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NEWS ARTICLES
Union County Illinois Genealogy Trails 1915-1919 NEWS ARTICLES  B. H.
Anderson's Birthday, Jan 8, 1915
Winter of the Deep Snow, Jan 8, 1915 Arm Torn Off, Mar 12, 1915 First Woman to Serve on Jury, Mar 26, 1915 Her Honor Vindicated, Apr 16, 1915 Couple Re-Wed After Being Separated in Their Youth, June 11, 1915 Inherits Millions, Sep 17, 1915 Liberty Bell Visits Anna, Dec 26, 1915 The Myrtle Richards Case, 1916 Eighty-nine Years Old, June 2, 1916 Dr. Dora B. Carpenstein, Sept 22, 1916 Women Vote in Union County, Nov 10, 1916 F. M. Sperry Reminiscence, Mar 9, 1917 Woman Controls 75 Votes, Nov 17, 1916 Former Resident Writes, April 26, 1918 Boys Arrested, June 14, 1918 Stroke, Aug 16 1918 School Days, Sep 6, 1918 Old Church to Become a Residence, Jan 17, 1919 But Now They're Reconciled, Feb 21, 1919 Tax Money Spent, May 2, 1919 Hot Collins, May 2, 1919 Cotton, Oct 10, 1919 Civil War Pension, Oct 17, 1919 Green's Old Ferry, Dec 5, 1919
B.
H. Anderson Celebrates 77th Birthday Transcribed and submitted by Darrel
Dexter
B. H. Anderson
was 77 years old Tuesday (5 Jan 1915) and quite hale and hearty looking
in splendid health. To
celebrate his birthday he ordered the Gazette
sent for a year to his brother Matt at Piggott, Ark., where he has long
resided. Mr. Anderson and others noticed on Tuesday
morning that the fog had frozen on the trees, something that he says he
had never seen before. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois,
Friday, 8 Jan 1915)
Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter
We often hear the old settlers refer to "the winter
of the deep snow." Fifty
years ago Illinois citizens were wont to refer to events as having
happened before or after "the winter of the deep snow."
This great weather drama occurred during the winter
of 1830-31. On
Christmas Eve, 1830, it began snowing, the storm coming from the
northwest, and it kept on snowing.
Later the weather grew bitterly cold and the wind
became a veritable hurricane. The
snow began piling high in drifts or was sifted deep over the prairies,
as far as the eye could see.
For days and days this condition continued. Rail fences entirely
disappeared and the snow reached the lower branches of the trees. Domestic animals and game
were first to suffer, for all vegetation was buried deep and the steams
were locked in ice and filled from bank to bank with great drifts of
snow. The animals
had neither food, water, nor shelter.
Thousands of domestic and wild animals perished. Settlers' cabins were lost
in the terrifying expanse of snow.
Day after day for weeks the mercury registered 10
degrees below zero or lower. Hunters
caught away from home reached their homes with difficulty or perished
on the prairies or in the forests.
Many of the bodies of those perishing were not found
until spring had melted away their snow graves.
For sixty days there was an almost unbroken
succession of sunless days. In
the central part of the state the average depth of the snow was three
or four feet. On
top was a thick, hard crust which bore the weight of the heaviest man. Wild game in Illinois
decreased rapidly as a result of the big snow.
Unable to run because their small feet sank where
men were borne up, thousands of deer were slaughtered for food, others
wantonly.
Much game perished of exposure and starvation, and
for years afterwards their bones lay upon the prairies whitening in the
sun. Thousands of
wolves perished, and when the snow disappeared they were skinned by the
settlers and their skins made into roes and fur coats. --Hillsboro News
In Southern Illinois, which in 1830 was a thickly
wooded section, and also by reason of its sheltering hills, conditions
could not have been so rigorous either for man or beast. The wild game could
doubtless find refuge and comfort in the dense forests, thickets, and
brakes, while numerous springs furnished water if the lakes and streams
were frozen solid. At
any rate, so far as we know there is neither record nor tradition in
Union County of the deep snow and bitter weather of the winter of
1830-31. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 8 Jan 1915)
Transcribed and submitted by
Darrel Dexter
Claude Roseme, 20 years old, got his right hand
caught in a belt at his saw mill about eight miles northwest of
Jonesboro last Monday evening and his hand and part of the arm were
literally torn off, hanging by a shred of skin and flesh. The arm was also broken
above the elbow. Roseme was wearing a glove which caught
in some way and his hand was drawn into the machinery.
Dr. A. J. Lyerly
and Dr. Karl D. Sanders were
summoned from Jonesboro. The
accident happened at 5:30 and they did not reach the sufferer until
10:30. They
amputated the arm below the elbow and reduced the fracture above, and
the patient at last accounts was doing well.
Friends were considering the advisability of
removing him to a hospital at Anna or Cairo.
Roseme and two of
his brothers own and operate the saw mill mentioned, which is in a
remote and rough locality. They
live in temporary shacks near the mill.
Their home is in Cairo. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 12 Mar 1915)
First
Woman to Serve on a Jury: Dr. Minnie Sanders, of Jonesboro,
in 1891 Transcribed and submitted by
Darrel Dexter
Here in the United States a woman is not only a
person in the eyes of the law, but every woman is also a personage in
the eyes of everybody by common consent.
However in England that she should be classed even
as a person seems to excite incredulous amazement, but since the coming
of Lydia Pankhurst and her militant
suffragettes that view may have been changed.
In the spring of 1891 a woman was brought before the
county court of Union county, Illinois, at Jonesboro, to be tried on
the question of her sanity or insanity.
The statute of Illinois at that time required that
in such cases the jury should consist of six persons one of whom, at
least, should be a practicing physician.
There was no male practitioner of medicine in
Jonesboro that day, and the officer who was sent out to serve the
venire for the six jurymen returned as the physician Miss Dr. Minnie Sanders, who was a regular graduate and
well equipped practitioner of medicine in Jonesboro.
Judge Crawford
who was presiding decided that under the statute Dr. Sanders
was eligible to serve as a juryman and had her sworn as foreman of the
jury, which duty she discharged. Incidentally,
the woman tried was declared insane.
The newspapers at the time give the matter
considerable publicity, not only in Illinois, but throughout the United
States, on account of it being the first recorded case of a woman
serving as a physician juryman and also from the odd circumstances that
she was considered a "person" in the meaning of the law and therefore
eligible to serve.
Finally Mr. Noble Campbell
of the London Lancet, a widely famed medical journal, solicited a
recital of the facts from Dr. Sanders
and acknowledged their receipt in the following note:
"36 Lorrimore Road, Bennington Park, S. E., London,
Eng., April 22, '91.-Mr. Noble Campbell
presents his most respectful compliments to Dr. Minnie Sanders,
and begs to thank her most heartily for her kindness and courtesy in
forwarding particulars of her career in the practice of medicine. He encloses a cutting from
a London journal which may prove interesting.
The cutting follows, Anna appearing instead of
Jonesboro through the circumstances of dating:
"According to an Illinois judge, a lady is really
allowed to be called a "person!" Is
it not a surprising honour? I
know a female of some what lower class in life has long been spoken of
as a "young person," and the term, in many novels, and in a few cases
of real life, has been applied by ill-bred women to governesses and
companions; but to be verily admitted by the law to be a "person" is
indeed a dignity of which we had never dreamt in our wildest flights of
imagination! Still
it is true. At a
trial at Anna, Illinois, the law required a jury of "six persons," of
which at least one was to be a physician.
Physicians seem scarce in that particular town with
the essentially feminine name, for no male doctor could be found. Dr. Minnie Sanders,
however, came to the rescue, and under the circumstances (I suppose
otherwise the jury would have to have been dismissed) Judge Crawford decided that Miss Sanders
was a person." (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 26 Mar 1915)
Couple
Re-wed after Being Separated in Their Youth Transcribed and submitted by
Darrel Dexter Edward Lee
of Jonesboro and Mrs. Minnie Gregory
of Cape Girardeau, Mo., were married at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles N. Mozley in the latter
city Tuesday, June 2, 1915, by Rev. Frank Y. Campbell,
pastor of the First Baptist Church of that city.
A splendid dinner was served by Mrs. Mozley
in honor of the occasion. Afterwards
the couple drove to Jonesboro, arriving home at 5:30 p.m. Story books tell of strange things
that are supposed to come to pass, but the real ones are still more
strange. On the 13th
day of July in the year 1882, in Jonesboro, when both were young and
lacking somewhat in good sense and judgment, and both possessing
something of a temper, this same couple were married.
They had a misunderstanding and separated shortly
after, and for 27 years had neither seen nor heard anything of each
other. In the
meantime both had remarried. Last
fall they met by chance on a train, Mrs. Gregory
being on her way to Illinois to visit a friend and incidentally to
escape from the cruel treatment of a brutal husband who had threatened
her life. Mr. Lee was at this time a single man again. Mrs. Gregory
afterwards came to Illinois and fell ill.
Mr. Lee learning
of her condition, and knowing that she was alone nursed her through her
illness and naturally the old love returned in all its intensity,
softened by the memory of long years of separation.
Owing to the circumstances of the illness of Mrs. Gregory these facts were revealed largely
and Mr. Lee was subjected to much
criticism, and he could not explain without betraying the confidence of
Mrs. Gregory.
The matter of she and her husband was placed in the
hands of Attorney C. N. Mozley of
Cape Girardeau, who went to Hayti, Mo., her former home, and made a
personal investigation. There
he found the entire citizenship in sympathy with Mrs. Gregory
and that her story of ill treatment had not half been told. Suit for divorce was
instituted and easily won upon the testimony of former neighbors who
voluntarily appeared in her behalf.
The rest of the story can be imagined. This couple, still loving
each other devotedly, decided to right as far as possible the wrong
they had done each other in their foolish youth and were remarried as
stared above, and are now happily at home in Jonesboro to all their
friends. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 11 June 1915)
Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter Alonzo G. Pilehard,
of Alto Pass, and his brother, Carmi A. Pilehard,
and his sister, Mrs. Harriet E. Talley,
of Olney, Ill., have fallen heir to a fortune of six million dollars,
$2,000,000 each, by the death of their uncle, Alonzo G. Weaver,
of Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio. It is said the fortune will be
deposited by the probate court of Meigs County, Ohio, next April. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 17 Sep 1915) Transcribed and submitted by
Darrel Dexter A crowd of between five and six
thousand people was here last Saturday night to see the Liberty Bell. More than two thousand
were children of school age. They
formed a line on Main street and each carried a small flag. At eight o'clock they
marched to the railroad crossing where they waited until almost nine
o'clock for the bell to arrive. The
committee appointed to carry out the program performed its work
efficiently. It was
a very impressive and instructive evening, especially for the children. The committee on the train
distributed tracts explaining the dimensions and various other
interesting things concerning the Liberty Bell.
Congressman E. E. Denison
was on the train going through the entire 25th
congressional district. The
people of this county are very appreciative of the kindness of the
committee of Philadelphians in stopping the bell for us. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 26 Dec 1915)
Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter
We were greatly
surprised by the filing of a suit against us in the circuit court of
Union County, Illinois, early in August 1914, by Myrtle Richards, for
$10,000. The allegations of the declaration (omitting formal
expressions) were, in substance, that the plaintiff, a passenger, was
in the act of alighting from a passenger train at Ullin, Illinois, on
July 4th, 1914, when the train “suddenly and violently started
forward,” throwing her to the platform, resulting in greatly
bruising, hurting, wounding, and crippling her, and in dislocating,
bruising and misplacing her womb; and that her health was thereby
permanently impaired!
The case came on trial in November following. The plaintiff and one Stella Jordan, then residing in the Woods building at the corner of Independence and Frederick streets, Cape Girardeau, Mo., testified in line with the averments of the declaration insofar as the facts at the train were concerned. The railroad company, at the time, was at the disadvantage of not knowing the identity of any non-employee, or citizen witnesses. She testified that prior to the alleged injury at Ullin the night of July 4, 1914, she enjoyed good health; that the same night following the accident at her home, premature menstruation set up; that between 2 and 3 o’clock the next day—in the afternoon—“two pieces”—one almost as large as her hand and another, a blood clot, etc.—passed from her; that she was laid up in bed for several weeks; that since that date she is afflicted with “nervousness” which she is unable to control. Her father and mother propped up this structure by testifying in harmony along health lines. Our defense along the line of injury was a preponderant showing that the alleged injuries did not occur as stated, but that plaintiff was cataleptic or an epileptic. The two doctors who testified to having examined her July 5th and subsequently were clear that the alleged distressing conditions on July 5th and immediately afterward were not present. The award of the jury, however, which was a verdict for thirty-seven hundred dollars, plainly indicated that body’s relief. Judgment for the sum was entered. The case was thereupon taken to the Illinois Appellate Court which returned it to the circuit court for a new trial on account of an erroneous instruction. The railroad company came perilously near having to pay this judgment and the costs, or about $4,000 but Providence was with the company. At the new trial in May, 1916, the showing was abundant that this woman did not fall at all. The evidence upon the point, coming from unbiased, upright citizens who saw her deliberately step off of the cars and walk away, was so conclusive that it was plainly evident that the company would not be held. The jury, however, returned a verdict for one thousand dollars. The trial judge set the verdict aside and awarded a new trial on account of errors in the course of the examination of witnesses. The new trial would have come up in next November in ordinary course. Counsel, however, realizing that ultimate recovery was extremely doubtful sought a compromise. We recently paid three hundred dollars with the understanding that plaintiff should pay all court costs and her own witnesses. A judgment stands against her for more than three hundred dollars in costs. The suit should never have been brought. But hard is the road of the schemer and speculator. (Illinois Central Magazine, 1916, pages 58 and 60)
Transcribed and submitted by
Darrel Dexter Mrs. C. C. Goodman
reached her eighty-ninth milestone in the journey last Sunday, and in
honor of the occasion a number of the relatives gathered at her home on
North Main street for dinner. Those
present were her brother, Michael N. Heilig,
hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three, and Mrs. Heilig,
her daughters, Mrs. John C. Riles
and Mrs. Ellen F. Linn, and Mr. Riles and her granddaughter, Mrs. George
J. Heilig.
Rev. and Mrs. S. A. Zinebeck
were also present. Grandmother Goodman
was born in North Carolina but has resided in this county since her
early womanhood. While
naturally she is feeble with the weight of her years, but with the love
of children and grandchildren enfolding her and the affectionate esteem
of countless friends made during her long pilgrimage.
She still finds life worth living. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 2 June 1916)
A Noted
Drugless Healer of Chicago Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter
Dr. Dora
B. Carpenstein, a noted
drugless healer of Chicago will locate permanently in Jonesboro on and
after Sept. 20th. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 22 Sep 1916)
Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter Probably the oldest woman voting in
the county was Mrs. Rebecca Grear,
who is in her 90th year.
Mrs. Mary Rendleman,
83 years old, also voted here, and both of these venerable ladies votes
for Wilson. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 10 Nov 1916)
Former
Resident of Anna Writes of Old Times Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter Pittsburg, Pa., March 2,--Editor
Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Ill.: Dear Sir: I do not known
who the editor of the Gazette is now, but I know that it has always
been the oldest paper in Union County and that it has had some good
editors. My uncle,
the Hon. D. L. Phillips, edited it
for a time. He was
afterwards owner and editor in chief of the Illinois State Journal of
Springfield, and his old friend, Abraham Lincoln,
came down to Jonesboro to help him when he ran for congress against
John A. Logan.
D. L. Phillips
was one of that historical body of editors known in Illinois history as
the "Anti-Nebraska Editorial Convention," which met at Decatur on Feb.
22, 1856. One of
the earliest acts of Mr. Lincoln
after his election to the presidency was to appoint D. L. Phillips U. S. marshal at Springfield. Phillips
had been a preacher and school teacher in St. Clair County. He was left an orphan when
a small boy. His
father, Capt. John Phillips, a
soldier in the War of 1812, was a native of Lynchburg, Va., and a man
of more than ordinary education for his time and district being a
graduate of Harvard College. Captain
Phillips left a widow on his
little farm in Richland Township, St. Clair County, with 13 children. David being the fourth. He
had to work hard when young clearing ground of timber, cutting wood,
clerking for a toll gate, teaching school and studying theology,
finally going to Jonesboro where in 1816 his ancestors "rendezvoused"
on their way from Tennessee when they led a colony of men, women and
children to what is now Williamson county, then in what was known as
the "Northwest Territory" and called by the colony from Tennessee the
"Spanish country." Later
his father, Capt. John Phillips,
moved to St. Clair County where he died a little past middle life. Years ago, when I was a boy, I
lived at Anna. I
was there soon after the town was named for a Jonesboro lady, the wife
of W. Davie.
He was a great friend of mine when I was 8, 9, and
10 years old. He
had a store in Anna and I made it a point every time I could to meet
Mr. Davie at his store on the east
side of the I. C. railroad and ride with him in his large, low buggy to
the "dead line" as we kids called the line of separation between Anna
and Jonesboro. Many
a hard battle has been fought in the distant past between scrappy Anna
"rat" and Jonesboro "pukes." I
was a small kid but I was in several skirmishes.
Mr. Davie gave
me good instruction and told me a great deal about his early life and
struggles. He said
that he had taught school and advised me to get as good an education as
possible. He had
his store then in Anna east of the railroad in what
was called the "hospital building," a hospital for soldiers who had
smallpox, etc. In the basement fronting on Main Street was a friend of
mine, a saddler, who read law as he sewed harness, saddles, etc. He won my heart when he
made ma a rawhide whip about six feet long on which he had woven a
"cracker" that cracked like a rifle.
This harness maker was later the Hon. Matt Inscore, a man of more than ordinary
ability as a lawyer, orator and legislator.
When in Springfield he was regarded as a well
informed, practical lawyer and orator, with an analytical mind that was
very like Abraham Lincoln. Judge Crawford
and others of the Bar of Union County can testify as to his great
natural ability. There
is a most romantic story connected with his early life.
Mr. Bouton, late
editor of the Gazette, was a friend of mine.
He was a greater editor than people realized. He possessed qualities of
the real journalist, and if he had located in a city he would have won
great distinction. He
was not very ambitious as a journalist.
The early history of any place is always
interesting, but since I have aided in county, state, and national
biographical and historical work in all the important states, and
compiled historical sketches of the great men and native sons of
different cities, I am reminded of many men and women of Egypt and
especially of Union County, who with less advantages have shown more
ability. Of course,
I do not include those of my generation. I started to write you about the
conditions of the country as I am told and what I see, but I will just
ask the Jonesboro Gazette to encourage the people-farmers, fruit and
vegetable growers-to get all the seed they can for potatoes, early and
late; raise tomatoes, spinach, turnips, cabbage, onions, beans, peas,
etc. and cultivate them on ground that will yield for there will be a
scarcity and they can make money. . . . (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 9 Mar 1917)
Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter Quincy, Ill., Nov. 6.--Mrs. Sarah Lierly, 87 years old, has command of more
than 75 votes for Wilson tomorrow. The votes will come from
her daughters, sons, sister, brothers, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren, who have pledged her their support for the present
chief executive. She
will also cast her first vote. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 17 Nov 1916)
Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter (The writer of the following went
to school here about 1878 and lived with her aunt, Mrs. Malinda Provo.
The letter was written to her cousin, Mrs. Isabell Hurston.) Cleveland, O., April 11. Dear Cousin Isabelle. You will without a doubt
be surprised to hear from me. I've
been thinking quite a bit lately of Southern Illinois.
Had a letter some time since from Dona and Ed Samson.
They told me Alice and Davis were going to return to
old Jonesboro and live in the old John Grear
property. Have not
heard anything since. Supposed
that Helen might come also as they always liked to be together. Well, at any rate I
thought more today and suppose you did too, that this is grandmother's
birthday. Poor old
soul. I receive
letters from Clara Samson Hodges occasionally.
She now lives on a plantation in Louisiana. I seldom write or hear
from down in that part of the country as most all of the relatives are
dead or gone and the interest has in a way died out.
Jud Phillips is
the only cousin by name left there.
I have had a letter or so some time since. You will wonder at my living in
this city. I have
lived here nearly six years. Have
two children married here, a daughter and a son.
I live with my daughter.
Have a son in New York.
Our people have vanished from Belleville. How is Jonesboro?
I guess it has not grown much.
I heard several years ago in Indianapolis that
Andrew Pipkin was dead. I guess all the old people are gone
and the younger ones are getting to be the old set now.
I suppose the Sowers
family are all gone, in fact everything is changed.
Dona said if I do not come soon it would be with me
like an old gentleman who returned some time since there would be no
one left I knew. I
don't suppose that I will ever go there again as most of the relatives
are gone. I am 59
years old. Guess I
hold my age very well. My
daughter thinks I look young. Hoping to hear from you some time. Your cousin, Clara Phillips Collins,
1462 133d St. Cleveland, O. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 26 Apr 1918) BOYS ARRESTED Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter Three or four boys were arrested for disturbing the Holy Roller meetings which are held in the east part of town. They were tried before Justice of the Peace William M. Hurst Monday afternoon and came clear. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 14 Jun 1918) STROKE Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter Osborne Woods, aged 80 years, had a stroke of paralysis. He lives with his daughter, Mrs. Effie Wilhelm, on Asylum Avenue in Anna. Mrs. Martin Bean, another daughter, lives in Cypress (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 16 Aug 1918) Transcribed and submitted by
Darrel Dexter Seattle, Wash., August 27, 1918 In writing on the above I'm not so
sure of my ground-don't know how many of an audience I am to have. It is possible there is a
larger majority than I realize. But
of the goodly number of those who spent many of their school days in
the long frame building near the Baptist church in Jonesboro, the great
majority have joined the great city of the dead whose numbers the human
mind cannot conceive. I recall that we had several
different teachers. There
was a Mr. Bean and a Mr. Pease, and one very estimable lady, Mrs. Marschalk, wife of a one time editor of
the Gazette.
Also a party named Underwood,
and one named Williams. This latter was in a class
to himself with regard to his ideas of discipline, and contrasted a
whole lot with a party I am to write about farther on.
Mr. Williams was
dead easy on the pupils. He
had a little invention of his own.
He put a little block of wood at the door, made to
turn so one side would read "In" and the other side "Out." So the pupil had only to
watch the board and it saved the teacher worry.
It was patronized to the limit and if I remember
rightly had to be renewed. A patron of the school told me at
the time that his boys said Mr. Williams
would say, "Now boys, study your lessons till I take a nap." No doubt this was
exaggerating, but it shows the idea of discipline. Of a different cult was a party who
blew in some time after that. His
name was Oliver C. Day. He was "As mild-mannered man As
ever scuttled a ship Or cut a throat." Always he wore slippers, sometimes
rubbers in the school room, and could swoop down on the unwary like a
Yankee plane on a nest of boches.
In his hip pocket he carried a cat-o'-nine-tails,
not a make believe but a sure-to-goodness one made of leather and
arranged like a druggist's
gradient so he could give homoeopathic or allopathic doses as he
considered the case required. Once
I saw him yank a little kid out. He
separated the cat so there was one tail.
"Mr. Day, I
wasn't doing nothing," said the little miss.
"That's just what I'm whipping you for," said the
professor, so he gave her taps on the hand.
There was one young guy I used to feel so sorry for. Mr. Day
always had it in for him. The
kid was not bright in his studies and no doubt played hooky and was a
slacker. He lived
just outside of town with the widow Treece. I saw this man put a
handle in the cat, get up on a bench, and come down on that kid's back. Of course, these Lagree
tactics would not go now. I
wonder why they did then. That
was on the border land of slavery methods and no doubt Prof. Day had been a Lagree operator. His harsh methods of
discipline were his faults. He
was well educated and a Chesterfield in bearing and manners. Among the principals only
one, as I see, was his superior in information and book learning, that
was the late Mr. J. H. Samson. The first time I saw Mr. Day was in the Baptist Sunday School. He was assigned to teach a
class of us kids. He
began by asking each boy his name.
Then he said, "I don't know whether I will remember
your names, but I'll remember your faces," and he was right. I desire to submit a list of the
pupils who attended at this school house, not a full list, for many of
the names have escaped my recollection. Wesley Fountain;
James and Miss Phena Albright;
George and Misses Nannie and Phena Barringer;
Thomas and James Brazenell; W. S.
and James Condon; Miss Almeda Donehew, wife of the late L. W. Nimmo; Miss Nannie Douglas;
Miss Helen and Alex, John and George Dougherty;
Augustus, Dollie and Bethune Dishon;
Thomas, Jackson, Dennis, and the Misses Alice, Laura, and Fannie Frick; Miss Louisa Howell
and her chum Miss Lizzie Warder;
Miss Anna Johnson; Misses Sallie,
Bettie and Hulda and Richard Pender;
Thomas Peeler and his two sisters;
A. J. Pipkin; Misses Babe and Puss
and Frank and John O'Neil; A. H.
and Jeff Roberts; D. H. and Moses Rendleman; Misses Ellen and Olive and
Richard, Jerome, Warren and James Provo;
Miss Kate and T. L. and C. P. Harris. I have given above the name of
Thomas Frick.
He was the popular boy of my school.
He married Miss Howell
and after the Civil War came on
he went in, contracted tuberculosis, came home and shortly afterward
died. Tom Peeler
was the sporty dressed guy of the school and the girls were nearly
crazy about him. One
day he nearly got me in trouble. We
had our heads under the seat studying a grammar lesson, in the same
book our fathers used. The
subject was the Potential mood, and the text read:
"The Potential mood denotes power, possibility, duty,
inclination, determination," and when Peeler
added "hell and damnation" I thought I would die.
The teacher happened to be trying to work for a
pupil one of those hard "sums" we camoflouged, and that's what saved us. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 6 Sep 1918) Old Church to Become a Residence Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter George J. Bernhard has bought the old brick church at the corner of East Broad street and whatever the other street is and will transform it into a residence property. The church was built along 1870, maybe a year or so earlier, by a German congregation who worshipped there a number of years. In the early '70s a sect called Seventh Day Adventists held a sort of revival meeting in the church lasting several weeks. The Adventists were always fixing a date when the world would come to an end and proving it by the Bible. The newspapers contained accounts of fanatics who gave away their worldly possessions and on the night of the date set donned white robes to be ready for the great cataclysm. Others more shrewd, or at least swayed by doubt as much as by fear, sold their property and had the ready cash to meet any possible expenses of transportation. The failure of the world to come to an end at the scheduled date did not in the least discompose these strange believers. They calmly set another date and proved that by the Bible. Little is heard of the Seventh Day Adventists now days. Recently the church has been used by the people called Holy Rollers. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 17 Jan 1919) TAX MONEY SPENT Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter Raymond O'Neill,
14 years old, and his younger brother, Herbert walked to Anna Monday
from Wayside, way up in the northeast part of the county, with $29 to
pay their father's taxes. Instead
of paying the taxes they deposited the money in one of the banks,
secured a check book and then went to writing checks for various
amounts, signing whatever name occurred to them.
The checks were invariably refused wherever
presented and nobody was stung, but the clumsy effort of the boys at
high financing has landed them in jail. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 2 May 1919) Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter Richard Hammon,
a farmer of Jonesboro, Ill., was arrested here today at the request of
the sheriff of his county, who alleges Hammon
deserted his wife and two children.
The sheriff was told by the wife that Hammon
eloped with a "blond woman." Hammon denied there was any affair
between him and the woman. He
said she was an old friend of the family. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 21 Feb 1919) HOT COLLINS Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter The familiar strains of "Hot
Collins" was heard among the music that Prof. Anderson's
band was playing the other night.
"Hot Collins" was a popular medley perhaps fifty years
ago, at any rate Sidney Grear's
band played it nearly that long ago and it was included in the
repertoire of succeeding bandmasters.
Soon after the Civil War, a Frenchman named Henry Perry wandered into Jonesboro and a few
trills on his cornet convinced the musically inclined young men of the
town that he was a master. A
band was organized and he taught it well.
While here he composed a piece called "Perry's
March." His
favorite and most brilliant pupil, Sidney Grear,
always called it one of the finest marches ever written for a band. For some reason Perry never wanted the music published,
and it is said he exacted a promise from his friend and pupil that it
would not be. It is
thought, however, that a manuscript copy is still extant, possibly in
the possession of A. H. Crowell,
now in the Soliders' Home at Quincy, Ill.
Along by the 70s, Perry
stated the last time he was here that the piece called "Perry's March"
was in reality composed by Sidney Grear,
that he wrote it while they were together in Memphis, Tenn., along
about 1870. Frank Grear afterwards rewrote it from memory,
but that copy is also missing. It
is known that Sidney Grear wrote
the words and music of a song or two that might have found a place
among the "best sellers" had they ever been published.
He died in the early 80s. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 2 May 1919) RAISING COTTON Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter Paul Miller
raised a few stalks of cotton in his garden this season and it produced
finely. Quite a bit
of cotton was raised in this county about the time of the Civil War
when it commanded such a high price, and it might be a profitable crop
to grow here at present day prices.
There was a cotton gin in Jonesboro in those days. It stood at the foot of
South Main Street, where the Fruit Growers Package Company's plant now
is. It burned down
one night, and we believe a man lost his life in the fire. Another man, Allen Vaughan, by name was also caught in this
blaze and carried the deep scars burned on his face and body the
remainder of his life. He
lived in the bottoms until his death, down about Reynoldsville. (Jonesboro
Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 10 Oct 1919)
Transcribed
and submitted by Darrel Dexter Through the persistent and untiring
efforts of her son-in-law, A. V. Cook,
continued over a period of 23 years, Mrs. Adelia Dougherty
has been granted a pension of $25 a month dating from Oct. 1, 1918,
with back pay amounting to $723.43.
Mrs. Dougherty's
first husband was Charles A. Rixleben,
who enlisted in the army during the Civil War and held a lieutenant's
commission. He
resigned from the army with the intention of entering the navy, but for
some reason never carried out the plan.
He died a few years after the close of the war at
St. Louis. Mrs. Dougherty secured the pension as his
widow. She later
married DeWitt C. Dougherty of this
city, who also died over twenty years ago.
She is a deserving woman, and this modest pension
will provide for her future and eliminate anxiety. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 17 Oct 1919) GREEN'S OLD FERRY Transcribed and submitted by Darrel Dexter The death of Silas R. Green, of Cobden, revives recollections of Green’s Old Ferry on the Mississippi River, ten miles west of Jonesboro, taking its name from his grandfather, who is said to have established himself in the wilderness there in 1805. It later became commonly known as Willard’s Landing, but the original name struck and it was always advertised as Green’s Old Ferry. It could not have been a steam ferry when first established, but eventually became such, and the advertising posters bore a brave picture of a fine big steamboat belching black smoke from its twin funnels. The ferry finally became unprofitable and was permanently discontinued along about 1880. But following the Civil War, and until well along in the ‘70s, there was a constant stream of emigration to the west, sometimes in a lone wagon, frequently in caravans of fifteen or twenty, and the ferry business was accordingly booming. Among the ferry boat masters during that period were Alfred Lence, Charles F. Willard, and Marsh Vancil, all dead. Some enterprising ferryman had a map prepared to go on the advertising posters along with the pictures steamboat. This map showed the route from Hopkinsville, Ky., to Little Rock, Ark. Accompanying it was a table of distances between the towns on the route, and altogether the poster showed conclusively that the shortest and quickest route to the west from almost anywhere was by way of Green’s Old Ferry. Some years after the ferry was established a “good plank and gravel road” was built from the hills to the ferry landing. It was a toll road and there was a tollgate and keeper, and is yet for that matter. Occasionally it happened that a mover could not or would not pay the toll. This was more apt to be the case if he had moved west, met with failure, and was “moving back to his wife’s people” as the saying went. The mover always got by some way, and it is to be presumed the honest tollgate keeper took it out in cussing. Those were the good old days, and yet truly there were drawbacks. There were miles and miles of lakes and swamps in the bottoms, while thousands of acres of heavily timbered land stood under water the greater part of the year. For fifty year or more after the first settler established himself there to subdue the sullen wilderness and make it a fit place of abode for human beings, the deadly miasma of the swamps fought him unremittingly. From these swamps clouds of bloodthirsty mosquitoes swarmed forth to make the nights miserable for the early settler and his wife and children. There were no screens for the window and doors then, probably no mosquito netting was draped over the beds. The result was that the people were a prey to malaria, most of them victims. Whole families disappeared within two generations, not one of them reaching the age of 50 or even 40 years. Occasionally a man wore the malaria out, or became immune, or perhaps he lived more wisely than his neighbors and attained a reasonable old age. Along the river bank, and possibly for a mile inland, it was not so bad. The “river breeze” tempered the head of summer and its fresh breath could be felt for quite a distance. A family living on or near the river bank did not suffer from malaria to the extent that those farther inland did. Dear reader, pardon this reminiscent monologue, for news is scarce; and then it may divert your mind from the coal shortage for the time being. I thank you. (Jonesboro Gazette, Jonesboro, Illinois, Friday, 5 Dec 1919) |
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