The first wall paper ever brought to this county was brought here by the late
Martin Buckhout. It was bought in New York in the forties and shipped to New
Orleans, thence up the river to St. Louis and by wagon to Salem. This was in the
late forties.
The first piano brought to Salem, if not to the county,
was brought by river to Shawneetown from Virginia by Bryan W. Lester,
grandfather of Ed., Harry and George Lester and of Mrs. J. W. Finn, of Salem, as
a present for his daughter, the late Mrs. Herron, and brought from Shawneetown
(to which point it had been brought by river), by John Earnhardt, father of Abe
Earnhardt, with a two-yoke ox team. Mr. Earnhardt was ten days making the trip.
This was about 1835.
The Salem company that struck oil in a well near
Centralia in December last shot their second well January 23, 1909, and the
indications are that it is a paying oil well.
Salem was a stage stopping
place from about 1824 to 1854, when the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad was built.
Many drivers lived in Salem, among whom he last living were "Crook" Garner and
"Sandy" Nelm. The first died about fifteen years ago and the last in 1906. They
drove stage when only one house was on the road after they left Salem until they
reached Carlyle, and that stood on what is known as the mound, about half way
between the two points, and was a stage stand.
The soldiers of the Black
Hawk war were expected to furnish their own horses and arms and all equipments,
and these were listed with the officer in charge, and if lost or destroyed were
charged to the government, and paid for upon proper certificate being made. The
following is a list of the losses of Marion county men: Capt. W. N. Dobbins,
horse wounded, rifle lost; First Lieut. Steven Yocum, lost one U. S. halter;
Second Lieut. ___ , horse killed; John F. Draper, lost U. S. halter; Hamilton
Farthing, lost one rope; William S. Booth, lost halter; Joseph Gray, horse
killed; Ben Allen, lost halter; David W. Allmon, horse lost; Welles Chandler,
horse killed; Samuel Craig, horse wounded, lost halter; Green R. Dunkin, lost U.
S. kettle; Green Fields, horse killed, lost U. S. coffee pot; Nathan Fields,
lost U. S. frying pan; William King, lost U. S. camp kettle, horse killed; James
Lovell, horse killed; Henry McDaniels, horse lost; John McGuire, lost U. S.
halter; Dudley H. Mabry, horse killed, lost rifle, also U. S. halter; Norflit B.
Nelms, horse killed; Calvin Piles, horse killed, lost halter; John Phelps, horse
killed, lost halter; J. J. Richeson, lost halter; Wellers Smith, horse killed;
Bird M. Thompson, horse killed; John B. Uhis, horse killed; James Williams,
horse killed; Levin Wright, horse killed, lost halter; Edwin Young, horse
killed. When a soldier's horse was killed the soldier was immediately discharged
by the colonel or other officer. It was two Marion county men who made the trip
through the swarms of savages after the fight at Kellogg's Grove for help. One
was David Allmon. The name of the other is unknown to the writer, nor have I
been able to ascertain it. They bade their comrades farewell, as none expected
them to get through alive, but on foot they made the journey to the camp of the
troops, more than twenty miles, in safety, and carried word of the fight and
brought reinforcements to the defeated and discouraged detachment.
Extracted 27 Mar 2020 by Norma Hass from 1909 Brinkerhoff's History of Marion County, Illinois, pages 213-214.