Excerpt from "History of Belleville"

8/12/2019 Excerpt from "History of Belleville"

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OUR CITY IS BORN 21

in turn, traded her for a horse, after which she was traded

again for a yoke of oxen.

At this time, 1799, several incidents happened in Washingtonwhich were felt in our immediate vicinity. One of the membersof the House of Representatives from the state of Vermont wasa witty, red-faced and rabid Republican and Irishman namedMatthew Lyons. He and Griswold, a Federalist who was alsoa member of the House, had a rough and tumble fight on thefloor of the House. Lyons, fearless and unafraid to say or publish

anything, had criticized in a Vermont newspaper, some lawspassed by the federalist government. For this and for the fight,

he was arrested, fined one thousand dollars, and sent to

prison for four months. Forty years later, after his death,

in 1839, the government returned the fine with interest

to his descendants, in the form of western lands. John Mes-

senger, one of the descendants, was given a 160 acre farm on

the old Collinsville road, which today is owned by a man namedGeorge Hoffmann, a lineal descendant of Matthew Lyons andJohn Messenger.

THE BIRTH OF OUR CITYWho the first white man was to set foot on the present

site of Belleville remains a question. It is believed by some that

French traders and trappers had passed through the woodsand prairie that now are occupied by our city.

It is known that in 1794 Reverend James Lemen, Sr., ofNew Design, in Monroe County, and six other men of hissettlement camped here for a week. The camp was under alarge pecan tree on the spot where the old Presbyterian Churchonce stood. They were on a hunting expedition as well aslooking for better lands to settle. At hunting they were good,for they killed a bear, several deer, and many turkeys.

Settlements were made in the vicinity of Belleville, andamong the first settlers were John Teter, Abraham Eyman,William Mueller, John Primm, Martin Randleman, and Daniel


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22 OUR CITY IS BORN

Stookey. Roving bands of Kickapoo and Pottawatomie Indians

were often seen by these early settlers and many of them later

fought against them.

The original proprietor of the town of Belleville was thepioneer citizen, George Blair, whose home, erected in 1806,

was the first to be built in this city. For several years he kept

it as a home and a hotel. As a man he seemed to have noextraordinary talents, but he was prominent because he owneda two-hunderd acre farm on which the central part of our city

now stands. Me didn't like to work on the farm and thereforecultivated only a small part of it. He was not well educated,but he loved to use words of great length even though they were

not suited to the meaning he wished to convey. He was goodnatured and possessed a benevolent spirit.

Contrary to most opinions, Belleville was not founded by the

French nor the Germans but was settled by the Americans toprotect themselves against the French. Studying the map, it

will be seen that our city is ideally located, being about half-

way between the two oceans and evenly divided between theNorth and the South. This places us far enough south to escape

the severe northern winters, while our four seasons offer us

a variety of climate. The Mississippi and its tributaries tie usclosely to the South and West, and the Illinois and Lake

Michigan tie us equally close to the North and East. Ourlocation is in the heart of the Mississippi Valley, one of the

nation's richest industrial, commercial, and agricultural districts.

This valley produces seventy percent of the agricultural pro-

ducts, seventy percent of the petroleum, seventy-five percent of

the lumber, and sixty percent of the minerals of the United

States.

The greater part of our city is located in Section 21, Town-ship 1, north of Range 8, West. It is situated on a gende rising

plain near the center of St. Clair County. The beauty of thesurrounding country is not surpassed by any place in southern

Illinois. It is not only equal to but even surpasses many of the


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most fertile and productive agricultural regions of our country.

In distance, it is about midway between the Mississippi and

Kaskaskia Rivers.Although our city had not yet been officially designated as

the County Seat, there was nevertheless a strong desire on the

part of the early settlers for a more central location for their

county government. The county seat had been at Cahokiasince 1790, but this village being French, the Americans were

anxious to get rid of the unprogressive ways of these earlier

settlers.

The Americans on the high lands east of the AmericanBottoms outnumbered the old French setders along the Missis-

sippi River. This almost necessitated a more central location of

the county seat than was the village of Cahokia. This question

was one of the issues in the election of members for the state

legislature in 1813, which was then meeting in Kaskaskia. In

December, 1813, the legislature appointed the following com-

mittee to select a new seat of justice for our county, 1. JohnHay, 2. James Lemen, 3. Issac Enochs, 4. William Scott, Jr.,5. Nathan Chambers, 6. Jacob Short, 7. Caldwell Cains. These

men met at the home of George Blair on March 12, 1814, andthe majority of them voted to build the county seat on Blair's

land. Blair, in return agreed to give them one acre of land for

a Public Square.

Up to this time our locality had been known as ComptonHill, but when George Blair decided that he wanted a city onhis farm, he said that he had found a place where he was going

to form a settlement which might become one of the most

beautiful cities of America, and therefore he named it Belleville,from the French word, meaning Beautiful City. He appointeda surveyor, John Messenger, to lay out the city in the summerof 1814. This survey was completed a few years later by

Governor Ninian Edwards and officially placed on record in

our County Court. In the spring of 1819 the state granted

us a village charter.


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24 OUR CITY IS BORN

The Streets were named by Mr. Blair. The most eastward

street was called Church Street, while w^est of that were

Jackson, High,Illinois, Spring, and Hill. North and south of

the Square, the streets were numbered First, Second, Third, etc.

The street extending east and west through the Square was

called St. Clair Avenue, but by common usage, it has become

Main Street today. Main and Illinois were laid off 66 feet wide

and all others 49Vi.

When the city was built, in places part of the earth was cutaway, while in others it was filled in. To the south of EastMain, between High and Jackson, was a pond of water that

extended well into High Street. After rains it was often 80

yards long and 40 yards wide. No trace of it is left today becauseit has been filled in.

In 1814, the Court House was removed from Cahokia to

Belleville where it has since remained. In 1793, Saucier's home

had been bought by the territorial government for use as a

court house of St. Clair county which, at that time, included

all of North and Central Illinois.

In September, 1815, the contract for the construction of a

new court house was given to Etienne Pensoneau. It was com-

pleted and accepted by the county on September 10, 1817.

The population of our county was then 3,000, while our littlevillage had onlv about 150. We remained a village until 1850w^hen the state granted us a cit)' charter.

THE PUBLIC SQUARE

When our city was created the Public Square was madea part of it. It is over one acre in size and had been given to

the County for its use and benefit. On it later were built theCounty Court House, the County jail, and the market house.

It soon became the civic and commercial center of our city

and became so important that all the early history of Belleville

revolved around it.


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The first use that was made of our Pubhc Square seems tobe that it was an inclosure for stray cattle. It was on March

8, 1820, that the village commissioners, Ed. P. Wilkinson andCornelius Gooding, issued the following official order: Onpetition of sundry inhabitants praying that the Public Square in

the town of Belleville be inclosed, securing thereby citizens

during court from disorderly persons on horseback, and the

public buildings from damage, and the trustees of the town

of Belleville be authorized to inclose the same, letting streets run

around it instead of through it, and that this court allow areasonable sum for defraying the same. The petition wasgranted, and the court ordered that the sum of 100 beauthorized to defray expenses. The inclosure was to serve asa stray pound, to be inclosed with posts and rails, neatly finished,

and ordered that the clerk certify the same to the trustees of the

town of Belleville. It was in this inclosure where was located

our first Court House and Market House. It was here thatthe housewives of the past haggled while at the market, and,

before the days of the state penitentiary and county jails, punish-

ment for crimes was here meted out. Here, w^e had our pillory

and whipping posts.

In April, 1822, William D. Noble was punished for forgery

by being put in the pillory. He was exposed to the public herefor one hour and was required to pay a fine of 1,000 to the

state and 1,000 to the man whom he tried to defraud. JohnRe\Tiolds was the judge in the case, William A. Beard, the

lawyer, and John Hay, the clerk.

Two walnut trees in the Public Square saved our Countythe expense of erecting a special whipping post. In the early

davs there were no jails, and the whipping post was the onlymeans of punishing a person for a minor offense. The guiltyone was first stripped to the waist, then tied to the tree, where-

upon the sheriff would inflict the legal number of stripes,making blood spurt at every lick. The usual penalty was fromfive to forty lashes.


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26 OUR CITY IS BORN

One criminal named Bonham, a cripple, was found guiltyof stealing a black silk handkerchief and was given five lashes

for this offense. In 1833, Sheriff John D. Hughes was the lastto use the whipping post, for the state legislature repealed the

whipping post and pillory statutes largely at the suggestion of

Ex-Sheriff Hughes, who in 1836 had become a member of thatbody. The walnut tree and the pillory, though, remained formany years, and the latter became a respectable hitching postfor the farmers' horses.

Our Public Square changed in appearance with the growthof our city. On it have gathered the successive generations ofour city. In July, 1852, the city council, under the guidance

of Mayor Goedeking, adopted a resolution that was to makethe Public Square more than a bull pen and offered the

following changes: In the center shall be an inclosure of 119

by 90 feet laid out in grass plots and planted with evergreens

and shrubbery and surrounded by a pavement 14 feet wide.The macadamized section of the square will still remain 56 feetwide in the narrowest parts; at the comers it will be 100 feet

wide. The center place will be surrounded with shade trees sothat we shall have a shady and airy park.

On May 16, 1865, our City Council decided to change theappearance of our Public Square once more. One group ofcouncil members was known as the tear-downers, because theywished to remove the sturdy fence around it, cut down thefifty shade trees, and destroy the beautiful park in the center.

Mayor Herman Burkhardt, who opposed this plan, had onlythree aldermen to support him while five opposed him. Tothem, it seemed as if the majority of the City Council were bent

on committing an act of barbarism, one which in future years

would cause the cheeks of the guilty one to tingle with shame.

However, the dastardly deed was done, and the mayor and his

three supporters resigned saying that it was impossible to give

sanction to such acts of vandalism.

The setback which our Square had suffered early in 1865


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was only temporary, for the city soon restored it to its formerbeauty. Once more it was adorned with trees, and in that wayit remained for many years.

It was on June 6, 1903, that we had one of the greatestexcitements in the history of our city. David Wyatt, a Negroschool teacher of nearby Brooklyn, Illinois, shot Charles Hertel,

County Superintendent of Schools, because he would not renewhis teachers' certificate. Wyatt was arrested and taken to jail,but the aroused citizenry feared that a just and speedy sentencewould not be passed upon him, so they stormed the jail, tookthe Negro from his cell, and lynched him on the Public Square.The County Superintendent had not been wounded fatallyand soon recovered.

There have been many and varied surfaces that have coveredour Public Square. As a part of the old St. Clair turnpike, the

roadways were planked. Later the entire square was coveredwith cedar block pavement, which bulged when the heavy rainscame and again went in place when they were dry. On July16, 1904, it was completely paved with brick. It was then that

it took on the appearance that seems to be more familiar withour present generation. All the street car lines terminated here,

and the bulky, brightly painted trolley cars stopped for their

passengers in what had been a parking space. Today it servesthe same purpose for our city and St. Louis bus lines.

The Public Square today is highlighted by the Veterans'Memorial Fountain and is, indeed, a far cry from the old cattlepound. The fountain in all its beauty does honor not only to thedeparted veterans but also to those who in the past have builtthe present city around it. It is today a nucleus of our commercial

development. In this area are located the four banks of our city,

the department stores, the large grocery stores, hotels, city andcounty government buildings, wholesale houses, and, near theouter margin, eleven manufacturing plants.

Excerpt from "History of Belleville"

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