancakes nowadays very often. We used to take three dozen eggs, plenty of milk and a little flour. We baked them on a long-handled skillet. You took hold of the handle when you wanted to turn, gave the pan a little flirt and the cake would flop up and come down on the skillet. The cakes were thin as wafers, and we used to pile them up so high (indicating eighteen inches or thereabouts). Shrove Tuesday was the great day for pancakes. The table would be set the length of the room and nothing on it but pancakes and molasses. The man that ate the most was taken out by the others and tossed up and down. The most I recollect of any one man eating at a time was twenty-four."
"You had your amusements as well as your work in those days?"
"Oh, yes, but they were different from what you have now. On New Year's we had what we called 'guignanne.' The young men would disguise themselves and go to the house of somebody selected and fire their guns and sing."
These were the days of pure simplicity, and yet there was a gallantry and refinement often to be seen that even in these days one can only read about in the story of a people that are passed away, and regret that with them have gone many customs that are to be regretted. There is nothing now more interesting than the details of the habits and customs of these people, but we choose just here to resume the story of the early settlers and of their coming to this part of Illinois.
William N. Borah came with his father's family to Wayne County in the spring of 1820. His uncle, George Borah, had come with his family in 1818, and had made an improvement in the southern part of the county, and to this place, the two brothers of George came and spent the summer and made a crop, and in the fall of the same year had prepared places for their families and moved to that part of the county where they now live in Jasper Township.
Although William N. Borah was not yet three years old, he remembers distinctly passing through Fairfield as the family were on their way to their then new home, and that they stopped for dinner at an uncle's, named McMakin, some of whose descendants now live in Marion County. He remembers there were three houses in Fairfield at that time, Gen. Leech's, John Barnhill's and Dr. Park's. Leech's house was on the northeast corner of the public square; Dr. Park's residence is still standing on Main street a block west from the north side of the square. The entire settlement then in what is now Jasper Township or the Borah settlement was Enoch Beach, at one time a State Senator from this district and for many years a prominent and influential man; a good neighbor and friend, and an honorable, upright and valuable citizen. Then there was William Fraser and family. They were among the very earliest settlers in the county. He, at one time, was a Major in the State Militia, and in the very early day was rather a prominent man, but his fame waned somewhat before his death. The entire family have long since passed away. Enoch Beach reared a most excellent family and died about 1836. George Russell was one of these early settlers. His family of children was large. His eldest son, Macomb, grew up a much better educated youth than the average then of young men in the county. He started for California in 1849, and was killed on the way by Indians. Mrs. Russell was the main stay and prop of the whole family, and a most exemplary woman indeed. After her death, the old gentleman soon fell into bad health and finally got to telling some most wonderful stories about his own exploits. So extravagent were some of these, that they were very amusing and often furnished amusement for all the county. A fair specimen of these yarns was one about a bee-tree he found and cut. The honey, he said, occupied the hollow of a tree for about ten feet, and he took out a piece of the honey comb, and put it on his shoulder, and so heavy was it (being nearly ten feet long), that he would have to stop and rest every little while, and he would then set it on end and lean it up against a tree. Russell's fame for such fictions extended far and wide, and some yet believe that he told them over from morn till night until he eventually half-way believed them himself.
William and Jesse Cannon, brothers, were also in this settlement. Jesse was noted for his fun and practical jokes. He seemed to never tire of astonishing the men with some new prank. A neighbor once was trying to plow his horse on only grass feed, when Cannon told him to come to his place and get a load of fodder. The man came and tied up an immense bundle, and shouldered it and started for home. Jesse slipped up behind him with a "chuck of fire," and in a moment it was in a blaze, and the poor fellow threw it down and ran for dear life. He then helped him hitch up a wagon and gave him a wagon-load, and sent him home happy. Jesse Cannon was a most excellent neighbor and good man in every respect. About 1850, he started for California and died on the road. His grandson, Frank Cannon, is now a respected citizen of this county. The brother, old Uncle Billy Cannon, married William Fraser's widow, an aunt of Col. P. Hay, and died about 1839.
Walter Owens and Andrew Crews, the latter the progentior of the large and respectable Crews family of Wayne County, were among these early settlers in the Borah neighborhood. Walter Owens was an old man when he came West. He was a good man in every respect, and in the early times was noted as "the best corn-raiser" in the county; this then constituted about all there was in farming. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and lived and died without an enemy in the world. He removed to Rock Island, where he spent the last few years of his life.
Richard Hall came from Ohio and lived about two miles from Borah's. His only son, Jacob, is now a citizen of Fairfield. Richard Hall was born in New Jersey, near Trenton, on the 17th of November, 1775. His father, John T. Hall, was of English descent. His mother's maiden name was Ann Low, a sister of Judge Low, the father of Gov. Low of Iowa.
John T. Hall emigrated with his family to Warren County, Ohio, about the year 1793, and here he received his education and married Eleanor Foster, of Irish descent, in the year 1809, and after his marriage settled in Warren County, where he remained about four years, and then moved to Cincinnati, where he resided about two years, and in 1815 moved to Rising Sun, Ind., and in 1816 moved to Illinois, landed at Shawneetown and settled in White County, not far from Concord, Big Prairie, and purchased land in Wayne County, soon after his arrival in White County, and moved to his Wayne County farm in about 1818, where he built a cabin on Section 30, Town 1 south, Range 9 east. Here he made a large farm in its day, and here he remained until he died April 8, 1836. He had nine children, four boys and five girls. Three of the children died when small. He was a large, muscular man, six feet high, full chest and broad across the shoulders; weighed about 180 pounds; black hair, fair complexion and a sharp, hazel eye; fond of home and friends, kind to his children, but firm; such was his government over his children that a word was sufficient to do his will. He, indeed, was a man of but few words. His countenance indicated firmness. For the day and age in which he lived, he had a very fair education and was a very fine reader. His leisure hours were earnestly devoted to reading and study; was a member of church.
William Husk and James Dickinson were among these early settlers in this neighborhood. After residing here a few years they moved away, and we are told they went to White County.
This was the second settlement made in what is now Wayne County, and we have given the names of all of the first settlers there. The Borahs, Owenses, Crewses and Beaches, were all Kentuckians. Hall was from Ohio and Russell from North Carolina. Andrew Crews was quite an old man when he came to Illinois. He was badly crippled in his feet, and could never get about much. His sons were about all grown men. He died in 1831 or 1832. His sons are now all dead, and it is only his grand and great-grandchildren who are now remaining.
About 1824, there were new comers to this settlement of Samuel Borah, George and Thomas Wilson. Thomas Wilson died about 1849, and Samuel in 1880. Samuel Borah also died in 1880, leaving six daughters, all married. He had married three different wives, survived them all and was about eighty years old when he died.
William N. Borah, to whom we are indebted for this account of the early settlers, tells us that these men were all pious, God-fearing men, and were all members of some church except the two Cannons. He thinks Mr. Nesbitt one of the best men that ever came to the county. He was a man of fine intelligence and the very soul of integrity and manliness. His life was a continuous blessing to all with whom he came in contact. He died about 1878, having a daughter and son (Andrew) now living in Mt. Erie Township. We should have stated above that Mr. Nesbitt had settled in Mt. Erie.
In the Borah settlement, those who came before 1825, except those noted above as moving away, have continued there, and they and their descendants make that their home to this time. This is more strongly a feature of this settlement than any other in the county.
The early settlers in what is now Mr. Erie Township were a very worthy class of men, but they all, except Ramsey and Nesbitt and Michael Book, moved away after spending a few years in the county, and their places were taken by new comers.
As early as 1822, there was an effort to organize the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Tom's Prairie. Before any schoolhouses or churches were built, the services were held in the woods or groves, and at the cabins of the members. Woods N. Hamilton was among the first preachers. He was noted as a good and pious man, and an effective preacher.
The first schoolhouse William Borah remembers, about 1824, was about half a mile from John Borah's house and was built on his land. Here William went to his first school when he was not yet six years old, and where his childish mind was dazed in looking upon the first school teacher he remembers seeing -- G. W. Wilson. The schoolhouse was the rudest log hut, with dirt floor and clapboard roof. It was only a summer school, and these people evidently did not imagine there would ever arise the necessity for a school in the winter. Mr. Borah could not restrain a smile when he told of the first horse mill he ever saw, and the unmeasurable awe with which he looked at its vast and wonderful machinery. He thinks a flying steamboat of largest build would not now so utterly overwhelm him, as did Martin's horse mill, on Martin's Creek, where Sam Farris now lives, in all its wonderful and flying machinery. The sound of the slow revolving and crunching stones was the most awe-inspiring thing he ever heard. He now believes a wagon load of striped candy would not have hired him to touch the remotest part of this immense wonder.
In 1824, old man Gaston had a hand mill in Big Mound Prairie. The first water mill was put up just a little south of Nathan Atteberry's.
A man named William Ellidge was an early settler. He lived just west of where Fairfield now is. He was noted as a very shrewd trader in a small way, and if he made a good trade, as he generally did, if he only had his "old woman and gals" to help him, he was noted for sticking to it like a tick to a fat dog. On one occasion, two neighbors, Hefford and Sowenfrey, an Englishman, called at Ellidge's to buy a milch cow. The small herd was looked at, and Ellidge told them they could have their pick, except the cow with the long bag, for so much. He would not sell that particular cow because he had "sorter promised the old woman and gals not to." The buyers were thus induced to want that very cow, when the old woman began to scold and the girls to bawl and cry at a terrible rate. To make a long story short, that cow was paid for and driven off in triumph amid the wails and sobs of the girls, and the vehement anathemas of the wife. The happy possessors of the prize cow drove along the road and finally met a near neighbor of Ellidge, when he wanted to know what on earth they had got "that spoiled-bag cow for." He then gave them the history of the worthless brute, and their joy turned to disgust, and they drove the cow back. Ellidge met them, and told them that now the "old woman and gals" had been "peacefied," and he would not trade back and they must keep their bargain.
The first settlement in what is now the northeast part of Wayne County, and in the present Mount Erie Township, was composed of Alexander Nesbitt, Alexander Ramsey, James Ramsey, William Farmer, William McCormick and Michael Book. These people left Hopkins County, Ky., in 1816, and came overland to White County, and located in Seven Mile Prairie, near where Enfield now is. Here they remained two years, and then, in 1818, constructed a pirogue, and started up the Little Wabash, to the mouth of what is known as Miller's Creek, and fixed their camp in a grove at the foot of the hill on which Mount Erie is built, on Christmas Eve. They named the place Ramsey's Grove. Here the party remained and rested for a short time, and hunted game, and at the same time hunted out each his future home. Alexander Ramsey, Sr., fixed his home in this grove. His son, Alexander, improved a place a little east of Mount Erie, near where the Little Gem Mill now is. Alexander Nesbitt improved a place about a mile and a half west of Mount Erie. Michael Book's family resided in this part of the county for fifteen years, and then removed to Big Mound Township, where he died, October, 1858. Nesbitt eventually removed to the village of Mount Erie, and died there in 1878. Alexander Ramsey, Sr., died in 1857, and his son, Alexander, died there in 1851.
A gathering of the old settlers of Wayne County was held May 7, 1880, at William H. Carter's residence, three miles east of Fairfield, to celebrate the eighty-third birthday of Mrs. Hannah Carter, mother of William H. and John R. Carter. The day was also the sixty-fourth anniversary of Mrs. Carter's marriage with William A. Carter, who died in 1870. The Press gave this list of the old settlers that were at two of the tables on this occasion. Twelve of the oldest guests sat down to the first table. We give below the names of these pioneers, their ages, and the length of time they have resided in Wayne County:
| AGE. | IN CO. | |
| George Merritt | 81 | 64 |
| Dica Files | 70 | 62 |
| Betsey Campbell | 74 | 45 |
| Harriett Boze | 73 | 55 |
| Sarah Houston | 75 | 62 |
| Sally Moffitt | 78 | 64 |
| Malinda Day | 87 | 61 |
| Hannah Carter | 83 | 52 |
| Betsey Goodwin | 76 | 66 |
| Margaret Shaw | 75 | 46 |
| Mary Holloway | 70 | 25 |
| Margaret Bland | 79 | 50 |
| ____
|
||
| Total ages: | 921 |
The average age of the twelve is about seventy-seven years. A
majority of the old ladies were sprightly and active for their
years. That so many of one neighborhood of such extreme age have
lived in our county for an average of about fifty-five years each,
speaks strongly for the healthfulness of our county. A majority
of these twelve guests came to Illinois from Kentucky.
The second table was occupied as follows:
| AGE. | IN CO. | |
| Nathan Atteberry | 76 | 61 |
| Dr. R. L. Boggs | 68 | 41 |
| W. T. Mathews | 74 | 44 |
| Benjamin Brown | 75 | 21 |
| T. W. Elliott | 62 | 18 |
| John D. Simpson | 64 | 53 |
| James Bland | 53 | 50 |
| Mrs. James Bland | 51 | 44 |
| Polly Grey | 61 | 20 |
| Elizabeth Butler | 66 | 66 |
The conversation at the table turned largely upon reminiscences, and some of these were both amusing and interesting, as follows:
Dr. Boggs' memory of the early church was quite vivid. In 1840, a lady came in from the East who had been accustomed to "wearing brass ear bobs." She had been a member of the M. E. Church, but was denied admission here until the holes in her ears had grown up. Dr. B. referred to this alleged fact as a gratifying proof of the greater purity of the church in former times. Without deciding as to whether or not the Doctor is right, we are disposed to approve this action of fathers of the pioneer church.
James Bland said that he was grown before he knew that fruit could be kept through the winter in cans. Which remark reminded Dr. Boggs of the fact that he was fifteen years old before he knew that sugar could be kept in anything but a gourd.
H. F. Vaughn's first suit of store clothes were bought of Thomas Cooper. His father sold castor beans to Mr. C. for 50 cents per bushel, and paid 50 cents per yard for Kentucky jeans.
Dr. Boggs, in the days of other years, owed Ed Butler $25, and Mr. Butler wanted the money "to put in Slocumb's hands where it would be safe." Dr. B. didn't have the cash, but went to Josiah Reed to borrow it. Mr. Reed's stocking happened to be empty of silver just then, but he sold five cows for $5 each, and loaned the money to the Doctor.
As late as 1835, William A. Carter sold cattle to David Wright, one of the pioneer merchants, at these figures: Cows, $4; good yoke of steers, $16. These were gold and silver prices. In State paper money, double these figures were the ruling rate.
Dick Lock brought the first wagon to Wayne County. It was one of the good old fashion, with a long bed shaped like a new moon, very high before and behind, and with a holding capacity almost equal to a modern freight car. This first wagon was not only a great curiosity, but was a decided public blessing. As one of the old ladies said: "There was a master ripin' and tearin' to get Dick Lock's wagon to gather corn with." Sleds were the most convenient vehicles before the advent of Dick Lock's historic wagon.
Craig Wright is fifty-seven years old; was born in and has always lived in Barnhill Township.
John D. Simpson has been in Wayne over fifty years, and remembers when Fairfield consisted of only two houses in a crab-apple thicket.
John R. Carter, as long as he lived at home, never had $5 worth of store clothing. The family made all their cloth of all kinds; tanned their own leather and made their own shoes. Mr. Carter never sported a pair of store shoes until grown.
Nathan Atteberry was born in South Carolina August 10, 1803, and in childhood was removed from there by his parents to Kentucky, where he remained until 1820, when he came to Wayne County, where he has remained ever since. He was first married in 1824 in this county. He is a hale and cheery old man, whose mind and body are strong, vigorous and active. His biography may be found in another part of this work. At the house of Mr. Atteberry, on the 10th day of last August, was gathered some of the friends and old settlers to celebrate his eightieth birthday. Among the guests were the following:
Richard L. Boggs, born in Kentucky March 6, 1811; came to Wayne County, Ill., in 1834; a physician by profession.
Pradi S. Meeks, born in Kentucky April 20, 1814; came to Wayne County in 1833.
Joseph Odell, born in Kentucky March 24, 1813. Came to Wayne County in 1826. A farmer.
Edward Butler, born in Kentucky July 14, 1816. Came to Wayne County in 1825. A farmer.
Silas Wilson, born in Kentucky November 3, 1821. Came to Wayne County in 1838. A farmer.
Andrew C. Wright, born in Wayne County January 29, 1823. A farmer.
Margaret Ann Blissett, wife of Pradi S. Meeks, was born in Wayne County June 14, 1819.
Jane Day, wife of Edward Butler, was born in White County November 17, 1818.
Anna Gray, wife of Gambrel Tucker, was born in Kentucky August 25, 1820. Came to Wayne County in 1836.
Elizabeth Shrewsbury, widow of Lemuel H. Harris, late deceased, was born in Kentucky August 16, 1822. Came to Wayne County in 1841. Was married in 1842, by W. W. George, Justice of the Peace.
Sarah Renfrow, widow of Asa Atteberry, who died many years ago, was born in Georgia September 12, 1812. Came to Wayne County in 1829.
Sarah Ann Files, widow of William Butler, deceased, was born in Kentucky February 25, 1814. Came to Illinois in childhood.
Eliza Emmick, widow of Elder Benjamin S. Meeks, deceased, was born in Gallatin County October 6, 1827.
George Borah came with his family to Wayne County in 1818. Nathan N. Borah, his son, like many of this old and large family, is one of the most estimable citizens of the county. George Borah's family consisted of children by three different wives, having married his first wife in Kentucky. There were, of the three sets of children, twenty in all. Nelson N. was a son of the first wife, and was two years and four days old when the family came to this county. He was born in Nelson County, Ky., Septmber 6, 1818.
George Borah was one of the pioneer merchants of Wayne County, first opening a store in Burnt Prairie, within two miles of where the town of Liberty now is.
Nathan Atteberry came to Wayne County and settled in Turney's Prairie in the fall of 1819. In the party were the two brothers of Atteberry and their families. Their nearest neighbors were Reason Blessitt and his family of four children, George Close, William Watkins, Green Lee, Henry Coonrod, Michael Turney, Isaiah Turney, Thomas Turney, and John Turney. These were all here when the Atteberrys came, and had been on the grounds the most of them long enough to have gone to keeping house in their rude cabins.
Isaiah Turney taught a school in this prairie in 1820, and about this time Washington Faris also taught a school there.
Mr. A. remembers attending a general muster and election in 1820, where the militia officers for the county were elected. It was held at the house of Washington Faris, just north of Fairfield. One of the Turneys was elected Captain, and Justus Beach was elected commander, vice Gen. Samuel Leech. Mr. Atteberry afterward became a Captain and then a Major in the militia, where he served two years. James Clark was made Brigadier General of the militia.
Nathan Atteberry was a bound boy to old John Turney, and by the terms of the indenture was sent to school three months, and this was the total of his facilities in this line. His recollection is that George Close raised the first wheat ever grown in the county.
W. W. George was born in South Carolina November 15, 1810. Removed to Kentucky about 1818; remained there until 1824, when he removed to Illinois and settled in Gallatin County, and removed from there to White County, where he lived until 1830, when he removed to Wayne County, where he has resided ever since. Was married in Hamilton County, Ill., November 1, 1827, to Miss Mary Maberry. United with the M. E. Church in 1842, in which he lived for several years, and afterward united with the First Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, where he remained until his death, which took place September 16, 1883.
He was the father of six children, who arrived at man or womanhood, five of whom, Mary Shaw, Martha Atteberry, Olive Way, Meshech George and William W. George are still living, and one, Helen Hendershott, is dead. Only two of his children, Mary Shaw and Martha Atteberry, are living here.
Mr. George was continuously in public life from the time he attained his majority until his death. During this time there was one short period of eighteen months, during which he held no office. He was elected a Justice of the Peace before he attained the age of twenty-one, and his commission was delayed until he arrived at legal age. He held the office of Justice forty-five years; was County Judge four years; School Commissioner six years; was also Drainage Commissioner for Wayne County, and two years Commissioner on River Improvements undertaken by the State.
His father, John George, was born in Ireland, and when a child came to South Carolina, where he grew to manhood and married Mary Stone. She was born in South Carolina, but was of Irish parentage. The father was in the war of 1812, after which, in 1816, he removed to Kentucky, where he remained until 1824, at which time he removed to Illinois and settled in Gallatin County. In the last-named county, and in White County, he spent the remainder of his life. >From White county he went to the Black Hawk war, serving until its close. He died in White County.
David Wright, 4th, came from New Jersey to Wayne County in 1819, and settled and improved a farm three miles south of Fairfield. He started the first tan-yard in the county, using a wooden trough, which in time he increased to fourteen vats, in which he did an extensive business for those days --- tanning all kinds of hides, even hog skins. The old family Bible, now in the possession of Charles W. Wright, is covered with fawn skin tanned in his tannery. He soon opened a store and also built a horse mill, each of which were about the first of their kind in the county. People came fifteen and twenty miles to his mill on horseback, often camping to wait for their turn. The product of the mill was bolted by hand. D. W. Barkley, a grandson, says he has both lively and painful recollections of assisting in this part of the business. At least he remembers it was not so agreeable as driving the horses and riding on the beam. Mr. Wright had his merchandise hauled from Shawneetown, Mount Vernon, Ind., and Evansville, and his produce was taken to Beach Bluff and Mill Shoals and shipped to New Orleans by flat-boat. This mostly consisted of venison hams, wild turkey, honey, deer and coon skins, etc. In those days, two-horse wagons, in which were to be seen teams in harness of which not a particle of iron was used -- all home made leather, shuck collars, and hames cut from the root of a tree. When the family first came to the county, as did all others, they pounded meal in a stump mortar. The first meal from a mill was procured at Shawneetown, and until Mr. Wright's mill was put up, the nearest mill was at Carmi.
Mr. Wright was a fine specimen of the hardy, thrifty pioneers. His industry never flagged, and his energy was tireless -- all of which were most admirable qualities for aiding in opening up and developing the new country. His other good qualities were only equaled by his widely known integrity, and a morality and uprightness that marked his whole life and drew around him an extended circle of warm friends.
His children were Thomas Curtis, Eliza Atkinson (afterward Mrs. J. G. Barkley), David, 5th, Sarah Ann (afterward Mrs. Dr. R. L. Boggs), Charles Williams, now living three miles north of Fairfield, on the place first improved by his father nearly sixty-five years ago.
David Wright, 4th, died March 14, 1865.
Andrew Crews came to Wayne County while Illinois was yet a Territory, from Kentucky. Some years later, he was followed by his five sons, who are described as very tall, erect, strong and healthy men. They were farmers.
Mathew, the oldest of the five, had a family of thirteen children, eight of whom were the result of a second marriage. William was the oldest of the thirteen.
William had a family of six children who grew to maturity, one of whom died in the army. Joseph J. is the oldest of these. The father died in 1862, and the mother in 1877. Joseph was educated in the common school, and from delicate health was much his own teacher; taught nine years. Read law under Hon. James McCartney.
He was admitted in 1871, and has practiced in Fairfield since. Married in Fairfield to Eliza Shaeffer, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Shaeffer. She was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, May 10, 1855. They have four children --- Lillian, Edith, Carl and Bertha.
The first schoolhouse in Tom's Prairie was in 1822, and George Wilson was the first teacher. The first patrons were the families of John Borah, Thomas Wilson, William Frazer, Richard Hall, John Pritchett, Alexander Crews, Walter Owen, Enoch Beach, and Mr. Bradshaw, whose youngest son is now a resident of Fairfield. The first marriage in this portion of the county was Owen Morton with Mary Crews, and the first death was that of a Mr. King. The first preacher there was Wood M. Hamilton, of the Cumberland Presbyterians.
George Wilson, the first school teacher as named above, was at one time Sheriff of the county. He is remembered as an excellent, good man. He died about 1845.
John Borah died in 1841, leaving William, Valentine, Baily, John and Milton, sons. The latter went to California.
Alexander Campbell was a member of the Legislature in 1822. He was an illiterate man, but had good sense and an honest, warm heart. He has many descendants yet in the county. One of his sons now resides in Springfield, Ill., and one of his daughters and many of his grandchildren are yet in the county. Among the early weddings of the county was the marriage of John Moffitt to one of Campbell's daughters.
Beach Bluff was settled many years ago by a man named Hampton Weed. Mr. Weed built a mill at the place, and also sold goods away back forty-five years ago. It was then the most important place in Wayne County. Mr. Weed was a very enterprising man. At Beach Bluff the people would build flat boats and load them with pork and corn and float them down to New Orleans.
The hardy explorers who first discovered this portion of the great Mississippi Valley, told the world in glowing terms of its rich lands, of its great old forests, and the beautiful and rich prairies, spread out like an undulating sea, and then they believed that all over this valley were inexhaustible mines of the precious metals. These were the almost fairy legends that they gave the world, and that brought the first sporadic efforts of men of wealth and political power to populate this country, and they could possess the richest empire in the world. But all these attempts at making permanent settlements failed, and, as a rule, bankrupted the daring projectors. It is doubtless best that this fate attended them; and thus the grand field was left unoccupied until the real pioneer --- the hunter --- was lured here by the abundance of wild game, and for this he came with all his glorious instincts for freedom, and his resolute daring to meet the savage upon his chosen fields and beat him down and drive him off.
The Indian here now is but a memory. He accomplished nothing, and had he continued unmolested here a million years he would most probably only have bred wretchedness and the vilest ignorance and savagery. Unlike the negro, he was ready to die, but never to be a slave, and the one only record that he has ever made that is worth remembrance was that he never was a slave. But he perished with that barbaric stoicism that rendered his exit above the reproach of contempt.
The wild game has mostly gone with the Indian. The swift growth of our cities is not nearly as unparalleled as the rapid disappearance of our game animals. One hundred years ago, eastern North America was the finest game country in the world. "This valley is a hunter's paradise," says Col. Boone in his account of the expedition to the mouth of the Kentucky River. "Our dogs started three troops of deer in less than half an hour; on the river we saw tracks of elk, bears and buffalo, and the thickets along the slope were full of turkeys and mountain pheasants. From the cliffs above the junction, our guide showed us the wigwams of the Miamis. About eight miles to the northwest, we could see the smoke of their camp fires rising from the foot of a rocky bluff, but the hill country in the east and the great plains in the west, north and northeast, resembled a boundless ocean of undulating woodlands."
Northwest of the "Blue Ridge" buffaloes grazed in countless heards. During the heat of the midsummer months they used to retreat to the highlands, and followed the ridges in the southward migration, as the approach of winter gradually crowned the heights with snow. Along the backbones of all the main chains of the sunken Alleghanies these trails can still be distinctly traced for hundreds of miles. "Buffalo Springs," "Buffalo Gap," and scores of similar names still attest the presence of the American bison in localities that are now fully 2,000 miles from the next buffalo range. The center of our buffalo population is moving northwest at an alarming rate. Herds, in the old-time sense of the word, can now be found only in British North America, and here and there along the frontier of our Northwestern Territories. In cold winter, small troops, of fifteen or twenty are occasionally seen in the Texas "Panhandle," in Western Utah, and in the valley of the Upper Arkansas, but nowhere on this side of the Mississippi. Their days are numbered. They cannot hide, and their defensive weapons are useless against mountain riflemen. Pot-hunters follow them to their far Northern retreats; the International Railroad will soon carry a swarm of sportsmen to their Mexican reservations, and in fifty years from now their happy pasture grounds will probably be reduced to the inclosed grass plots of a few zoological gardens.
Panthers are still found in twenty-six or twenty-seven States, but chiefly at the two opposite ends of our territory --- in Florida and Oregon. In the Southern Alleghanies they are still frequent enough to make the Government bounty a source of income to the hunters of several highland counties. Wolves still defy civilization in some of the larger prairie States, and in the wild border country between North Carolina and East Tennessee. But, unlike panthers, they do not confine themselves to a special locality. Hunger makes them peripatetic, and in cold winters their occasional visits can be looked for in almost any mountain valley between Southern Kentucky and Alabama.
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| Marion | Clay | Richland | |
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Edwards | |
| Franklin | Hamilton | White | |
