They’s all the feet I’ve got!

We do not have digitized county newspapers for March 1879-August 1879 so the researchers had to look for local news in the Vincennes and Mt Carmel papers.

March 1879

The Demon Death shook the little village of Lawrenceville in the first weeks of March 1879.  The village had always been regarded as a very healthy locality according to the Vincennes newspaper.  For months at a time there were no interments in its public cemetery and the undertaker became discouraged and embarked on a business more remunerative.  Within a few weeks, however, the scene changed.  The cemetery was dotted with newly- made graves which attested that sorrow had spread over almost the entire community. 

Blog Editor’s Note: A list of the deaths for the entire county for March showed somewhat of an increase with 30 deaths being recorded. Five were under 5 years of age; 9 died of pneumonia; 1 of scarlet fever. There was one who died of “old age”; he was 73, and another who died of an “unfortunate life”. One baby died of malnutrition after her mother died two weeks before. There was one suicide, one murder and 1 case of syphilis.

Col LB Jackson purchased Robert Irwin’s salon in St Francisville and as there was only about 15 dollars’ worth of stock in the “whole shebang” the Colonel turned it out to the public and about 25 of our “shebangers” got on a first- class drunk.  Later the newspaper reported that Col. L R Jackson had signed the temperance pledge.

ND Crosby received the contract for keeping the Lawrence County Poor Farm for 1879 receiving the sum of 18 cents per day for feeding each pauper.  Dr AM Maxwell of Bridgeport was awarded the contract for furnishing medical attention at $90 a year. Mr. Owen Pinkstaff of Pinkstaff Station sold several head of fine mules in Vincennes.

States Attorney T B Huffman met with quite a severe accident when his gun exploded while he was sport shooting.  The whole side of his face was mutilated, and several teeth were knocked out.  One side of his nose came in for its share of the disaster as well. Huffman was weak from loss of blood from a gash two inches long having been cut on his cheek by a piece of gun barrel.

Blog Editor’s Note: This news article was also printed in the Chicago Daily Tribune Saturday, March 8, 1879 page 7

“T.B. Hoffman, States Attorney of Lawrence County, Illinois, while duck hunting this afternoon was seriously injured by a gun bursting. His right cheek is almost entirely torn off, and part of the nose and several teeth torn out. He was nearly 5 miles from home at the time of the accident. He was taken to Lawrenceville, Illinois this evening. He will probably lose his right eye.”

Blog Editor’s Note: (According to his tombstone found in the old (North) section of the Lawrenceville Cemetery, he lived on to become a judge and didn't die until May 23, 1903. Who says Justice isn’t blind?)

William A Clarke, aged 69 years, died Wednesday of pneumonia. He was the sexton of the Lawrenceville city cemetery for 30-40 years and was greatly esteemed.  The town board defrayed the expenses of the funeral, and the citizens turned out to attend the interment.

Will M Garrard was editor of the Lawrenceville Herald. A new sawmill had been constructed at Pinkstaff Station. JM Collison built a new two-story building on St. Peter Street in St Francisville. The proprietor of Stivers Springs near Bridgeport erected a hotel for the accommodation of guests in the coming season.

Joshua Potts, brother to Judge Potts, had threatened to commit suicide for some time and finally made good his word.  About half past 11 o’clock he took a small rifle and stated to his family that he was going to shoot some crows.  Soon after hearing the report of the gun, the family ran out and found him lying in the orchard, 50 yards from the house.  The supposed reason for his action was trouble about a recent purchase of land.

Mrs. Caleb Marratta of Christy twp. was declared insane and sent to Anna Insane Asylum. LG Kearns of Russellville planned on leaving for Leadville, Colorado. Frank Varner and Charles Fish were taken to Crawford County on a change of venue to be tried for highway robbery. They received three years each in the penitentiary; Joe Hammond was arrested and placed in Lawrenceville jail as a co-conspirator. Brian Haslett was O & M RR agent. SP Barton of the drug firm of Barton & Bristow was acquitted by Circuit Court on the indictment charging the firm with selling spirituous liquors disguised as “medicine.” The high water in the river shut down the mill in Lawrenceville. The little steamboat, the Belgrade, brought downriver 22 cords of wood, half for Captain Tindolph and the balance for Charlie Westfall.

Former residents of Lawrenceville, Thomas and Parker Hebdon, died of yellow fever in the south.  Thomas died November 2, 1878, and Parker on September 25th. Thomas was 21 and Hebdon was 19.

Wm H Allison sold 600 bushels of wheat to Tindolph at 82 cents a bushel and delivered about 100 bushels.  Wheat then advanced in price and Allison quit his delivery to Mr. Tindolph but sold wheat to other parties.  Tindolph attached Allison’s team of horses for failure to fulfill his contract and the matter was compromised but not before the Vincennes grain dealer had narrowly escaped being scalped.

The two- story house of Mr. Ira H Pauley burned to the ground. It had been insured for $1,800 and the furniture for $200.  All the bedclothes and wearing apparel of both the families of Mr. Pauley and his son- in- law, Joe Powers were burned.

During the threshing season in the fall of 1878 Perry and Caldwell owned a steam thresher with which they did considerable work in various parts of Lawrence County.  Before the season ended, however, Perry sold his interest in the machine to Caldwell and took up his residence in Arkansas where he was in March 1879.  Caldwell assumed payment of the balance due on the thresher, the notes for which were in possession of the Vincennes National Bank for collection but which he could not pay.  He tried to get the Kirkwoods to endorse a note for him to enable him to make the payment, but they refused. 

Shortly afterwards in September a man appeared at the bank and asked if he could borrow $500 on a note endorsed by Robert and Martin Kirkwood and was unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative.  He came back again in a day or two with a note signed by Robert Kirkwood and Martin Kirkwood but to which his name was not attached. He was requested to sign his name but replied that he could not write; and one of the bank officials wrote the name “John Perry” when the stranger affixed “his mark” to it and was given the money.  When the note became due the endorsers were notified and promptly pronounced it a forgery. 

The bank officials could not describe the man to whom the money was paid, but one remembered that he had but one eye.  The strangest part of the matter is, that in the fact, both Perry and Caldwell had lost an eye, although the former was a small man and the latter large.

Subsequent investigation proved that Caldwell acted rather strangely about the time of this transaction, and moved from Bridgeport where he and his family had been living, saying that he was to take charge of a saw mill north of the village; but it is said he brought his things to Vincennes by wagon and shipped them and himself to parts unknown, leaving behind many remembrances in the way of unpaid bills.

Perry’s friends were confident that he was innocent of complicity in the matter, and declared their intention to have him return and clear the matter up as far as he was concerned.  It certainly looked bad for Caldwell and left the impression that he was the guilty party.

Four-year-old Mary complained to her mama that her “button shoes” were “hurting”.  “Why, Mattie, you’ve put them on the wrong feet.”  Puzzled and ready to cry, she answered:” What’ll I do, Mamma, they’s all the feet I’ve got!”