MONROE COUNTY
P. 509 FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS—
JEFFERSON’S ESTIMATE OF JAMES LEMEN—
OLD LEMEN FORT (SECOND BRICK HOUSE IN ILLINOIS)—
THOMAS FORD AND DANIEL P. COOK—
FIRST COUNTY COURT—SCHOOLS AND SLAVES—
OLD FRENCH LAND GRANT—ELDER PETER ROGERS
FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS
The first American settlers came in 1782. Among them were James Moore, Shadrach Bond, Robert Kidd, Larkin Rutherford and James Garretson and their families. These settlers came to Kaskaskia and probably wintered there in 1781-2. After considerable explorations they settled on the trail known as the hill trail from Kaskaskia to Cahokia at a spring which the French named Bellefontaine. This was “contiguous to the county seat and near the residence of John Milton Moore.” New Design, another settlement was four miles south of Waterloo. Whiteside Station (fort) was five miles north of Waterloo. These settlers were reinforced in 1785 by several families from Virginia. Among the noted new comers were Capt. Nathaniel Hull and William Biggs. Biggs was the first sheriff of St. Clair county. By 1786 the American settlers were coming in large numbers. Piggott ‘s fort was built just under the bluff due west of the present village of Columbia. Piggott was an old Revolutionary soldier. In 1790 seventeen families, numbering forty-six individuals, were at Piggott’s fort.JEFFERSON’S ESTIMATE OF JAMES LEMEN
New Design was settled by the Rev. James Lemen, Sr., who was a prominent citizen of Illinois. He was a Virginian and a warm friend P 510 of Thomas Jefferson, who would consult him even upon matters of state. This is what Jefferson wrote to the Rev. James Lemen’s brother: “If your brother, James Lemen, should visit Virginia soon, as I learn he possibly may, do not let him return until he makes me a visit. I will also write him to be sure and see me. Among all my friends who are near he is still a little nearer. I discovered his worth when he was but a child and I freely confess that in some of my most important achievements his example, wish and advice, though then but a young man, largely influenced my action. This was particularly true as to whatever share I may have had in the transfer of our great Northwestern Territory to the United States, and especially for the fact that I was so well satisfied with the anti-slavery clause inserted in the ordinance of 1787. Before anyone had ever mentioned the matter, James Lemen, by reason of his devotion to anti-slavery principles, suggested to me that we (Virginia) make the transfer and that slavery be excluded, and it so impressed and influenced me that whatever is due me as credit for my share in the matter is largely, if not wholly, due to James Lemen‘s advice and most righteous counsel. His record in the new country has fully justified my course in inducing him to settle there with the view of properly shaping events in the best interests of the people. If he comes to Virginia, see that he calls on me.”OLD LEMEN FORT (SECOND BRICK HOUSE IN ILLINOIS)
Mr. Lemen built the second brick house in Illinois. It was called the “Old Lemen Fort.” It still stands. Mr. Lemen was baptized in 1794 and helped to organize the first Baptist church northwest of the Ohio. It is claimed that Mr. Lemen drafted the amendment which pushed the line of Illinois from the south end of Lake Michigan to the 42nd deg. 30º north. He died in 1823. A monument dedicated by William J. Bryan marks his grave.THOMAS FORD AND DANIEL P. COOK
Thomas Ford and his half-brother and their mother came in 1804. Ford was later governor of Illinois. He was a carpenter. He and Daniel P. Cook laid out Waterloo and kept a small store there. From 1786 to 1795 Indian depredations were frequent. James Smith, a Baptist preacher, was captured and taken to the Wabash and afterwards ransomed by the people of New Design for $170. The massacre of the Robert McMahon family was a horrid affair. It occurred northeast of New Design two or three miles, in January, 1795. The first mill for grinding grain was built by Jacob Judy east of Whiteside’s Station in 1794. Other mills were built soon after. A cyclone which swept everything in its path crossed the Mississippi river about where Merrimac is and swept a path three-quarters of a mile wide, carrying death and destruction from the river to the bluffs. This was on June 5, 1805.FIRST COUNTY COURT
The county court was first held in the house of John McClure in Harrisonville, which was on the river due west of New Design. It later P 511 met in the house of Thomas 0 ‘Conner. Later a grant of eighteen acres was made by McKnight and Brady and the county seat fixed at Carthage, which name was later changed to Harrisonville. In 1825 the county seat was moved to Waterloo. A brick court house was occupied in 1832. During the sitting of the county court in 1834 five veterans of the Revolutionary war presented themselves to be identified so they might draw pensions. They were: Ebenezer Brown, aged 81, of the Virginia Continentals; Andrew Hilton, aged 77, of the Maryland Continentals; Michael Miller, of the Virginia Continentals; James McRoberts, of the Pennsylvania Continentals; Joseph Wright, of the Virginia Continentals. These men drew pensions till their deaths.SCHOOLS AND SLAVES
Early school teaching in Monroe county was similar to that in other parts of the state. The only difference was the schools opened in Monroe a decade or so earlier than in other portions of the country. Among the early teachers were John Seely, Francis Clark, Halfpenny, John Clark, Edward Humphrey, Mrs. Ford, mother of Governor Ford. The first high school in the county was established in Waterloo in 1870, but it was not fully organized till 1879, when Prof. P. P. Peltier put the school on its feet. St. Joseph’s academy was organized by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1866. The school is still maintained. The Rogers seminary was started about 1869 and was continued for several years. Slaves were brought to Monroe county by the French early in the eighteenth century. Slaves were never plentiful in Monroe, the sentiment being against slavery. In 1817 there were only thirteen slaves in the county. In 1824 Monroe voted against slavery, the vote standing 141 for and 186 against. Only two men have been hanged, legally, in Monroe, but on one occasion some outlaws were jailed and a mob broke down the jail door and hanged five of them. On another occasion a group of bandits were hanged. These four examples have been sufficient to secure order and safety in the county.OLD FRENCH LAND GRANTS
It remains to speak of the old French grants found on the old maps. These are in the American Bottom and lie in strips at right angles to the river. The most noted is the grant to Philip Renault, which lies in the southern part of the county. It is three miles wide and six miles long. It is still claimed by the heirs of Philip Renault.ELDER PETER ROGERS
Elder Peter Rogers was one of the pioneers of this vicinity. He, like his long line of ancestors, was strong in his religious convictions, and for sixty years preached the gospel, and always without pay. Elder Rogers was a son of James Rogers, fifth in descent from James Rogers, who came to America in 1635, taking up his residence in Newport, R. I., and later at New London, Conn. He in turn was a descendant of John Rogers the Martyr, prebendary of St. Paul’s, London, England, being the first Protestant martyr in the reign of “Bloody Mary;” burned at Smithfield, February 4, 1555. John Rogers the martyr was a descendant of Roger I, count of Sicily and Calabria, and the founder of the Roman dynasty in those countries, and who was born in France in 1031. The Roger families went with William the Conqueror to England. On the mother’s side he is descended from Catharine de Courtenay, whose lineage can be traced in an unbroken line to Alfred the Great. Elder Peter Rogers was born in New London, Conn., July 1, 1755; died Nov. 5, 1849, in Waterloo, Ill. He was married to Nancy Green July 6, 1782. His second marriage was to Abi Darrow, March 15, 1789. She saved an American army from capture in the Revolution by timely warning. He was married a third time to Martha Pellam, Sept. 10, 1830, in Waterloo. The subject of our sketch was a Revolutionary soldier, Fourth regiment, Connecticut line. He was fife major, enlisting Nov. 26, 1776, and discharged Dec. 31, 1779. He went into camp in Peekskill in the spring of 1777, and in September was ordered to Washington’s army in Pennsylvania, and was with him at Valley Forge. He was engaged in the battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777, on left flank of the army. Assigned later to Varnum’s brigade. Was at defense of Fort Muffin on the Delaware; engaged at battle of Monmouth. He was attached to the corps denominated “Washington’s Life Guard,” and was his chaplain. In 1780, as privateersman, captain of the ship “Trumbull,” Elder Rogers took a sloop as prize. The Christian example of his first wife turned his thoughts to religious subjects. He was baptized and ordained in 1790. While he was engaged in business a number of years in Connecticut and Massachusetts and New Hampshire, he preached regularly, and always without pay. His farewell sermon was preached in the Baptist church in Waterloo in his 90th year. He died Nov. 5, 1849, and his remains lie buried in the cemetery at Waterloo, marked by a simple slab, reciting his military life. Elder Rogers was one of the first to clear the forests in this vicinity, and did much to improve and to develop it. His sons were prominent in their spheres. Peter, a merchant, miller, sawyer, farmer; John, a physician, practicing from Cahokia to the Kaskaskia river; Lemuel, a teacher; Austin, a presiding elder in the southern Methodist conference. and the only one of the Rogers family not a Baptist. As an orator he was specially gifted. As a minister of the gospel his Bible interpretations were clear and logical and commanded respect.COL. WILLIAM R. MORRISON
While Monroe county had many noted men in early times, she had in recent years at least one very worthy citizen, namely: the Hon. William R. Morrison, who as lawyer, soldier, civil officer, and citizen lived a long and useful life. Born in this county on September 14, 1825, died in Waterloo some three years ago. After his death it was found he had willed his beautiful home to the city of Waterloo to be used as a public library.
History Table of Contents
Biography Table of
Contents
Name Index
Memorial Library Illinois
Selections
USGenNet.org
- First & Only 501(c)3 Host for Genealogical & Historical Sites
Livingston County Michigan Historical & Genealogical Project
American
History & Genealogy Project
Home
© 2006~ Pam MARDOS Rietsch pam@livgenmi.com