The first County Commissioners' Court of the new county, composed of
Seth Hodges, Wm. Moore and Thomas Davis, sen., convened on the 12th day
of April 1829 at the house of Joseph Borough, about a half a mile east
of the present court house in this place and completed its organization
by the appointment of the late Tristam P. Hoxsey, once so well known,
and now is kindly remembered, their clerk.
On the first day of June
1829, John Harris, Jos. Borough, and Seth Hodges, Commissioners
appointed by the General Assembly for that purpose, reported to the
County Commissioners that they had selected a part of section 28,
township 10, north range, seven west, as a site for the seat of justice
of the county, and the Court, on the same day, received a title in fee
simple, and ordered the County Surveyor to proceed to lay out the town
of Carlinville, and the County Court ordered that twenty half lots in
said town he offered for sale on the 27th day of August following, and
ordered, in anticipation of the sums of money likely to be realized from
the sales of lots, that bids be invited for the erection of a Court
House for the County, of the following description, which is copied
verbatim from the Record: "To be built of hewn logs, 18 feet by 24, the
logs to face on foot on an average' the House to be two stories high,
the lower story to be 8 feet between floors, and the second story to be
6 feet below, 1 in roof; to have one door below, and one above, door to
be cased and to have a good strong plank shutter, the window to contain
twelve lights or panes of glass, 8 by 10; two good plank floors, to be
jointed and laid down rough roof to be double covered boards, height
poles to be shaven boards, and crammed on the outside with mud and straw
well mixed together, all to be completed in a strong manner by the first
day after the 2d Monday in April next, to be let on a credit of six,
twelve and 18 months, to the lowest bidder, the undertaker to give bond
with appropriate security for the performance of his contract."
I may
state now, to avoid referring to it again, that this Court House was
afterwards built by Seth Hodges, Esq. one of the members of the court,
who appears to have received forty-four dollars and thirty-three cents
for the job; and thus the wheels of justice were set in motion in the
county of Macoupin.
Contributed 20 Mar 1998 by Missi Darnell
Contributed by Larry Clark
Fire At The Courthouse
Fire broke out in the office of the county clerk at the court house last night and destroyed an alphabet case containing the original papers of all pending and unsettled cases before the probate and county court. Between 500 and 1,000 blank forms which were in the case, are now charred and unrecognizable. County Clerk Hartley and deputy clerks Seehausen and Fletcher have been working hard these papers, so that they are nearly all on record. A most fortunate occurrence. Luckily the docket was saved and the county officials believe there are no papers of which an accurate record cannot be obtained. The loss will entail much extra labor on their part to get things in the same shape as before the fire. It is believed the conflagration originated from a box of burning sawdust used as a cuspidor, into which someone had carelessly thrown a lighted match or cigar. Considerable damage was done to the windows and walls of the building and Clerk Seehausen's desk was destroyed.
Contributed by Gloria Frazier
Casper Saves
Courthouse
But the Kodac Fiends Faile To Get a Snap Shot of the Act.
Casper Westermeier, Jr., the jovial insurance and abstract man, was
modestly receiving encomiums Wednesday on a heroic act he performed last
night "all by his lonesome." There are no scars on his manly person to
tell of the brilliant dash made and efficient service rendered by which
our "million dollar" court house is still spared to us with its
beautiful and potent $720,000 mortgage.
'Twas ten o'clock last
evening when leaving his offices in the basement of the building, his
sense of smell, sharpened by years of insurance inspection, detected the
acrid odor of something burning. Rushing up to the main corridor he
found Circuit Clerk Homer's office filled with smoke.
To think
was to act. Grasping the ice cooler in the corridor, he fought through
the blinding, stifling atmosphere, reached the conflagration and with
celerity extinquished it. 'Twas a box filled with sawdust. Someone had
cast a lighted cigar into it which had lain there and smouldered, and
after the inmates of the office departed, had ignited.
Today that
section of the courthouse presented an odor akin to that of a
smokehouse, but such will prove efficaceous in killing any microbes
daring enough to attack the musty tomes impregnated with it.
Several Kodak fiends are lamenting that they missed securing a
flashlight shot at Casper in his now famous court house saving feat.
Contributed by Gloria Frazier
Fire At The
Court House
Destroys the Original Papers in All Unfinished or Pending
Cases in County Court
Fire broke out in the office of the county
clerk at the court house Tuesday night and destroyed an alphabet case
containing the original papers of all pending and unsettled cases before
the probate and county court. Between 500 and 1,000 blank forms which
were in the case, are now charred and unrecognizable. County Clerk
Hartley and deputy clerks Seehausen and Fletcher have been working hard
for the past few weeks to record these papers, so that they are nearly
all on record. A most fortunate occurrence.
Luckily the docket was
saved and the county officials believe there are no papers of which an
accurate record cannot be obtained. The loss will entail much extra
labor on their part to get things in the same shape as before the fire.
It is believed the conflagration originated from a box of burning
sawdust used as a cuspidor, into which someone had carelessly thrown a
lighted match or cigar. Considerable damage was done to the windows and
walls of the building, and Clerk Seehausen's desk was destroyed.
Janitor Lynch says when he came down this morning, on reaching the
Presbyterian church corner, he saw the blaze through the windows and
knew just where the fire was. He got a pail of water and put the fire
out. The room was filled with smoke and everything within reach had been
destroyed. The windows were broken out, the walls cracked and a mirror,
five feet away, smashed by the intense heat. Soot and ashes covered the
apartment.
What puzzles those who do not believe the fire
originated from the sawdust cuspidor, is the absence of that pungent
odor which attends burning sawdust which attends burning sawdust.
Another strong rebuttal is the story of Jesse David, who assists Janitor
Lynch.
Young David swept the room about 6 o'clock last night and
found everything all right. He found several burnt matches in the
cuspidor, which he swept out, and gave it a clean, fresh surface. He
found the sawdust we from expectoration during the day.
Parties
go home from lecture did not notice any blaze which such a fire
necessarily must have made. From all evidences, whether the fire
originated by accident or incendiary means, it did its work after
midnight. No one can say just what the loss will be to the county or
anyone in particular. It is too early to even approximate such loss. One
thing is assured, that much vexatious trouble will result, and the work
of partial settlement in various estates will have to be done over
again. Whether this can be done in every case, cannot be foretold. New
casing and blanks will be procured at once, and the labor of restoring
things to their former condition will be hurried.
Contributed by Gloria Frazier
Fire In The Court House.
Probate Court Room in Court House Burned And all Papers on File Gone
Thought To Be The Work Of Fire Bugs
At 4:45 o'clock Wednesday
morning Janitor James Lynch, when he turned the Presbyterian church
corner coming down to build the fire, discovered the Probate Court room
was on fire; the blaze had burnt through the window. He hastened up and
by carrying water finally extinguished the flames, but the fire had
already done its worst, and all the probate papers, notes, bonds,
letters of administrations, etc., kept in that room, together with the
clerk's desk burned.
The origin is a mystery. The janitor says after
the clerks had gone home, about 6 o'clock, he swept out the office, and
that there was no sign of fire in the cuspidors, which was a large
wooden concern, filled with sawdust. The assistant janitor says he swept
off the top of the cuspidors and noticed the sawdust was wet, and says
there was positively no fire in it. The idea prevails pretty generally
that it was the work of fire bugs.
The loss cannot be estimated,
as the larger case which stood back of Clerk Seehausen's desk filled
with estate papers, letters of administration, notes, claims, and all
manner of papers in process of settlement, are destroyed. The papers
that were far enough advanced to be recorded are all right, as the
records are preserved, but those not desposed of are lost. It cannot be
ascertained just what estates will be damaged by the fire, as there were
hundreds in this case, and the desk, filled with papers, memorandums,
etc., is also a total loss, as is also the large blank case that stood
under the file case.
The iron file boxes on the north side of the
room were heated hot, but the papers are not damaged. The room is badly
smoked and the plastering is the southeast corner of the room is ruined.
The fire will cause no little amount of litigation, and some of the
estates may be badly tangled as a result. The windows to any part of the
building are easily opened, and it is the general opinion that the
entrance was thus made, if the cuspidors did not cause the fire.
Contributed by Gloria Frazier
Carlinville is likely to have a prolonged lawsuit on its hands. In 1829 Seth Hodges and Ezekiel Good donated to Macoupin county 30 acres of land in Carlinville for county purposes with the proviso that if used for other purposes it should revert to the owners or their heirs. The land was abandoned years ago by the county, the court house and jail being erected on another site. Now the heirs of the donors of the land are consulting the records with the intention to recover the property. Some of the residents who were in Carlinville in the 30's say that the public square and a large part of the business portion of the city is situated on the tract.
Contributed 20 Mar 1998 by Missi Darnell
Macoupin County, Illinois was created by an act of the Illinois General
Assembly on January 17, 1829. The area now known as Macoupin County was
once part of Madison and later known as the "attached part of Green
County."
The name Macoupin is of Indian extract, being shortened
version of the Indian word "Macoupiana," which meant "white potato." The
Indians used this name for the wild artichoke which grew in abundance
along the waterways in the county. Long before the county was
established, the main stream running through the county was named
Macoupin Creek.
Thomas Carlin, a senator from this district at
the time, and later governor of Illinois, was largely responsible for
the passage of the bill. However, not all members of the general
assembly were in favor of the new county. Peter Cartwright, a
"celebrated and eccentric pioneer preacher" has been quoted as saying,
"God has set apart this region as a reservation for the geese and
ducks."
The first appointed commissioners were Seth Hodges,
Joseph Borough, John Harris, Shadrack Riddick, and Ephraim Powers. They
met at the house of Joseph Borough on the third day of March to decide
on a permanent seat of Justice for Macoupin County.
The first
courthouse built was of logs, erected in 1820. Seth Hodges won the
contract and the cost according to records was $128.66. Ten years later,
Macoupin County had outgrown its 18 x 24 foot log courthouse and plans
were made for a larger one.
This building was to be of brick and
measure 50 x 50 feet. Harbird Weatherford and Jefferson Weatherford were
designated as builders. The project was to have cost $15,000.
By
1867, the county was again in need of a larger courthouse. The minutes
of the county court of March, 1867 said, "Ordered that A. McKim Dubois
and George H. Holliday be associated with T. L. Loomis, county judge,
and Isham J. Peebles, County Justice, as commissioners, to erect a new
courthouse in the City of Carlinville, Illinois, foundation to be laid
this year, and building to be completed before the expiration of the
term of office of the present court; said courthouse not to be commenced
until there is sufficient money in the county treasury to pay the
present indebtedness of the county." also: "Ordered that a levy of 50
cents on each $100 value of property in Macoupin County for the year
1867, real, personal, and mixed, be made for the purpose of erecting
said courthouse, and that the clerk extend said tax on the collector's
books for the year 1867, and that it be collected as their taxes for
county purposes."
Bonds issued totaling $50,000.00 would be
issued for ten years and bear interest at ten percent. By September,
over $13,000.00 had been spent and in October, 1867, the cornerstone was
set in place. The cost of the courthouse was beginning to go over the
original estimate and by January, 1869, the cost was $449,604.07. Yet
the courthouse was still not complete! The great dome and the roof were
estimated to cost $125,115.00. More bonds were issued and by the time
the building was officially completed in 1870 the final total cost was
$1,342,226.31.
Not only was the courthouse an exorbitant expense
to the taxpayers of the county, there was scandal about the
appropriations being misused and the blame was laid on Judge Loomis and
George H. Holliday, who was at that time County Clerk. Judge Thaddeus L.
Loomis was apparently innocent of any wrong doing. We may never know
about Mr. Holliday, as one night in 1870 he boarded a train on the
Chicago & Alton railroad and disappeared.
When it was finished,
the largest county courthouse in the United States, with the possible
exception of one in New York City, and larger than the Illinois
Statehouse became a showplace, attracting tourists, architects and art
students. Some 120 years later, the courthouse still stands and is an
impressive site in the "Great State of Macoupin."
Written and contributed by Cynthia K. Leonard
Macoupin County ILGenWeb Copyright
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