MONROE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

P.O. BOX 48 WATERLOO, IL 62298

Founded 1960

Monroe County, Illinois

A Very Short Historical Sketch By Janet Flynn

The first white men to settle in Monroe County were the French who arrived in the 1600’s. They settled around a beautiful spring that was located halfway between their settlements of Cahokia and Kaskaskia on the Kaskaskia Trail. They named the spring Belle Fontaine, which means “beautiful fountain”. This spring and a part of the old Trail still exist and are located south of today’s Waterloo in Monroe County, on land now owned by the Monroe County Historical Society. The English routed the French and, for a short time, the area was part of England. French, English, Virginian and American flags (in that order) have all flown over the county. During the Revolutionary War, George Rogers Clark and his Long Knives captured the forts at Cahokia and Kaskaskia in Illinois. Because these men were Virginians, Illinois became a county of Virginia after the Revolution. The new Continental Congress was very short of funds and Virginia donated this land to the new government. Illinois then became part of the vast Northwest Territory. The territory composing the present county of Monroe was part of the old county of Illinois from 1778 to 1790, when it became incorporated in the county of St. Clair. Monroe County was organized in 1816, formed out of St. Clair and Randolph Counties. Illinois achieved statehood in 1818. After the Revolution, many Virginians who had served with George Rogers Clark came to Monroe County area and received land grants there for their services. The first five Americans to settle in the state of Illinois settled at Belle Fontaine, Monroe County, in 1782. They were: Shadrach Bond Capt. James Moore Robert Kidd James Garretson Larkin Rutherford They were soon followed by fellow Virginians including the Ogle, Lemen, Biggs, Whiteside, Tolin, Clover, Brownfield, Iman/Eyman, Smith, Johnson, Agnew and Harness families (to name but a few). The following men served in the Revolutionary War and are buried in Monroe County: Zebediah Barker Shadrach Bond Ebenezer Bourn James Garretson Piere Giradot Andrew Hilton William Howard Robert Kidd James Lemen Henry Levens Sr. Thomas Logue George Lunsford James McRoberts Michael Miller James Moore Nathaniel Hull James Piggott John Whiteside Joseph Wright Ebenezer Brown and Robert Givens both died in Monroe County but it is not known whether they were buried in the county. These pioneers suffered great hardships, including disease, Indian massacre and scalping. As if clearing and settling a new land wasn’t difficult enough, they had to live close to or in blockhouses. They often had to run from their work in the field to one of these forts to escape massacre. There were several blockhouses in Monroe County, including Moore, Lemen, Golden, Piggott and Whiteside. In 1825, Anthony Wayne reached a settlement with the Indians and life became easier. In the mid-1800’s German and Irish emigrants began settling in Monroe County. Note: for a detailed account of the history of Monroe County, see Arrowheads to Aerojets, published in 1967 by the Monroe County Historical Society.

MONROE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Click to enlarge photo.

Belle Fontaine House / Moore Family PDF file

2004 YEARLY NEWS LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTS DESK

Meetings are the fourth (4th) Monday of every month. The meetings in May and December are canceled because of holidays. We meet at Belle Fontaine at 7:00 P.M. Dues are now due and payable. Please remit $15.00 to Monroe County Historical Society, P.O. Box 48, Waterloo, IL 62298.

Officers

Kathy and Dave Riebeling have worked very hard at keeping our grounds and cemetery looking top notch all year. Ralph Buettner sees that everything is working properly and makes repairs where needed. Karen Buettner, Marie Chaudet and Pat Vaseska keep the house clean and handle tours.

January 2005: New President as of January 1, 2005 is Janet Flynn, new secretary is ConnieWerkmann and new board member is Pat Vaseska. Walter Leuking, Leuking Accounting and Ted Kirkpatrick, of Edward Jones, will give reports for the past year at the January meeting. Because of wise investments we still have our heads above water, despite the Stock Market.

February 2004: No meeting because of inclement weather.

March 2004: A discussion was held about the situation with the Waterloo Museum Board (WMB). No longer will the Monroe County Historical Society (MCHS) need to deed the land on which the museum will be built to the city. The Museum Board should still be able to get the grant from the state.

April 2004: Mrs. Kramer donated a piece of property that adjoins the Kaskaskia Trail to the society.

May 2004: Marlene Luther presented the agreement between MCHS, WMB and the City of Waterloo for our board to review. The agreement does not include the description of the ditch. We will need a separate quit claim for the ditch.

June 2004: Plans were made for the annual July Pot Luck B. B Q. The Boy Scouts fixed the upstairs porch railing, did some painting, worked on the bricks on kitchen and painted the signs under the elm tree.

July 2004: Karen Buettner was chairman of our Pot Luck BBQ, thanks to her hard work the event was a huge success. Ralph Buettner and Jerry Dickneite were our cooks for the day. They also helped set up and clean up. Barbara Kay performed as Mrs. Lincoln and gave us her life story; a good time was had by all. GOOD JOB EVERYBODY.

August 2004: Ralph got the Johnson grass under control by spraying and painted the floor on the upstairs porch. Ralph Buettner has worked all year on the bee problem and has managed to rid the house of honey bees. Karen Buettner cleaned up the mess the bees made in the upstairs rooms.

September 2004: The Historical Society and the Museum Board hosted a fall get together. We were entertained by Betsy Bellinger of the St. Louis Spirit Searchers. All proceeds went to the future museum. The house was struck by lighting and burned out the computer system. A new computer is on order. This was covered by insurance.

October 2004: In order to reduce our mailings, etc. pertaining to the election process, Article 8 Section 3 was amended in 2004. All voting will be done at the meeting. No ballots will be mailed.

November 2004: Ballots were counted and the new officers are; Janet Flynn, president, Ralph Buettner, vice president, Connie Werkmann, secretary, Virginia Bersche, treasurer and Pat Vaseska, board member. We then decorated the house for Christmas. Monroe County Genealogical Society joined us at Belle Fontaine for a Thanksgiving Pot Luck dinner. All enjoyed good food and fun.

December 2004: On December 1, 2004 the DAR had their meeting at the house. The Christmas party was a great success and we enjoyed good food and conversation. I turned over the gavel to our new president, Janet Flynn.

I want to thank everyone for all of their help and support during my term as president. We managed to get the house fixed up and in running order without bankrupting the society. I hope everyone will show their support for all of our new officers.

Hope to see you this summer!

Care and Appreciation

Pat Vaseska, President Retired