Early days in Monroe County, IL, are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this new 8 1/2" x 11" spiral-bound booklet. The booklet, an excerpt from the hard-to-find 1884 book: Combined History of Randolph, Monroe and Perry Counties, Illinois, originally published by J.L. McDonough & Co. of Philadelphia, is printed on 60# opaque paper. A vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover. Enlargements of several areas with very fine print have been included to enhance readability.
Besides townships, communities currently listed for this area by the National Association of Counties, include: Columbia, Fults, Hecker, Maeystown, Renault, Valmeyer, and Waterloo (County Seat) .
Among the subjects discussed are: Location, Population, Hydrography, Typography and Soil, Agriculture and Horticulture, Transportation Facilities, including river travel and railroads; Early Settlers -- James Moore, James Garretson, Robert Kidd, Larken Rutherford, Shadrach Bond, Captain Nathaniel Hull, William Biggs, and the Huff, Murdock, Carr, Stookey, Eyeman, Shook, Mitchell, Kinkead, Clark, Badgeley, Teter, Miller, Whiteside, Kinney, Ogles, Scott, Murdick, Blair, McRoberts, Cairnes families, and others; James Piggott and Piggott's Fort; James Lemen and the New Design settlement; Various episodes of Indian Hostilities; Early Mills; a Distructive Hurricane in 1805; Organization of the County; List of over 200 taxpayers in the county in 1816; Claims and Surveys (also printed in an enlarged format so the finely-printed names can be read more easily); Government actions concerning roads, etc.; Early Justices of the Peace; Early Marriages; Towns and Villages Prior to 1820; Harrison and Mitchie; Prairie Du Long; Report of School Commissioners; Circuit Courts from 1847-1848; Naturalization; Monroe County in the General Assembly from 1818 to 1848 with names of representatives; the Court House; Report of the Grand Jury in 1858; Constitutional Convention of 1870; Paupers; Precincts; Murder and Execution; Other notable trials; Monroe citizens in state and federal offices; Officers of Monroe County; Attorneys; Newspapers; Statistics; Government officials -- many names; Schools; Churches -- Concord Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, German Evangelical, Bapist, Catholic and German M.E.; Newspapers; Town histories with names of businesses, societies, etc -- Waterloo, New Design, Burksville, Moredock, Renault, St. Phillips, Glasgow City, Mitchie, Marysville, Harrisonville, Bridgewater, New Harrisonville, Bluff, New Hanover, Columbia, and Prairie Du Long; and many more bits of history and trivia.
The booklet contains some very nice drawings. They include: The town of Ivy looking towards the Illinois Bluffs; the business of Brickey and Au Buchon on the Mississippi River in Mitchie Precinct; Dr. Livingstone's residence in Harrisonville, John Wilson's residence in Columbia, the County Court House, Farm of Christopher Fults in Mitchie Precinct; Goodman farm in Mitchie Precinct; County Jail; County Poor House; Evangelical St. Paul's Church, Waterloo; Thomas Payne residence in Waterloo; Philipp Maus Farm, Renault Precinct; Gardner Roller Mills, Columbia; "Eagle Cliffs," residence of Isaac Eberman, Moredock Precinct; an early train engine; There is also a map of the tri -county area of Monroe, Randolph and Perry.
Attention Genealogists: Besides the many names mentioned in the first part of the booklet, there are biographies of many county residents of yesteryear. Some are brief, but many include ancestors, previous residences, children, in-laws, affiliations, war records, and business activities, in the course of which they often shed light on the businesses, professions and institutions in the county. The biographies include: Waterloo-- John Janson, Christian Frederick Hartmann, Paul C. Brey (pix), Joseph W. Rickert (pix), Thomas J. Payne (pix), John Wiesenborn (pix), James Canniff (pix), W.H. Hilyard, William Erd, Charles Metzger, Dr. Hugo Rothstein, Peter Bickelhauph, Charles Von Schlierholz (pix), George E. Jahn, Ambrose Hoener, -- Mitchie -- J.William Goodman; Columbia -- John T. Angerer, John H. Wilson, Thomas Koenigsmark, Dr. William Rose, Prairie Du Long -- Jacob Thum.
Wouldn't this make a unique gift?
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