History of Mr. John A. Logan
Franklin County, Illinois,
and How I Came To Know and Love Its People
By Mrs. John A. Logan
John A. Logan of Jackson County, Illinois, was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the Third
Judicial District of Illinois in 1853. Honorable William K Parish was, at that time, Judge
of the Circuit Court of that District and resided in Benton, Franklin county. Soon after
Mr. Logan's election, he removed to Benton to be near the Judge. They were devoted friends,
and traveled the circuit every spring and fall in a buggy drawn by Mr. Logan's golden sorrel
"Charlie." Shawneetown, Gallatin county, was one of the places for holding terms of Court,
hence Judge Parish and Prosecuting Attorney John A. Logan journeyed twice annually to
Shawneetown to spend a week or ten days, and sometimes two weeks, in trying the cases on
the "docket" at Shawneetown.
My father, Captain J M Cunningham, was then Register of the United States Land Office at
Shawneetown. He had commanded Company B, First Illinois Infantry Volunteers in the
Mexican War. Attorney Logan was a First Lieutenant in Company H of the same Regiment,
and an intimate friendship was soon formed between Captain Cunningham and Lieutenant
Logan which continued throughout their service, notwithstanding the disparagement
between the ages of the two men. The rugged rocky mountains and arid alkali plains had no
terrors for either; the daring of each made them kindred spirits. So when Court convened
in Shawneetown, they were delighted to meet again, father insisting Lieutenant Logan must
be his guest during the spring term of the Court.
I was then in school at St. Vincent's Academy, (a branch of the celebrated Convent at
Nazareth), located near Morganfield, Kentucky, across the Ohio River from our home at
Shawneetown, from which I graduated June, 1855. In September, the Court was again in
session and Judge Parish and Prosecuting Attorney Logan appeared for the bi-annual term
of Court. Naturally Lieutenant Logan came to call on my father and mother and we met for
the first time.
November 27th, 1855, we were married by Honorable W K Parish, who came with Mr. Logan
to Shawneetown to perform the ceremony. The late Judge Monroe C Crawford, then a
promising attorney, also of Benton, accompanied them. We were married at high noon in the
home of my parents, and after a sumptuous breakfast, we set out for Benton. In those
days there were few overland conveyances available. Two-seated buggies, drawn by one or
two horses were the favorite vehicles which one could travel from one town to another.
Therefore Judge Parish and Mr. Crawford were in one buggy, Mr. Logan and myself in
another driving his well-known horse, "Charlie." The animal seemed to realize the
importance of the occasion to his master, holding his head high and stepping proudly. We
stopped en route for the night at Equality. At noon the 28th of November, we reached
Benton to be domiciled in Judge Parish's unusually pretentious and delightful home until we
could secure one for ourselves. From the moment of our arrival, my husband's numerous
friends came to extend congratulations and a sincere and hearty welcome to Franklin
county. We were soon ensconced in our home; Mr. Levi Browning having lost his wife was
glad to have us occupy his cozy cottage situated on West Main street, opposite the
residence of his brother, Judge William Browning. It was not long before we were among
the burden bearers of the community. Mr. Logan knew everyone and was expected to
continue to take part in the activities of the people which was to make Franklin county one
of the most progressive in Southern Illinois. Notwithstanding her population at that time
was small compared to counties north of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, among the
prominent citizens of Benton were Honorable Samuel K Casey, Honorable W. K. Parish,
Colonel T. B. Cantrell, Major Wm. Mooneyham (one of the few survivors of that noble galaxy)
the Ward Brothers, Honorable Walter S. Aikin, William H. Fountain, the Elstuns, the
Jackson Brothers, Dr. Reynolds, Captain Dillon, Colonel Dollins, the Moores of which Captain
Carroll Moore is a worthy descendant, Aunt Betsy Rogers, Mrs. Penny, Mrs. Dudley, and
many, many others. In the country were such men as Reverend Moses Neal and his sons;
Father McCreery and his estimable family; Mr. Marvel, the Crawfords and a host of other
splendid citizens who followed their various vocations with intelligence, untiring energy and
unwavering loyalty to their country.
The majority of the people were religiously inclined. There were churches in different
parts of the county which were all well supported, the camp meetings being a notable
feature of worship. Their politics were partisan and next to their religion in sacredness,
founded as they were upon their construction of the principles which underlie the
Republican form of government and the constitution of the United States. A majority of
the inhabitants were descendants of the Colonial states, proslavery in sentiment and
naturally members of the Democratic party until 1860; when it became evident that the
Democratic party was fostering a severance of the Union and secession of the Southern
States.
Almost without exception the people of Franklin County arrayed themselves solidly for the
Union, and her sons were among the very first to enlist for the defense of the Union.
Albeit, their ancestors were south of the Mason and Dixon line and enthusiastic
secessionists. The Honor Roll of Officers, Soldiers and Sailors of the Army and the Navy
of Franklin county is second to none in the State of like population. Very few inhabitants of
Franklin county were descendants of New England families or Puritan stock; it was
therefore, greater evidence of their inborn patriotism that they were ready to respond to
the first call of Mr. Lincoln for the defense of the Union.
Events transpired rapidly after the inauguration of Lincoln, and my husband who had been
re-elected to Congress in 1860, was in Washington for the first session of Congress and
voted for the men and measures to carry out Lincoln's fist call for 75,000 men to put down
the rebellion. He did not get home on that account until weeks after the 4th of March.
When he came he was interested in raising a Regiment of Infantry for the Union Army. As
soon as Mr. Logan reached home, a great crowd greeted him, impatient to know what he was
going to do. Standing in a wagon drawn to the center of public square of Marion, he told
them of his intentions, telling them the action of the secessionists was treason against the
government. He pictured the consequences of secession to this great Republic. Without
scarcely a dissenting voice, they cheered him to the echo and volunteered to follow where
he would lead. The days immediately succeeding Mr. Logan's speech were memorable ones to
me - not the least painful. Among them was a nasty trip of Mr. Logan and myself in a buggy
behind old "Charlie" to Benton to order the dismantling of our treasured home and a tearful
farewell to our beloved friends in Benton and the hundreds from the surrounding country
who came to say good-bye to us and to bid us God speed in the troublesome times upon
which we were all embarking. Brave men and women with tears streaming down their cheeks
forgetting their own forebodings of great sorrows clasped our hands saying "God bless and
keep you both till we meet again." The occasion was doubly sad for us as Judge W.K. Parish
had died suddenly not long before, and we felt his death was on only a loss to us but to his
country. Many of the men promised to join Mr. Logan very soon, and go with him wherever
he went. We had lived across the street from Colonel and Mrs. Cantrell and they insisted
we should stay with them while in Benton. The day we left Benton, Mrs. Cantrell had
provided a splendid repast for a noon dinner as was the custom in those day - a number of
friends were asked to remain for dinner - the emotions of the forenoon and a realization of
the gathering storm through which the nation must pass robbed everyone of an appetite
even for the delicious viands set before the. After going through the mockery of dining, we
prepared to return to Marion. We had spent five happy years of our lives with the truest
and best of unselfish people and if there were any among them who were not our friends, we
were in ignorance of their existence. Our first-born children came to us in a rose covered
cottage which was our home there. "Aunty" Fountain and her family; Aunty Rogers, Mrs.
Cantrell, Mrs. Parish, Mrs. Browning and her daughters; Mrs. Reynolds and many other
neighbors performed for us the arduous service now discharged by trained nurses in cases
of illness. Were they not people of true nobility of mind and heart, and can I ever forget
them or cease to revere their memories? It is to be hoped that their descendants have
emulated their matchless characters.
We were privileged but once subsequently to visit Benton together. During the campaign of
Lincoln and McClellan in 1864 - after the fall of Atlanta, General Logan canvassed the state
for Mr. Lincoln. In response to an urgent invitation he made a memorable speech in Benton
receiving such an ovation from our old friends as few men have had given to them. Many of
them had brothers, husbands and sons who had followed the flag from Cairo to the
capitulation of Atlanta under General Logan's command.
The message he brought of the dauntless heroism of the sons of Franklin county thrilled
the vast crowd with such pride that they shouted themselves hoarse applauding the leader
of the men who dared to go where he led them.
Space forbids what I should like to write of the good times we had at the "County Fairs,
"Court Week", and other social occasions. Like all generations we had our diversions and
times when we laid aside dull care and were made better by reasonable indulgence in
amusements.
History of Williamson County, IL, by Milo Erwin
Capt. John M. CUNNINGHAM, the father-in-law of John A. LOGAN, was a politician of good
ability; one of the most affable and polished men of his day. He held several county
offices, and, like CORDER, was a Democrat, and during the war, very bitter. In 1869, he
received the appointment of Provost MARSHAL in Utah Territory, where he died in 1874,
and was brought to Marion by Mrs Mary LOGAN.
Submitted by Sheila Cadwalader
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