Historical souvenir of Greenville, Illinois : being a ... - University Library

Fort, built about the same time.
These two feeble bands of settlers,
at that time, composed the entire
population of Bond county. These
forts were not only a place of defense
but the residence of the families
belonging to the neighborhood.
The stockades, bastions, cabins and
block house walls had port holes at
proper heights and distances. The
whole of the outside was made £.bsolutely
bullet proof and the fort
was built without the use of a single
nail or spike.
Some families were so attached
to their farms that they remained
on them as much as possible, despite
the constant danger of an
Indian attack. In the event of the
approach of Indians, an "express"
from the fort was sent out to arouse
the settlers, who at once hastened
to the stockade and thus it often
happened that the whole number of
families belonging to a fort, who
were in the evening at their homes,
were all in the fortress before dawn
the next morning. During the succeeding
day their householl effects
were brought in by parties of armed
men sent out for that purpose. Some
families were more foolhardy or
adventurous than others and in
spite of every remonstrance they
would remain on their farms, or, if
in the stockade, would return prematurely
to their property, thus endangering
their lives.
Historical Souvenir of Greenville, Illinois.
THE
'Cht Cox Massacre.
Cox massacre is frequently
confused with the killing of
Henry Cox and his son, south of
Greenville, by the Indians. Henry
Cox and his son were killed and by
Indians, but the Cox massacre,
which is eommemorateJ by a monument
in the country west of Greenville,
was the occasion of the death
of another Cox, and the taking into
captivity of a young woman.
The Cox family moved from near
Alton and settled north of Pocahontas
a distance of two miles. They
had been there two or three years
and were building a horse mill at
the time of the murder, which was
on June 2, ISll. Several Indians
of the Pottawattomie tribe, having
heard a considerable amount of
money was in possession of the family
went to the cabin while the
father and mother were away. They
killed the son, cutting out his heart
an! placing it on his head. They
then threatened his sister, Rebecca
Cox. who had been a witness of the
terrible deed, with a like vengeance,
unless she revealed the hiding place
of the money. The girl went to a
chest, and fumbling around in it,
in order to conceal the principal
packages, handed them a small parcel,
which they accepted. The Indians
then stole the horses and taking
the girl prisoner, started north
up the Shoal Creek timber. Rebecca
was shrewd enough to tear strips
from her apron and drop them
along the trail as a guide for her
rescuers.
As soon as the family returned
and found the mutilated corpse of
their son lying in the cabin, and the
daughter gone, they went to Hill's
Station, sent messengers to alarm
the settlers in Bond and Madison
counties and as soon as possible
Captain Pruett, Davy White and
seven others went in pursuit. The
Indians, having had several days
start, were overtaken near where
Springfield now stands. The girl
was tied on a pony. At sight of her
rescuers, she loosed her bands,
jumped from the pony and started
to meet them. An Indian threw a
tomahawk. It stuck squarely in her
back and thus her saviours found
her. The girl afterward recovered,
married and moved to Arkansas,
where her husband was killed by
Indians. Three miles north of Pocahontas
is the grave of Cox and
above it stands a monument erected
by the people of that community a
few years ago.
The killing of Henry Cox by the
Indians is an entirely different
story. Cox was an inmate of Hill's
Fort but had built a cabin nearly a
mile south of where Dudleyville now
stands. One morning in August,
1S15, Cox took his son, aged 15,
Scene at the dec cation of the Cox monument, west of Greenville, October 9, lyno. The moiuiinent commemorated
the massacre of Mr. Cox, by the Indians, in 181 1.