CHAPTER FOURTEEN

P. 148 ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR COLES

STARTING THE NEW MACHINERY—ILLINOIS BLACK CODE—

A MAN WITH CONVICTIONS—THE SLAVERY ISSUE—A BITTER CAMPAIGN

—THE RESULT—THE SANGAMON COUNTRY—

A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR —THE ELECTIONS OF 1826

       With the first political maneuvering in the spring of 1822, began one of the most momentous conflicts that was ever fought out on the soil of the great Prairie state. There was no dearth of ambitious men, and candidates were plentiful. There were four candidates for governor. They were Edward Coles, James B. Moore, Joseph Phillips and Thomas C. Browne.

       The last named gentleman was an associate judge on the supreme bench. Phillips was chief justice of the same court. Moore was major general in the state militia. Coles was at this time register of the land office at Edwardsville.

A MAN WITH CONVICTIONS

       Mr. Coles was a Virginian, having been born in that state December 15, 1786. He received a very liberal education in William and Mary College, though he did not graduate. Mr. Coles had all the breeding of a Virginia gentleman. His father was a colonel in the Revolutionary war and counted among his immediate friends and companions such prominent men as Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, the Randolphs, and others not less prominent. Young Coles, after leaving college in his senior year on account of his health, spent the next two years at his father’s home, Enniscorthy, an old Virginia estate, in company with the above named statesmen and in constant reading in his father’s library.

       His father died in 1808 leaving the son the estate and the slaves. President Madison had been won by the polish, education, and character of the young man, and offered him the position of private secretary. This was accepted, and thus he spent several years of his life in the very midst of the stirring times of the War of 1812. During these years of life at the national capital he became deeply interested in the problems of slavery. His correspondence shows him to be a profound student of social problems. Jefferson opened his heart to the young man on this great question and no doubt the stand that Jefferson took against slavery greatly strengthened young Coles in his convictions of the sacredness of human freedom.

       In 1815, he resigned his position as private secretary to the President P 149 and traveled  

 

GOVERNOR EDWARD COLES
 
extensively in the west to determine where he might like to settle. He drove with horse and buggy, accompanied by a servant and a saddle horse, over the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. From St. Louis he went to New Orleans, and from there to Savannah, Georgia, by water, and thence to his estate in Virginia.

       In the summer of 1816, the President found it needful to send to Russia a special envoy upon a diplomatic mission of great delicacy. Edward Coles was selected for the mission. He performed this service with great distinction. He returned by way of France where he was presented to the French king, Louis XVIII, and was fortunate to meet General LaFayette at a dinner given by Albert Gallatin, minister to France. In London, Mr. Coles met many prominent Englishmen. It was here he met Morris Birkbeck, founder of the English Prairie settlements. On his return to America, he visited Illinois again in 1818. He was in Kaskaskia when the constitutional convention was in session and remained and used his influence to prevent the insertion of a clause permitting slavery. He returned to Virginia and made preparations to move to Illinois.

       On the first of April, 1819, he started from his Virginia home for the newly admitted state of Illinois. With him he brought his slaves left by his father’s death some four or five years before. At Brownsville, Penn­sylvania, he bought two large flat bottomed boats upon which he em­barked with all his earthly belongings, including twenty-six slaves.

       The second morning out from Pittsburg he called all his slaves around him and informed them that he now gave each of them his freedom. He told them that they were at liberty to go on down the river with him or return to Virginia. If they went with him he intended to give each head of a family one hundred and sixty acres of land and would help them in other ways to get started in the world. Mr. Coles desired to study the effect of the news upon them and said: “The effect upon them was electrical. They stared at me and each other, as P 150 if doubting the accuracy or reality of what they heard. In breathless silence they stood before me, unable to utter a word, but with countenances beaming with expressions which no word could convey and which no language can describe.”

       At or near Louisville, Kentucky, he sold his boats and sent his goods and newly freed slaves to Edwardsville by land. Before disembarking Mr. Coles issued a certificate of emancipation to his slaves. Of this matter we shall speak in the future.

       When President Monroe heard that Mr. Coles was coming to Illinois to live, he gave him the appointment of register of the land office at Edwardsville. This he held till he was elected governor in 1822.

       It will be seen that Mr. Coles was comparatively a newcomer in Illinois when the canvass began for governor in 1822. It is said, however, that he was a very successful electioneerer. His position in the land office was of great value to him in that it threw him in touch with all the settlers from that part of the state. He was always well dressed, courteous, and dignified. It was understood that Coles was an anti-slavery man, while his chief opponent, Mr. Justice Phillips, was in favor of that “peculiar institution.” Moore was also anti-slavery, while Browne was for slavery. The vote for Coles and Moore, the anti-slavery candidates, was 3,332, while for the other two it was 5,303. This shows that on a test of the slavery and anti-slavery sentiment the vote was overwhelmingly for slavery. And so the slavery party elected the lieutenant governor and other state officers as well as a majority in both branches of the general assembly. Daniel P. Cook was elected to congress against John McLean. Mr. Cook had served the state in congress and voted against the Missouri compromise. The great measure had been supported by Senators Edwards and Thomas, of Illinois, and the people were considerably wrought up over the subject.

       The legislature convened at Vandalia the first Monday in December, 1822. This was on the second, and on the fifth the newly elected governor gave his inaugural address. This speech by the governor recommended—First, that the legislature foster the agricultural society which was then in its infancy. Second, he suggested that a subject of prime importance was the whole financial problem. Third, he was hopeful that the state might soon see its way clear to take steps to connect the Mississippi river with Lake Michigan by means of a canal. Fourth, he was very deeply impressed with the injustice of slavery, and recommended the freeing of the slaves in this state. He also called attention to the need of revising the laws on kidnapping, and the black laws. This speech very greatly disturbed the legislature, as well as the people of the state. Nearly all the people had come from slave-holding states and whether they ever had been slave owners or not they were easily touched on this subject.

THE SLAVERY ISSUE

       The slavery sentiment was rapidly crystallizing around the idea that a convention ought to be called to revise the constitution; for only in this way could there be any hope of introducing slavery permanently into the ‘state. That portion of the governor’s address which related to slavery was referred to a committee which brought in a report and a P 151 resolution. The report reviewed the history of slavery up to the admission of the state and then said:

       Your committee have now arrived at the period when Illinois was admitted into the Union upon equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever, and whatever causes of regret were experienced by the restriction imposed on the first convention, your committee was clearly of the opinion that the people of Illinois have now the same right to alter their constitution as the people of the state of Virginia or any other of the original states, and may make any disposition of negro slaves they choose without any breach of faith or violation of contract, ordinances or acts of congress; and if the reasoning employed be correct there is no other course left by which to accomplish the object of this portion of the governor’s message, than to call a convention to alter the constitution.

       A resolution was introduced which read as follows: “Resolved, That the general assembly of the state of Illinois (two-thirds thereof concurring therein), do recommend to the electors at the next election for the members of the general assembly to vote for or against a convention, agreeably to the seventh article of the constitution.” It was thought the report of the committee would be readily concurred in. It was also known that in the senate the resolution would easily pass, but in the house one vote was lacking to give the constitutional two-thirds majority. Now began one of the most questionable political schemes which has ever been carried out in the history of the state. Briefly the story is this:

       Pike county, which included nearly all of Illinois north and west of the Illinois river, had returned Nicholas Hansen as a member of the house. His seat was contested by John Shaw. Very early in the session the house decided the contest by deciding that Hansen was entitled to his seat. The election of the United States senator was next in order. Jesse B. Thomas was returned to the United States senate.

       Nicholas Hansen had voted with the slavery side on all preliminaries and it was assumed he would vote for the final resolution which would call for a vote by the people on the question of a convention. The resolution had previously passed the senate and on February 11, 1823, was awaiting the action of the house. When the house roll was called, Hansen voted against the resolution and it failed by one vote. The convention people were wild with anger. Great confusion reigned, and open threats were made.

       A motion now prevailed in the house to reconsider the seating of Hansen. The proposition carried because it needed only a majority. The next move was to strike out the name of Hansen in the original resolution seating him, and insert the name of Shaw. While this motion was pending a great mass meeting was held at night at the state house, and inflammatory speeches were made. Hansen was burned in effigy and the great mob marched through the streets with drums, and bugles, and shouts of “Convention or death.” The resolution unseating Hansen and seating Shaw carried. The next step was to bring Shaw from Pike county to Vandalia as quickly as possible. It was one hundred and thirty miles to where Shaw lived. The going and coming would ordinarily occupy five days, but in this case the round trip was made in four days, an average of sixty-five miles of travel each day. Upon the P 152 coming of Shaw the remainder of the disgraceful proceedings occupied but little time. The call was issued for a vote for or against the convention to revise the constitution.

       As soon as the resolution was passed a great concourse of the friends of slavery gathered in a mob; and headed by members of the supreme court, and other men in high stations in life, they visited the residence of Governor Coles, and in a most indecent manner insulted and reviled one chief executive. Gov. John Reynolds says in his history: There was in the seat of government a wild and indecorous procession by torch-light and liquor.”

       It seems that the friends of freedom would have been crushed to earth to rise no more, but the unjustifiable proceedings of the past few weeks had only given renewed strength to the little band of patriots. They must have had an enlarged vision through faith of what the great heart of the people would do when the question came up to them at the polls.

A BITTER CAMPAIGN

       And now began one of the most important campaigns, because so far-reaching in its consequences, that was ever waged in this country. The slavery party had become intoxicated with its success and was not in a frame of mind to take a dispassionate view of the problem yet to be solved. So far the supporters of slavery had succeeded by mere brute force and unscrupulous scheming, but now the victory cannot be so won. They must go before the people and show the advantages of slavery, if it have any. It is now a question to be solved by the Christian conscience of the people.

       But the struggle before the people and among the people, was defined to be a very bitter and violent one. When selfish personal interests are at stake, and when great and fundamental principles are involved, the contest is sure to be accompanied by demonstrations of violent passion. “Never was such canvass made in the state before. The young and old, without regard to sex, entered the arena of party strife; families and neighborhoods became divided, and surrendered themselves up to the bitter warfare. Detraction and personal abuse reigned supreme, while conflicts were not infrequent.”

       The anti-convention people were not underestimating the seriousness of the struggle, nor were they hesitating about making the sacrifices which they saw must be made in order to gain the victory for freedom. And so they willingly and without reserve offered their all—time, money, and energy upon the altar of their conviction.

       Both parties to the struggle selected the same means for the accomplishment of their ends. Among these we may mention:

       1. Public appeals through posters, hand bills, and pamphlets.
 

       2. Public addresses given before audiences wherever assembled.
 

       3. Secret societies organized in various parts of the state.
 

       4. Newspapers.

       Just before the adjournment of the legislature the convention people drew up “An Appeal” to the people of the state in which they pointed out the urgent necessity of revising the constitution of the state. In this “appeal” not a word was said about slavery, that topic being carefully omitted. P 153

       The “Antis” were on the point of issuing a similar appeal when they were anticipated by the pro-slavery people. This appeal by the non-convention people was a vigorous arraignment of the recent action in the senate and house. One extract from that appeal shows the spirit of the entire document:

       What a strange spectacle would be presented to the civilized world to see the people of Illinois, yet innocent of this great national sin and in the full enjoyment of all the blessings of free governments, sitting down and in solemn convention to deliberate and determine whether they should introduce among them a portion of their fellow beings, to be cut off from those blessings, to be loaded with the chains of bondage, and ren­dered unable to leave any other legacy to their posterity than the in­heritance of their own servitude; the wise and good of all nations would blush at our own political depravity. Our profession of republicanism and equal freedom would incur the derision of despots and the scorn and reproach of tyrants. We should write the epitaph of free govern­ment upon its own tombstone.

       In addition to these two “appeals,” there were hundreds of pamphlets, tracts, hand bills, and flaming posters scattered broadcast over the country. It is said some of these pamphlets, bills, etc., were very inflammatory. The authors of much of this literature as well as those who distributed it were not known to the general public. But it must not be thought that everything of this kind was done in the dark, for many on both sides were very bold in their work.

       Perhaps no one man by means of his pen, did more to bring about the final and triumphant defeat of the slavery party than did Morris Birkbeck, of Wanborough, Edwards county. Mr. Birkbeck, as we have seen, was a cultured and wealthy English gentleman whom Governor Coles had met in London. Mr. Birkbeck wrote with great force, and being thoroughly sympathetic with the anti-convention people gave up his time and energy unreservedly. His writings were published in the Shawneetown Gazette edited by Henry Eddy. He also published pamphlets which were scattered throughout the state. The articles published in the Shawneetown Gazette were signed Jonathan Freeman, and were widely copied. it must be remembered that the English people who were thinking of leaving England from 1815 to 1824 were too intelligent and too patriotic to leave an unbearable slavery to church and state in England, and to migrate to a country where there was a slavery many times more galling and degrading—a slavery which wherever it had been planted, had blighted the purity of the social and family life, paralyzed the wage earning capacity of the honest laborers, corrupted the teaching of holy writ, prohibited the general spread of intelligence, and brazenly usurped the functions of government.

     Morris Birkbeck was only voicing the sentiments of the English immigrants in Illinois as with ease and grace and great warmth he engaged in the great struggle.

       Another man to whom great praise should be given was the Rev. John M. Peck, a Baptist preacher of  St. Clair county. He was also an agent of the American Bible Society. Mr. Peck was constantly going over the country, and he thus had an excellent opportunity to plead with the people and distribute the pamphlets prepared by others.

       The second means was the public addresses which the orators delivered P 154 wherever and

 

HENRY EDDY, EDITOR OF THE SHAWNEE CHIEF AND OF THE ILLINOIS EMIGRANT, IN 1818; AND OF THE ILLINOIS GAZETTE, 1819
whenever they had opportunity. The attractiveness of a personal explanation of the value of slavery or of the curse of it, drew to the public gatherings vast multitudes of people. The county seats were the centers of the agitation. On all public occasions whenever there was an opportunity, some one was ready with a speech upon the question of convention or no convention, At the public dinner, toasts were given which revealed the spirit in which the contest was carried on. Some of them ran as follows: “The convention—the means of introducing and spreading the African family.’’ ‘‘The enemies of the convention—may they ride a porcupine saddle on a hard trotting horse a long way without money or friends.’’ ‘‘The state of Illinois—the ground is good, prairies in abundance. Give us plenty of negroes, a little industry, and she will distribute her treasures.’’ One need hardly be told that these toasts are the exponents of an intemperate, untenable, and losing policy. There is no sign of seriousness, no indication of a high and lofty ideal of social and political institutions. They breathe the spirit of revenge, and of a losing cause.

       In contrast with these we need only to quote a few toasts given by the fearless public speakers who were at all times conscious of the just­ness of their cause—the men who were fighting a winning battle. “The P 155 Crisis—it is big with the fate of Illinois, and requires every friend of freedom to rally under the banners of the constitution.” “The Freedom of the Late Northwest—may it be like the little stone that was cut out without hands and became a great mountain and filled the earth.” “The convention or no convention—the world listens to hear the decision of our moral and political character pronounced by ourselves.” “We have confidence in the people of Illinois to support a free constitution and prohibit slavery; if we should be disappointed in the people, we still have confidence in the general government.”

       The third agency enumerated above, in carrying on the campaign, was a kind of secret society. The Rev. Mr. Peck was quite active in organizing these societies. These organizations merely got together the people of any locality for consideration of the plans of work and for the hearing of reports and for the encouragement of those who might get disheartened. There was a sort of parent society in St. Clair county, and in other counties thirteen other societies were organized.

       To counteract the work of these societies the convention people or­ganized what they called executive committees of ten members each. Vandalia was the headquarters for this work of the executive committee.

       Among the public speakers who favored the convention were: Richard M. Young, Jesse B. Thomas, John McLean, E. K. Kane, John Reynolds, Thomas Reynolds, ex-Governor Bond, etc. All these men were prominent in public life.

       Some of those who took the stump against the convention were:  Governor Coles, the Rev. John M. Peck, Daniel P. Cook, and others.

       The fourth agency in this great struggle was the newspapers. As soon as it was seen that the struggle would have to be settled by the peo­ple, there was an unconscious turning of the people to the newspapers for direction and information.

       There were five papers in Illinois at that time. These were:

The Edwardsville Spectator, Edwardsville.

The Illinois Intelligencer, Vandalia.

The Illinois Gazette, Shawneetown.

The Republican Advocate, Kaskaskia.

The Republican, Edwardsville.

       The first three were against the convention, while the last two named favored the convention.

THE RESULT

       At last the struggle was over. For eighteen months the state had been in the vortex of a great storm. The cloud will soon break away and the sun will shine once more.

       On the first Monday in August, 1824, the general election was held and it was in this general election that this question must be settled. It was an eventful day. The cause of freedom was on trial. The jury was the 11,612 voters who had the decision in their hands. The result was the occasion of great rejoicing. The following is the vote as furnished by the secretary of state:
 

 Abstract of vote for and against convention August 2, A. D. 1824
COUNTY FOR
CONVENTION		 AGAINST
CONVENTION

Alexander

 75 51

Bond

 63 240
 P 156 Clark 31 116
 Crawford 134 262
Edgar 3 234
Edwards 189 391
 Fayette  125 121
Franklin 170 113
Fulton 5 60
Gallatin 597 133
Greene 164 379
Hamilton 173 85
Jackson 180 93
Jefferson 99 43
Johnson 74 74
Lawrence 158 261
Madison 351 563
Marion 45 52
Monroe 141 196
Montgomery 74 90
Morgan 42 432
Pike 19 165
Pope 273 124
Randolph 357 284
Sangamon 153  722
St. Clair 408 506
Union 213 240
Washington 112 173
Wayne 189 111
White 355 326
  4972  6640
Majority against the convention 1,668.

       Some notion may be had of the interest in the convention question by noting the votes for presidential electors compared with the vote on the convention question. Pope cast 397 votes on the convention proposition, while her total vote for electors was 84. Gallatin cast on convention question 730 votes, on electors 315. St. Clair on convention question 914, on electors 399.

       The total vote east on the convention question was 11,612, while the total vote for presidential electors at election in November of the same year in the thirty counties, was but 4,671.

       Many explanations have been offered of the vote on the convention. There were at least four distinct elements in the population as regards this question.

       1. The remnant of the old French settlers who held slaves by reason of the treaties of 1763, and of 1783, and of Virginia’s deed of session of 1784.

       2. The pro-slavery instincts of the immigrants from the slave holding states.

       3. The anti-slavery views of the immigrants from the free states.

       4. The intense feeling against slavery held by the English P 157 settlers in the eastern part of the state, as well as that of other European settlers.

       The first named class lived chiefly in Randolph county, St. Clair and Madison. These three counties cast 1,116 votes for the convention.

       The second class had settled in White, Gallatin, and Pope counties. These cast 1,225 votes for the convention.

       The result of the vote in Edgar, Clark, Morgan, Sangamon, and Fulton shows the character of the settlers. They voted very largely against the convention. The vote in these five counties stood 234 for and 1,464 votes against the convention.

       The influence of the English settlers may be seen in the vote in Edwards county. But there were Irish, Scotch, and Germans scattered throughout the state and their votes were against slavery.

THE SANGAMON COUNTRY

       The state election at which was decided the convention question was held in August, 1824, while the election for President was held in November following. The difference in the vote at the two elections, only three months apart, shows a considerable falling off in interest in politics. Everything quieted down after the August election, and the bitterness engendered in the long campaign vanished as the morning mists.

       When the legislature which was elected on August 2, met in December (first Monday) and organized, the governor sent in his message. He congratulated the people upon the result of the contest over slavery, and again recommended the abolition of the slaves held by the descendants of the French settlers. But the legislature did not follow the governor’s suggestion, although a majority of the members were probably anti-slavery in sentiment. Two United States senators were elected, John McLean and Elias Kent Kane, both very strong convention advocates. The judiciary was reorgan­ized by creating a circuit court of five judges. The supreme court consisted of four judges. These nine judges were elected by the legislature as provided by the constitution of 1818, Article IV. The new chief justice of the supreme court, William Wilson, was a young man of twenty-nine years and had lately, 1817, come into the state. He was a young man of unusual parts. In less than two years after coming he had been put upon the supreme bench and had now served five years in that position. He served the state till 1848 when he retired to the quiet of a very hospitable home near Carmi where he died in 1857. All the other members of both circuit and supreme courts were prominent men.

       The legislation at this session was of general interest.  A law was passed which provided for the maintenance of public roads. Up to this time the law had required that every able-bodied man should work the roads five days in each year. In this way the roads were maintained. The new law levied a tax in proportion to one’s property which amount might be paid in money or in labor. Another law was passed which provided a system of free public schools much like the law of today. This school law was brought forward by Joseph Duncan then a senator from Jackson county. The basis of this law was P 158 that the voters might levy a tax for the support of the schools in any district, but the taxes must not be more than one-half of one per cent on the assessed valuation, nor more than ten dollars for any one person. The tax might be paid in cash or in merchantable produce. A poll tax could also be assessed on all who had the care of children of school age.

       This law was seriously maimed in the legislature of 1826-7 and in 1829 it was further crippled,

MAP SHOWING THE VOTE ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION IN 1824. WHITE COUNTIES WERE FOR FREEDOM, BLACK COUNTIES FOR SLAVERY

and little if any of the original idea which Mr. Duncan had worked out was left on the statute books.

       At this session also the supreme court was authorized to revise the laws of the state and to present such revision to the next legislature. This the court did, and it is said that this revision has been the basis of our laws even up to the present time. P 159

       The law required the census to be taken every five years, and although the contest over slavery had checked immigration during 1823 and 1824, yet in the latter part of 1824 and in 1825 streams of population poured into the state from the older settled parts of the Union. Travelers who had visited this state carried into the east and even into Europe marvelous stories of the Sangamon country. The name itself is poetic, and there was connected with the expression a sort of vision of paradise. Ferdinand Ernst, in 1819-20, visited that region. He was a German traveler who reached the site of Vandalia before the sale of lots took place, which occurred the 6th of September, 1819. From here he visited the Sangamon country. There was a very good road leading from Edwardsville into the Sangamon country. As nearly as this road can be now traced, it ran in almost a straight line  from Edwardsville to the present city of Carlinville, passing on the way the site of the present flourishing city of Bunker Hill. From Carlinville the road bent to the east of north passing out of the present county of Macoupin at the northeast corner, three miles east of the present city of Virden. From this point east of north to a point very near Rochester, and thence to a point near the junction of the south branch and north fork of the Sangamon river, leaving the site of the present capital some four or five miles to the west. From here the road continued the same general direction to the present city of Lincoln, The road continued this general direction till it left the present county of Logan at the old Kickapoo capital. Here it struck Tazewell county and thence turned northwest to Lake Peoria. This was the route taken by Governor Edwards in his campaign in 1812.

       Mr. Ernst, the traveler, took this road in 1819. He started from Vandalia and went northwest, crossed Shoal creek, left the head waters of Silver and Sugar creek to the southwest, passed not far from Mt. Olive and Gillespie, and came into the road described above, a few miles north of Bunker Hill. He describes the big prairie which separates the head waters of the Macoupin and the Sangamon. He says the moment one passes over the divide into the drainage basin of the Sangamon he sees a marked difference in the character of the soil. The second night out the traveler stayed with a family on Sugar creek, about two miles west of Pawnee. Sixty farms had been opened on this stream since the spring of 1819. The sod-corn was from ten to fifteen feet high. The land was not yet surveyed and could not be for some three years. This was called “the beautiful land of the Sangamon.” From this point Mr. Ernst traveled west in a circuit around the present site of Springfield to Elkhart Grove. Here lived a Mr. Latham who had thirty acres in cultivation. This farm was the farthest north of any east of the Illinois river. However, there were some farms laid out at the old Kickapoo capital just in the edge of Tazewell county, but no settlements made. Mr. Ernst went north to Salt creek, but not being able to get across he retraced his steps.

       Mr. Ernst says: In the vicinity of this town (Vandalia) is a large amount of fine land; but every one is full of praise of those sixty or eighty miles northward upon the River Sangamon. The expression the P 160 “Sangamon country,” applied to all that country through which the Sangamon river and its branches flow. Peck’s Gazetteer, page 131, says:

       "This country contains a larger quantity of rich land than any other in the state. The Sangamon, in particular, is an Arcadian region, in which nature has delighted to bring together her happiest combi­nations of landscape. It is generally a level country. There is a happy proportion of timbered and prairie lands. The soil is of great fertility.  All who have visited this fine tract of country, admire the beauty of the landscape, which nature has here painted in primeval freshness."

       This Sangamon region was settled by immigrants from all the older states but probably those from the northern states predominated. More than 200 families had settled in the “Sangamon country” before the land was surveyed, In the vote on the convention question, Sangamon county cast 875 votes—153 for and 722 against the convention. This would show a population of over 4,000 in 1824. It also means that these settlers were from the free states chiefly.

       By the spring of 1825, the result of the slavery contest was known in all the older states, and as if people were waiting for a favorable report, the movement of immigration began.

       The fame of the “Sangamon country” had spread into all the older settled portions of the United States and the migrations were largely toward that region. In the summer of 1825, the road leading into the “Sangamon country” was literally lined with movers seeking new homes. In Vandalia alone it is said 250 wagons were counted going north in three weeks.

A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR

       The summer of 1825 was a memorable one for the new state, for in the earlier days of this summer, a notable guest was entertained by the young commonwealth. The guest was none other than General LaFayette, soldier, statesman, and patriot. The congress of the United States had invited General LaFayette to visit the scenes of his military achievement and to mingle once more with the thinning ranks of the Revolutionary heroes. The gracious invitation was accepted, and on July 12, 1824, LaFayette accompanied by his son, George Washington LaFayette, and his private secretary, M. Levasseur, sailed for America.

       They arrived in New York August 15, and were received on Staten Island by Joseph Bonaparte, a brother to the great Napoleon, then a resident of Bordentown, New Jersey. General LaFayette was received in New York city by a double line of old Revolutionary soldiers, amid the roar of cannon and the strains of martial music. Everywhere the same profound respect and triumphant welcome awaited the nation’s guest.

       Early in the session of the general assembly in December, 1824, that body extended a cordial invitation to General LaFayette to visit Illinois. This invitation from the state’s legislative body was supplemented by a very affectionate letter from Governor Coles. On January 16, 1825, LaFayette replied from Washington to these pressing invitations to visit Illinois, In the reply he says: P 161

 

GENERAL MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE

"It has ever been my eager desire and it is now my earnest intention to visit the western states and particularly the State of Illinois. I shall, after the celebration of the 22d of February anniversary day, leave this place for a journey to the southern, and from New Orleans to the western states, so as to return to Boston on the 14th of June, when the corner stone of the Bunker’s Hill monument is to be laid; a ceremony sacred to the whole Union, and in which I have been engaged to act a peculiar and honorable part."

       On the 12th of April, 1825, LaFayette wrote to Governor Coles from New Orleans saying he would reach Illinois about the end of the month of April. On April 28, the steamboat Natchez arrived at the old French village of Carondelet, below St. Louis, with General LaFayette and his party. He was accompanied by a large committee of honor from the southern states. The morning of the 29th of April, Governor Clark, of Missouri; Governor Coles, of Illinois; Col. Thomas H. Benton, and others repaired to Carondelet to receive the distinguished visitors. The entire party moved up the river to St. Louis where LaFayette was received with great enthusiasm. A formal reception was held at the mansion of Pierre Choteau, after which a public reception and ball was attended by the party at the Massie hotel.

       On the morning of April 30, Saturday, the Natchez conveyed LaFayette and a distinguished party to Kaskaskia, the old seat of French empire in the west. A vast throng of patriotic citizens bade him welcome. A reception was held at the home of  Gen. John Edgar. Governor Coles delivered a glowing address of welcome to which LaFayette responded with considerable feeling.

       Just here in the proceedings a very touching scene occurred. A few old Revolutionary soldiers who had fought with LaFayette at Brandywine and Yorktown, were presented. The scene was very affecting.

GENERAL MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE

 

THE OLD SWEET HOTEL IN KASKASKIA, IN WHICH GEN. LAFAYETTE WAS BANQUETED IN 1825

       The party now repaired to the hotel kept by Colonel Sweet, where a banquet was spread. This hotel had been profusely decorated by the patriotic ladies of the town. Laurel wreaths, roses, and wild flowers filled all available space. The ladies bad also brought the provision with which the tables were loaded. Col. Pierre Menard sat at LaFayette‘s right, while the priest, Father Olivier, sat at the left.

       After the banquet several toasts were given:

      By LaFayette—"Kaskaskia and Illinois; may their joint prosperity evince more and more the blessings of congenial industry and freedom."

          By Governor Coles—"The inmates of La Granges (LaFayette’s home); let them not be anxious; for though their father is 1,000 miles in the interior of America, he is yet in the midst of his affectionate children."

          By LaFayette’s son—"The grateful confidence of my father’s children and grandchildren, in the kindness of his American family towards him."

       By Governor Bond—"General LaFayette, may he live to see that liberty established in his native country, which he helped establish in his adopted country."

       This last toast touched a tender spot in the heart of the old hero and he said he must stand while they drank this toast.

       A grand ball was given at the residence of William Morrison, Sr. LaFayette led the grand march with Miss Alzire Menard, a daughter of Pierre Menard. While this festivity was in progress, an Indian P 163 woman who belonged to a tribe camped near by,
 

 

THE RAWLINGS HOTEL IN SHAWNEETOWN, WHERE GEN. LAFAYETTE WAS DINED IN 1825
was brought to LaFayette. She presented a keepsake which she said her father gave her. It was a letter written by LaFayette and given to her father, Chief Panisciowa of the Six Nations. This chief had rendered valuable service to the American cause, and this letter was an expression of appreciation from LaFayette. The Indian woman was called Mary. She was an educated woman and could speak French and English. LaFayette confirmed her story of the letter.

       The ball closed the day’s reception, and at 12 o’clock Saturday night of the last day in April, the Natchez started with the distinguished party for Nashville, Tennessee. Governor Coles and other Illinois gentlemen accompanied the party to Nashville.

       On the 14th of May the boat appeared in sight of Shawneetown. Extensive preparations had been made to receive the nation’s guest.

     At this date Shawneetown was a straggling village with but a few dwellings other than mere huts. There was at least one brick house—possibly two—no more. One brick was a hotel and was known in after years as the Rawlings hotel. This house stood just on the bank of the river. A walk had been laid from the hotel door to the landing, some two hundred feet down the bank of the river. This walk was covered with calico and then strewn with flowers. When the boat run out the gang plank the visitors marched to the hotel door preceded by the reception committee. The walk was lined on opposite sides with the people who threw roses and flowers in LaFayette’s path. At the hotel Judge James Hall delivered an address of welcome to which LaFayette responded. A banquet was then spread, after which a general hand shaking took place. The distinguished visitors left in the afternoon for the upper Ohio.

THE ELECTIONS OF 1826

       The canvass for the governorship which took place in the summer of 1826 was a long and interesting contest. The constitution of P 164 1818 provided that the governor could not succeed himself. Governor Coles was therefore ineligible for reelection.

     There were three who announced themselves as candidates for governor. They were Ninian Edwards, Thomas Sloo, and Adolphus Frederick Hubbard. The last named gentleman was the lieutenant governor with Governor Coles.

        Ninian Edwards was no stranger to the people of Illinois. He was a native of Maryland, but was reared in Kentucky. In 1809 when Madison appointed him territorial governor of Illinois, he was an associate justice of the court of appeals of Kentucky. He served continuously as territorial governor till Illinois was admitted into the Union in 1818. He had served as United States senator from 1818 to 1824. He became engaged in a quarrel in 1824 with the secretary of the United States treasury, William H. Crawford, relative to the loss of money in the bank at Edwardsville and also concerning that official's management of the national finances. He was not able to sustain some charges against Crawford and had lost standing as a result. His candidacy was an effort to gain his former high standing in his adopted state.

       Thomas Sloo was a successful merchant at Shawneetown and later at McLeansboro. He came of a noted family, and was himself a courtly gentleman. He had never practiced public speaking and so was greatly handicapped in the race against so polished a public speaker as Ninian Edwards.

       It is said of Edwards that he dressed faultlessly, and was a “man with a noble, princely appearance.” He made his canvass of the state in all the circumstance of a Virginia planter—broadcloth suit, ruffled shirt, high topped boots, carriage, and colored servants, he was bold in his attack upon the state bank management and made little or no effort to hold his former friends to his cause. The opposition argued that Edwards was old, and that he and his family and near kin had been holding office since the territory was organized. But when election day came Ninian Edwards was elected governor for four years.

       There were two candidates for the office of lieutenant governor, William Kinney and Samuel H. Thompson. Kinney was a Baptist preacher and had taken an active part in the convention struggle on the pro-slavery side in 1824. He was not scholarly, but was thoroughly acquainted with the people and was sympathetic with them in their struggle with all the problems of a new country. He was not averse to making use of the current methods of electioneering in those days. Mr. Thompson was a man of considerable culture, but timid, and not having previously engaged in politics the experiences were new to him and he did not make a very successful canvass. Kinney was the successful candidate.

       There was another election in the fall of 1826 which created no unusual interest. This was the contest for congressional honors. Daniel P. Cook had represented the state in congress the past six years. He had successively beaten John McLean, Elias Kent Kane, and ex-Governor Bond for congress, and had risen to the most important committee chairmanship, that of ways and means. Cook was an anti-slavery man and had voted for John Quincy Adams in 1825 when the presidential election came to the house. This was the P 165 charge against him in 1826, for Illinois was full of Jackson Democrats.

       Joseph Duncan felt therefore that he was justified in opposing Mr. Cook for the congressional honors. Mr. Duncan had been a soldier, had served in the legislature, was a strong Jackson man, and made a thorough canvass. He defeated Cook by 641 votes. This is said to be the first canvass in Illinois in which national politics entered to any extent into the campaign.

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