There is much conjecture among archeologists as to who the first inhabitants
of Union County were. It is reasonable to believe that a civilization
existed here long before history keeps a record of the first white settlers.
The rolling country and the spur of the Ozark Mountains in the northern and
western parts of the country were covered by a dense forest full of wild
game which flourished because of the plentiful water supply from springs.
The watershed along the northern boundary of the county protects it from the
storms from the north in winter and allows a longer growing season than
would be possible if the land were not so protected.
It is doubtful that Joliet and Marquette set foot on the soil of Union
County, but in the spring of 1673 they did pass down the Mississippi River,
which bounds the county on the west. At that time a French mission and
trading post was established at Kaskaskia and five years later at Cahokia
but it is doubtful that any of the French traders, hunters or trappers ever
ventured as far away from these settlements as Union County. The nearest
settlement on the Ohio River was Fort Massac, established in 1711. For a
number of years this settlement was known as Fort Massacre because the
Indians so ruthlessly massacred the white people who settled there.
Some of the earliest settlers fled into Union County from these attacks of
the Indians.
Little immigration came into Illinois before 1812 because of the Indians and
the inability of the settlers to gain legal title to land upon which they
located. As a result of the treaty ending the war between England and
France, signed February 10, 1763, the territory had become English. After
the United States wars organized the old French settlers encountered
difficulty when they tried, under American law, to have their titles
ratified. In 1791, Congress enacted a law providing that Americans who had
occupied their lands before 1783 should have their titles confirmed. Each
person was allowed title to from four hundred to eighteen hundred acres of
land. After that date, land was granted in tracts of not less than four
thousand acres.
Peace treaties with the Indians and transfer of titles of their land to the
United States government and the end of the War of 1812 with Great Britain
opened wide the Illinois doors for settlement. In 1810, the white population
of Illinois was 12,282 and in 1820 was 55,162. Land was sold to settlers at
the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. The original counties
existing in Illinois when it came under the rule of the governor of
Virginia, who appointed a governor of Illinois territory, were Randolph and
St. Clair counties. These counties surrounded the settlements of Kaskaskia
and Cahokia. September 14th, 1812, Governor Edwards created by proclamation
Madison, Johnson and Gallatin counties. In anticipation of statehood, the
legislature created Washington, Franklin and Union counties. Between 1812
and 1817, Edwards, White, Monroe, Pope, Jackson, Bond and Crawford counties
were created, making fifteen counties in all. There were two members sent to
the Legislature from the northern counties and two from the southern. John
Grammer represented the southernmost counties.
In 1803 the first white settlement was made in Union County. It consisted of
two families, Abram Hunsaker's and George Wolf's. In 1805, David Green came
with his little family and built his little cabin in the Mississippi bottom
about one-half mile north of what is known as Big Barn. He was a river
navigator from Virginia and came upon the spot where he settled his family
in some of his early trips. It was a long time before he knew the Hunsakers
and Wolfs wore his nearest neighbors. Jacob Lingle settled west of Cobden in
1807 and George Evans and John Bradshaw on Bradshaw Creek. In 1808 John
McGinnis settled near Mt. Pleasant. In 1809 John Stokes, William Gwinn and
Thomas Standard came to live in what has long been known as the Stokes
settlement. Robert Hargrave and Jessie Echols, who was later appointed to
fix the seat of justice in Union County, came the same year. In 1812, Thomas
D. Patterson, Phillip Shaver, Adam Clapp and Edward Vancil settled. The
arrivals in 1814 were John Lawrence, John Harriston, John Whittaker, A.
Cokenowen, Giles Parmelia, Samuel Butcher, Robert W. Crafton, Jacob Wolf,
Michael Lindbaugh, Alexander Boren, Hosea Boren, Richard McBride, Thomas
Green, Emanuel Penrod, George Hunsaker, George Smiley, David Kimmel, John
Whitaker, David Cother, David Brown, Alexander Brown, Alexander Boggs, David
F. Coleman, Benjamin Menees and Jacob Littleton. These settlers came from
Virginia and the Carolinas and a few from Pennsylvania. They came down the
Ohio, some crossing the river at Shawneetown and some coming via Fort
Massac.
The record of "marks and brands," opened immediately after the county was
organized, shows the following men lived in Union County and registered a
"brand" for his domestic animals, Jacob Wolf, George Wolf, Edmund Vancil,
William Dodd, Samuel Hunsaker, Michael Lindbaugh, David Brown, William
Thornton, Joseph Hunsaker, William Pyle, William Grammer, Rice Sams, Abram
Hunsaker, Thomas Sams, Benjamin Menees, John Mcintosh, George Hunsaker,
James Brown, Jeremiah Brown, John Weigle, Christopher Sansin, Isaac Vancil,
R. W. Crafton, John Cruse, James Jackson, George Smiley, Joseph Palmer,
George James, Robert Hargrave, John Hargrave, John Hunsaker, John Whitaker,
Johnson Somers, Charles Dougherty, Joel Boggess, Jones Vancil, Emanuel
Penrod, John Stokes, Samuel Penrod, Cliff Hazlewood and John Kimmel.
Those who had entered land that lies within the county up to and including
1818 were John Yost, Wilkinson Goodwin, George Hunsaker, William Thornton,
John Hunsaker, John Miller, George Lawrence, Henry Clutts, Christian Miller,
James Mesam, John Harriston, John Kimmell, John Frick, Edmond Holeman, Adam
Clapp, George Devolt, Michael Dillon, John Grammer, Benjamin Menees, Michael
Holhauser, John Hartline, Anthony Lingle, John Whitaker, Phillip Shaver,
Phillip Paulus, William Worthington, John Bradshaw, John Saunders, John R.
McFarland, John Tyler, Joseph Waller, Joseph Walker, A. Cokenower, Andrew
Irwin, Giles Parmelia, Samuel Butcher, Samuel Penrod, Robert W. Crafton,
Edward Vancil, John Gregory, Jaboc Lingle, Israel Thompson, Adam Cauble,
Jacob Rendleman, Jacob Weigle, George Wolf, Michael Lindbaugh, Johnathan
Haskey, Joseph Barber, Last Cape, John Cape, Isaac Biggs, Alexander Biggs,
the Meisenheimers, John Eddleman, Thomas Mcintosh, Cornelius Anderson, David
Lence, Benedict Mull, Peter Casper, John Worten, Anthony Lingle, David
Crise, William Morrison, Jacob Hileman, David Miller, A. Cruse, Abraham
Brown, John Knupp, Andrew Smith, David Meisenheimer, Joseph Smith, Thomas H.
Harris, Richard McBride, S. Lewis, Thomas Green, Benjamin J. Harris, Jacob
Trees, Joseph Palmer, Thomas Green, David Kimmel, Alexander P. Field,
Anthony Morgan, James Ellis, Joseph McElhaney, Abner Field, Thomas Deen,
Rice Sams, Daniel Spence, William Craigle, George Cripe, Isaac Cornell,
Nicholas Wilson, Henry Bechtle, Thomas Bechtle, Thomas Lanes, John Uri,
Stephen Donahue, Jacob Littleton and S. W. Smith.
From the best estimation obtainable it is believed that the population of
Union County when Illinois became a state was 1800, one third of them
freeholders. Most of them were from Kentucky and Tennessee or from
Pennsylvania south along the eastern coast states since the Ohio and Cache
Rivers were the lanes of travel at that time.
These early settlers of Union County lived a rugged, difficult life. They
earned then livelihoods hunting, trapping and fishing. They grew what few
items of food they ate and depended on wild game, which was plentiful, for
meat. The county was a dense forest, so thick that the hunter carried an axe
to blaze his path when he went away from the small clearing surrounding his
log cabin. They ground their corn by hand to make meal for corn pone and
Johnny cake and their main diet was "hog and hominy." They grew flax and
wool and spun the thread which was woven into cloth for bedding and
clothing. Much of the men's clothing was made of skins from the wild animals
the hunters killed.
The men wore long hunting shirts and moccasins and leather or buckskin
breeches and the women linsey dresses and petticoats and home-made shoes.
Ordinarily the people went barefoot.
Fort Massac was the nearest trading post where supplies could be obtained.
These came from New Orleans or Pennsylvania, transported on a barge tied
with ropes and pulled up the river by men walking along the river banks.
An account is given of the difficulty encountered in making suitable
garments for John Grammer to wear to the legislature when he represented
Johnson County (which then included what is now Union County) in 1812. The
neighbors and friends gathered nuts which were taken to Fort Massac and
exchanged for a few yards of "blue drilling," which with careful cutting and
measuring was only enough to make a long hunting shirt and a pair of high
"leggins."
John Grammer was the first person from this county to be elected to public
office. He was uneducated but was said to be very shrewd. He invariably
voted "no" if he did not fully understand the question before the house. He
coined words at random with which to express himself in his lusty speeches.
He was popular enough to be re-elected each term of the legislature and
served his last term as a senator in 1834.
The only social events of the times were weddings, dances, quilting parties,
singing schools and "meetins." Everyone took part in the wedding
celebration. The men would meet at the home of the groom and the women at
the home of the bride. Then the men would go in a group to the home of the
bride where the wedding would take place. As soon as the guests assembled
for the wedding a bottle race would ensue. After dinner the dancing began
and would continue until early the next morning. At ten o'clock at night the
bride's friends would steal her away and put her to bed in the "loft" of the
house, then the groom's friends would do the same for him, while the dancing
and fun making continued downstairs. The merry making would frequently
continue for several days in both the home of the groom and the bride and
often in the new home of the bride and groom which the friends and neighbors
had usually helped to build.
The first marriage in the county records was John Murray and Elizabeth
Latham, by John Grammer, February 26, 1818. On April 7th, 1818, John Weldon,
Esq., certified he married James Latham and Margaret Edwards on March 2nd.
Joseph Painter and Elizabeth Brown were married April 26, 1818, by George
Hunsaker. Other early marriages were Samuel Morgan and Rebecca Casey,
Francis Parker and Catharine Clapp, Allen Crawl and Catherine Vancil, John
Rupe and Lydia Brown, Eli Littleton and Ede Hughes, David Callahan and
Elizabeth Roberts, Isaac Finley and Polly Hargrave, William McDonald and
Mary McLane, Henry Johnston and Nancy Atherton, John Russell and Percy
Huston, Daniel Ritter and Elizabeth Isenogle, Peter Sifford and Leyah Mull,
Jacob Hunsaker and Elizabeth Brown, A. H. Brown and Sarah Mathes, William
Ridge and Esther Penrod, Abraham Hunsaker and Polly Price, George Dougherty
and Rachean Hunsaker, John Biggs and Sarah Cope, William Clapp and Phoebe
Witherton, George Lemen and Sarah Lesley, John Price and Nancy Vancil, John
Leslie and Catharine Nigel, Peter Wolf and Margaret James, Messiah O'Brien
and Charlotte Hotchkiss, Daniel T. Coleman and Lucy Craft, and Samuel Dillon
and Margaret Lingle.
As children grew up the boys were taught to use bows and arrows and shoot
game and the girls were taught to cook, spin and sew.
The first school was taught by an unknown Irishman at Dogtooth Bend. Later
Winsted Davie established a school two miles south of what is now Jonesboro.
The teachers were paid by subscriptions from the parents of the pupils.
Reading, writing, spelling and numbers were the subjects taught.
In 1812 what is now Union, Pulaski, Alexander and part of Johnson counties,
was known as Jonesborough township. A town hall and court house were erected
at Elvira, a spot one mile east and seven miles north of what is now Mt.
Pleasant. This served as the town hall for several years. After Illinois
became a state in 1818, John Grammer donated a plot of ground upon which to
build public buildings. This ground was located in what became Jonesboro,
the county seat of Union County.
Jessie Echols, George Wolf and Thomas Cox were appointed commissioners by
the legislature to fix the boundaries of Union County. The present boundary
line was established by them February 25, 1818, but a provisioned boundary
included Pulaski and Alexander counties in Union County until such time as
they became counties.
In the act of the legislature creating Union County, it was also provided
that the home of Jacob Hunsaker, Jr., was to be used as a seat of justice
until such time as a permanent location was established and a court house
erected.
Jessie Echols, John Grammer, George Hunsaker, Abner Keith and Rice Sams were
elected county commissioners and they met at the Hunsaker home in accordance
with the ruling of the legislature. Abner Field was made clerk of the court
and Joseph Palmer was the first sheriff. George Hunsaker, William Pyle, John
C. Smith, Rice Sams, Abner Keith, Jessie Echols and John Bradshaw were
appointed justices of the peace by the governor of Illinois and Robert Twidy
was the first constable.
The first official act of the commissioners' court was to declare the road
from Penrod's Ferry to Elvira and from Elvira to Jackson county, public
roads.
The oldest public industry in the county is road building and Henry Laymer,
Ephriam Voce, William Pyle, David Arnold and George Hunsaker were appointed
road overseers and viewers.
The first county order of two dollars was written to Samuel Penrod for
bounty for a wolf scalp. Two people were licensed to open taverns in their
homes and the price of liquor was regulated. Whiskey was 12 1/2c per half
pint, rum 50c; brandy 50c; breakfast, dinner, and supper 25c each; bed 12
1/2c, horse to stand at hay and corn all night, 37 1/2c.
Two ferries were licensed and taxes were levied on horses, negroes, ferries,
cattle, hogs, sheep, wagons and wheeled carriages. In 1812 taxes of 1/2 per
cent were levied on town lots, carriages for conveyance of persons,
distiller's stock in trade, horses, cattle, grist and saw mills and in 1821
on watches and clocks.
The first criminal case on record was that of the United States vs. John
Thomas. Since there was no jail the prisoner was boarded with Robin
Hargrave, who was allowed seventy dollars for keeping him sixty-two days.
Joseph Palmer, the sheriff, was paid thirty dollars for his services in
apprehending the culprit and bringing him to trial. The jury deliberated its
verdict on a log near the Hunsaker home.
It seems that the poor have been with us always because during the first
year of the existence of Union County, the court bound out an indigent
child.
Thus in 1818 a county government was set up and began to function in Union
County and the county began to grow in industry and population.
The reason Union County and Southern Illinois enjoyed a greater growth in
population than the central and northern parts of Illinois during the years
1818 to 1820 was the mildness of the climate. In 1816, the weather was
unusually cold so that crops failed all over Illinois and Indiana but
because this part of the state is protected from the storm of the plains by
a spur of the Ozark Mountains extending from the Mississippi to the Ohio
Rivers through the northern parts of Union, Johnson, Pope and Hardin
counties, crops were abundant. The people living north of this range of
hills came here to buy food as the ancients went into the valley of the Nile
in Egypt on several occasions. For this reason the country has long been
known as "Egypt" and also for this reason many of the people who came to buy
food liked the country and stayed and others returned later with their
families and friends. This not only increased the population of Union
County, but stimulated the settlers to produce more than enough foodstuff to
meet their own needs. Population was increased as much in two years at that
time as it was during the whole decade following. The rate of increase was
gradual after that until the building of the Illinois Central Railroad. The
number of inhabitants increased from 1800 in 1818 to 2,362 in 1820 and 3,239
in 1830.
Since the only modes of travel were by water or by horse or ox, the
industries of road building and ferry transportation grew. Nine ferries paid
a tax to the county government for the privilege to operate, Harris on the
Big Muddy, and Harris, Hays, Green, Pernod, Smiley, Ellis, Smith, and Ruppel
on the Mississippi.
When Jonesboro was established as the county seat, roads were built from
that town to each of the above ferry landings. Bridges were built across
creeks at public expense. The job was let to the contractor making the
lowest bid for it. The two earliest bridges were the one across Bradshaw
Creek which was completed for fifty dollars and the one across Clear Creek
which cost one hundred and fifty dollars. No description of the type of
bridge constructed was given in the county records.
Roads were also built from Jonesboro to Vienna, Jonesboro to America,
Jonesboro to Cape Girardeau, Jonesboro to Brownsville in Jackson County and
from the mouth of the Big Muddy River to Golconda. As agriculture and
population increased, mill seats were established and as these came into
being, the roads were made to go past the mills enroute to their
destinations. An "overseer" and "viewer" was appointed over various sections
of the road and the people living within four or five miles on each side of
the roads were required to work on their construction and maintenance. This
work must have been done without pay since the county records do not show
where any payments were made for this type of work in the early days of the
county. Then as now the "overseers" and "viewers" were changed with a change
of county administration. The following names appeared in the county records
as holding this office, David Arnold, William Pyle, Ephriam Noel, George
Hunsaker, Henry Lamer, Benjamin Meneese, William Alexander, John Hunsaker,
Allen McKenzie, Nathan Turpin, Will Waford, Alexander Boggs, Aaron Thornton,
Owen Evans, Joseph Palmer, Moses Davidson, and John Stokes. Under the new
administration, the "overseers" and "viewers" were changed to John Mcintosh,
Jacob Snider, Jacob Lingle, Johnson Sumner, George Evans, Henry Lamer, John
Elmo, Aaron Howard, Robert H. Loyd, William Barton, Harry Barringer, James
Abernathie, Christopher Houser, Edmund Vancil, John Lingle, Abner Keith,
William Shelton, Benjamin Meneese, Benjamin Hall, Ephriam Noll, James Elmo,
William Grammer, Rich McBride and Francis Murphy.
Jacob Rantleman, William Thornton and George Hunsaker became the new
commissioners in 1819 and with them appeared many new names in the records.
Abner Field, Jr., was made clerk of the court and Benjamin Meneese was made
treasurer.
It seems that then as well as now there were officials who could not resist
the temptation of making personal use of public money entrusted to them. The
first sheriff was found to be short in the amount of money he turned over to
the new officials and after several postponements of a hearing before the
commission's court, he was allowed to settle the matter out of court for a
part of the amount of money that was missing.
Public as well as private buildings were constructed at this time. A court
house was built by Thomas Cox for forty dollars, and a jail by Jacob Wolf
for twenty dollars. Two years later, 1820, Nathaniel Davis built a new court
house for six hundred dollars and a new jail for three hundred seventy-nine
dollars. The number of dwellings necessarily increased to house the growing
population.
At this time practically all manufacturing was done in the individual homes
by the women, mainly who are seldom mentioned in public records. Supplies
were bought at Fort Massac and paid for with nuts, honey, and skins of
animals. At this time the nearest cording mill was in Jackson, Missouri,
seven days journey from Jonesboro, and salt was obtained from the Saline
salt mines in Saline County, a distance requiring a ten day journey. The
mills which had been built to grind the corn and wheat were operated by a
horse turning the wheel and by 1820 by water turning the wheel. Three such
mills had been established in Union County but many hand mills were still in
use in the homes. The early mill owners were Jacob Rantleman, John Whittaker
and Henry Clutts.
Distilling ranked as one of the leading industries of the times and licenses
were granted to many people who lived along the newly constructed roads to
operate taverns to accommodate travelers. A tavern in those days was usually
in a private home where a wayfarer might stop and procure drink, food and
lodging for himself and hay and shelter for his horse. The price of these
services was regulated by the county board as has been mentioned before.
Each tavern keeper paid a two dollar license fee and filed a $100 bond.
Later these amounts were increased to six dollars and three hundred dollars.
William Shelton, Robert Lloyd, Isaac Williams, Sam Putchez, Squire Bone,
John Meneese, Jacob Hybarger, George Smiley, John Thornton, Henry Lamer,
David Hunsaker and Frederick Barringer were all licensed to keep taverns
during the first two years after the county was established.
Within the next ten years industries and business expanded beyond the stage
of the home manufacturing and bartering between neighbors and an occasional
trip to a trading center, salt mine, etc.
The men who served as constables, appointed by the governor between 1818 and
1820 were John Meneese, William Shelton, Samuel Betcher, Sam Hunsaker,
Willie Sams, Samuel Sprouse, Isaac Williams, Jessie Doolen, Sam Hunsaker,
Levi T. Holland, Alfred N. Dilliard, Squire Bone and William Thornton.
Judges and clerks of elections appointed by the county board were John S.
Hacker, William Echols, Levi Holland, Francis Parker, Alfred N. Dilliard,
John Bradshaw, Hugh Craig, Thomas C. Patterson, Benjamin Meneese, William
Barton and Owen Evans.
In 1820 new commissioners, Francis Parker, Daniel T. Coleman and Robert
Hargrave were elected.
In 1820, Mrs. Nancy Willard, a widow whose husband had died in Cape
Girardeau, brought her four children, Elijah, Willis, Anna and William to
Jonesboro to live. She was the mother of two of our earliest business men
and the mother of the woman for whom the city of Anna is named.
Elijah was old enough to go to work in one of the new stores which had been
established and within a few years was able to buy them from his employer.
He and Sam Reed were given a liquor license in 1826. Later he was associated
with his brother, Willis, in the store.
Nimrod Ferguson, Willard, Winsted Davie and Charles Rixleben were the
earliest merchants establishing themselves in Jonesboro. They bought produce
from the farmers and took it to New Orleans where they traded their wares
for sugar, coffee and other necessities which were brought back to Jonesboro
and sold to the people. This type of trading stimulated the residents to
produce more salable materials in order to exchange them for comforts of
life. Dry goods came from Philadelphia.
Elijah Willard seems to have been the leader in this type of trading because
Willard's Landing, where the bulk of the local trading was done, was named
for him.
The Willard's erected a group of store buildings and accumulated much
farming land. More will be said of them later.
Road building still continued with names of new men appearing on the court
records with each change of administration. About 1821 compensation was
given to the commissioners, sometimes as much as ten dollars per year, so
they no longer served gratis. Two or three more mill seats were condemned
and roads built past them. Several churches were erected during the 1820
decade and roads laid out to run past them.
People no longer lived independently of each other but depended on what they
sold to pay for what necessities of life they bought. It is not strange that
this change took place since over two hundred new households were set up to
increase the population and business of the community as well as the
increase made by immigration,
The following marriages were recorded between 1820 and 1830: Joseph Hess to
Mary Hartline, James S. Smith to Harriet Weaver, James Sutzer to Elizabeth
Hileman, Alfred N. Dilliard to Nerma Greer, George Davold to Rebecca
Goodwin, John Thompson to Anna Landrith, John Landrith to Mary Thompson,
Milo Farring to Martha Barker, Mitty Davidson to Margaret Mumy, Martin
Vancil to Catherine Lyerle, Philip Hargrave to Nancy Hacky, Benjamin
Robertson to Elizabeth Snider, Nicholas Keith to Elizabeth Thornton, James
Crowe to Kiziah Cornelius, Abner Field to Mena James, Thomas Landrith to
Elizabeth Sumner, Samuel McKey to Elizabeth Lingle, William Vancil to Zilphy
Dodd, Lemand Lipe to Catharine Davis, Janothan Lyerly to Maryan Byrns,
Christian Hileman to Nancy Davis, Frederick Barringer to Anny Dillo, John
Miller to Susannah Davis, Jacob Yount to Talbitha McDaniel, Milliam Welch to
Margaret Cochran, William Tripp to Cerithy Willis, Sampson Porth to Lucinda
Palmerly, Nathan Walder to Nancy Collins, Daniel Barringer to Elizabeth
Treece, Abraham Miller to Nancy Maury, Zachariaht Lyerle to Sally Snider,
Jacob Cruse to Elizabeth Sitzer, David Hileman to Sally Miller, Jacob Lipe
to Rosena Davis, Charles Daugherty to Elizabeth Stone, Allen Boyd to Louisa
Mcintosh, William Morgan to Charity Smith, Cornelius Smith to Fanny Beggs,
Christian Craigton to Christian Miller, James N. Reynolds to Sarah Hannahs,
John Langley to Patrina Delaney, James Martin to Rachel Grammer, Renson
Lamer to Esther Penrod, Joseph Ferguson to Nancy Brown, Isaac Brown to
Cynthy Davis, Solomon Dillow to Susan Barringer, Mecajah Littleton to
Katherine Wolf, Peter Clutts to Anna Shorman, Robert Duncan to Elizabeth
Suttles, Elijah Shepherd to Elizabeth Irwin, Winsted Davie to Anna Willard,
Richard Sumner to Nancy McDaniel, Joel McHerring to Nancy Lycester, Aaron
Henry to Katherine Hysenogle, John Stokes to Mary Anderson, Boston Lentz to
Sophie Lentz, Joshia Hazelwood to Harriet Standard, John Hunsaker to Fanny
Linbaugh, Thomas Mcintosh to Rebecca McRaye, Jo hnWholshouser to Sophia
Ettleman, Isaac Sheppard to Mary Lambert, David Gore to Polly Garner, Drury
Conally to Amelia Persons, Peter Lentz, Jr., to Mary Lingle, Jacob Dillow to
Barbara Miller, Charles Hunsaker to Rebecca McClure, Alexander Trees to
Catharine Hartline, David Brown to Mary McClure, Bazzel B. Craig to Huldah
Bradshaw, Jacoz Lentz to Barbara Clutts, James Leffler to Elizabeth Martin,
William Lamer to Mary Waller, Lewis Durham to Elizabeth Miller, William Cook
to Lydia Busely, Peter Hysenogle to Catherine Cotner, Thomas Hughes to Unice
Erise, Alexander Douglas to Mary Hinkle, William Echols to Sophia Weaver,
Jacob Rentleman to Rachel Hartline, Peter Miller, Jr., to Katharine
Wholshouser, James D. Anderson to Polly Miller, Ephriam Noel to Elijah
Staten, Mark Rutherford to Risky McDaniel, Finnis McGinnis to Rachel Evans,
Levi Townsend to Edna Bizzel, William Crise to Nancy Barringer, Benjamin
Worthington to Nancy Lawrence, Jacob Meisenheimer to Mary Newman, John Anyan
to Phoebe Worthington. John Lawrence to Sally Durham, Abraham Keller to
Polly Beggs, John Humphreys to Mary Kelso, Jacob Verble to Katherine Brown.
Jacob Pitcocks to Rhoda Young, Jacob Karraker to Phoebe Verble, Jeremiah
Collins to Margaret Edwards, Samuel King to Susannah Montgomery, Peter
Hagler to Francis Keith, Thomas Thornton to Sarah Carter, Robert Willis to
Mary Cochran, Collens Murphy to Aggy Whitson.
Young D. Dunner to Elizabeth Standard, James Willis to Mary Tripp, George W.
McDaniel to June McRavens, Benjamin Vancil to Katharine Landrith, Joseph
Ettleman to Susannah Hess, Peter Portmess to Dorcas Keith, Hugh V. Patterson
to Mary Penrod, Peter uel Jackard to Rhody Duncan, John Cochran to Deanna
Lissenberry, Willibie Gales to Nancy Pittsford, George McGehee to Charlotte
Vancil, Jonas G. Lock to Mary Bradshaw, John Tripp to Susannah Peterson,
Jacob Davis to Elizabeth Brown, Lenard Stringer to Polly Cole, Jackson
Echols to Sally Fowler, John Cauble to Eliza Lyerle, John Butcher to Huldah
Morgan, Christopher Lyerle to Barbara House, Isham Tinner to Elizabeth
Riburn, Willis Standard to Nicy Hale, Frederick Mowery to Sally Davis,
Nicholas Tripp to Mary Delaney, John Vancil to Elizabeth G rammer, Wilson
Lyerle to Susannah Zimmerman, William Murphy to William Loid, Joel Barker to
Belinda Lewis, Caleb Bryant to Peggy Dillow, William Corgan to Mary
Palmerly, Edward Vancil to Sarah Penrod, Martin Green to Harriet Bennett, A.
R. Benson to Prissy Miles, S. Moorkeviol to E. Grammer, Robert Graham to
Jane Hazelwood, Peter Cauble to Polly Link, John Dillow to Elizabeth Verble,
Jacob Davis to Nancy Sittsmir, Hiram Hunsaker to Permelia Roberson, Benjamin
Walker to Elizabeth Wilson, Thomas McElwyn to Leah Tomlinson, James Beggs to
Lorsee Barber, David Night to Maryann Durall, Presley Taylor to Martha
Durall, Adam Hileman to Leah Rhinehart, John Grammer to Elizabeth Barker,
James King Cochran to Dorcas Goodman, Owen Hughes to Barbara Snider, and
Jacob Clutts to Delila Keith.
By 1824 a tanyard, a "hatter's shop," a "medical shop" and a jewelry shop
had been established in Jonesboro. Taxes were collected on the stock in
trade of the above and also on horses, cows, sheep, hops, grist and saw
mills, watches, clocks, ferries, wagons, town lots, distilleries and
pleasure conveyances.
Following Francis Parker, David Coleman and Robert Hargrave in the
commissioners court were Robert Hargrave and Jessie Echols, in 1B22, Sam
Hunsaker and Jessie Echols, in 1825, Sam Hunsaker, Jessie Echols and George
Brown, in 1824, Sam Hunsaker, George Brown and B. W. Brooks, in 1825, George
Brown, Jessie Echols and John Price.
Abner Field served as clerk of both the county and circuit courts at a
salary of $30.00 per year for each office in 1821 and 1822. Winsted Davie
became clerk March 5, 1823 and held that office for several years. He had
first served the county as compiler of the poll books. George Hunsaker
served as sheriff in 1820 for the salary of $50.50 which also paid him for
the stationery he used. In 1821 and 1822 he was paid seven and one-half
percent of $1174.57, the revenue collected by the county for both years.
Charles Dunn, who served as probate judge at that time, was paid fifty
dollars per year.
The county commissioners regulated the rates a ferry could charge for its
services as follows: a wagon and team, $3.00; a wheeled carriage with one or
two horses, $1.50; a man and horse, 75c; each footman, 25c; each head of
live cattle, 20c; a lead horse, 25c; a head of hogs or sheep, 10c; a pack
horse, 50c.
September 4, 1820, the commissioner's court authorized Charles Dunn, the
probate judge, to select a seal for the county to use. He chose one which
looks very much like our present fifty-cent piece with the American eagle
with wings spread in flight and around the edge of the seal was written
"County Commissioner's Court of Union County." This seal is found on all
legal documents until the seal which is now used was adopted several years
later.
The town of Jonesboro was incorporated by the state legislature along with
Covington, America, Kaskaskia and Vienna in 1820.
Contributed 11 Sep 2017 by Norma Hass, extracted from History of Union County, by Lulu Leonard, published in 1941.
| Jackson | Williamson | |
| MO |
 |
Johnson |
| Alexander | Pulaski |
