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

A Condensed History of Greenville, Illinois
COUNTLESS changes have taken
place in the ninety years that
have elapsed since a lone log
cabin, on the brow of the hill at the
west end of present Main Avenue,
constituted the whole of Greenville.
In those good old days of IS 15,
when Greenville was young, the
public road ran past the cabin, and
down the hill, and, crossing the
creek at the Alton ford, was swallowed
up by the forest.
Truthfully to relate how Greenville,
from that rudely constructed
log cabin, steadily advanced through
the years and has earned her place
on the map, and how she has been
evolved from the forest primeval
into a bustling city of twentieth
century attainments, is to tell again
the story of the unspeakable hardships
of the pioneers, and of the determination
of the settlers, who followed
them.
It was ninety years ago that a
sturdy pioneer, by name George
Davidson, attracted by the rolling
hills and clear spring water, set
about to clear the forest and make
himself a home, and. camping on
the edge of the big ravine that
yawns about the western confines
of the town, he paved the way for
a "Greater Greenville."
The history of Greenville, the
third and present county seat of
Bond county, is so closely interwoven
with the history of the county
itself, that a slight digression is
here and now pardonable, that we
may, at the outset, note the beginnings
of the then new country of
the Northwest Territory, of which
Bond county, and by inference.
Greenville, formed no insignificant
part.
Wrested from the clutches of
Great Britain by the indomitable
will of George Rogers Clark, to
whom we of today owe a mighty
debt of gratitude, the Illinois country
became a county of Virginia in
177S and so remained until the deed
of session of 17S4, and from that
time on the great territory of Illinois
was pared down until it reached
its present dimensions, and the
great, overgrown county of Bond,
that then extended to the shores of
Lake Michigan, the fifteenth county
to be formed, gave generously of its
territory to the formation of Montgomery,
Fayette and Clinton counties:
in fact so liberally that it was
finally compelled to borrow from
Madison, in sheer self-defense, finding
itself shaved down to its present
BY WILL C. CARSON.
Old Brick House which, until recently
stood at the corner of Main and
Si.xth. Ft was the home of Samuel
White and the first postotfice was
kept therein. One of the iirst houses
budt in Greenville.
unpretentious dimensions. Beyond
a doubt the spirit of broad-mindedness
and liberality that now characterizes
the county and city was born
of that period.
Bond county was organized in
ISlC an I was named for Shadrach
Bond, the first governor of Illinois.
It was one of the original fifteen
counties represented in the Consti-
Cyki's Hikge. Deceased.
Greenville Merchant in 1824.
tutional Convention of 181S. Thos.
Kirkpatrick and Samuel G. Morse
represented the county in the convention
that formed the first state
constitution. At this election for
conventioners there were three candidates,
Morse, Kirkpatrick and
Martin, although but two were to be
elected. The issue was slavery or no
slavery. Morse and Kirkpatrick were
against slavery but Martin was noncommittal.
Some lively Tennesseeans
concocted a scheme to ascertain
Martin's views. They called him to
one side and told him that they, as
well as some of their friends In
Tennessee, wanted slavery admitted
so that they might bring their slaves
here. Their plan was successful,
for Martin said, "Boj-s, don't say
anything, but I am for slavery."
The boys did say something, however,
and Martin was defeated.
George Davidson, founder of Green-
ville, was one of the clerks at this
election.
In giving of her territory and in
being represented at the first constitutional
convention. Bond county
is justly entitled to be denominated
one of the corner stones on which
has been laid the superstructure of
present day prosperity of the great
northwest.
early Settlements.
p ERMANENT settlement of Bond
' county was made prior to ISll,
but the exact date is not fixed. Mrs.
Elizabeth Harbour, who lived at
Chatham, Illinois in 1S90, declared
that her family settled near Greenville
in 1808, and that there had
been white settlers before them.
The lady named Isaac Hill, Tom
Ratan, Billy Jones, John Pinley
and Henry Cox as having been here
at that time. It is an established
fact that settlement was made at
Hill's Fort in the summer 1811.
This fort covered an acre of ground
and was situated on the present
farm of John O'Byrne, eight miles
southwest of present Greenville. The
mother of James H. White, of
Greenville, was an inmate of this
fort, her father having taken her
there for safety.
In early days the Indians made
annual incursions into the country
in and around Greenville. They
usually came in the autumn, because
they then could get game and corn
on which to subsist. A mile and a
half south of Hill's Fort was Jones'