In 1894, Illinois residents were amazed to learn of the damage that resulted when a "double-header" train and a cow collided near Carlinville, A news dispatch stated that "engines and cars were thrown from the track and piled into a mass of iron and kindling wood." Loss was estimated to be $12,000.
During the unusually severe winter of 1837, wild animals on the
Illinois prairies were driven to desperation for adequate supplies of
water. One day while cutting timber near a lake that was frozen over, a
Macoupin County pioneer noticed a buck struggling toward a hole that he
had cut in the ice to enable his horse to drink. Seizing an axe he
advanced toward the animal and struck. The axe handle hit the buck's
antlers and broke.
Then followed an exhausting battle as the
pioneer held firmly to the antlers to avoid being gored. At length he
broke away and found refuge in a tree, where he remained until the buck
left.
For over a half a century, beginning with 1839, preparations for a
widely known Illinois Independence Day celebration held in Macoupin
County featured the placing of the "liberty
poles."
On the day preceding Fourth of July, a committee would select a
slender, tall tree, cut it down, and strip it of bark and branches. The
pole would then be taken to the site of the festivities and firmly
implanted in the ground between heavy posts. On the day of the
celebration, the largest flag obtainable was hoisted to the top.
Extracted 21 Oct 2019 by Norma Hass from Stories from Illinois History, compiled by the Workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Illinois, published in 1940, page 50, 51, and 81.
Macoupin County ILGenWeb Copyright
Design by
Templates in Time
This page was last updated
07/01/2022