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The hill that became the site of the town of Mount Pulaski was noticed by a traveling medical practitioner, Dr. Alexander Shields, who passed on this information to Jabez Capps of Springfield in early, 1836. Capps convinced his friend, Dr. Barton Robinson of Springfield, and, together, they invited George W. Turley of the Lake Fork area to join them in this new venture. They proceeded to the hill and agreed that this would be the place for a new settlement – located 20 miles NE of Springfield (3½ miles NE of Lake Fork and 2½ miles south of Salt Creek) in a vast raised region or plateau...” vast extent of the prairies or natural meadows.” It was rich prairie land ideal for farming and raising cattle – with its “black mucky soil penetrating below yellow clay at a depth of 16 or 18 feet.” [Springer, p. 24] Rising above this plateau would be the hill town of Mount Pulaski, “a city set upon a hill, whose light cannot be hid.” [Stringer, p. 587] It was immediately obvious to Capps and his friends that, during the heavy rains, this new town would not become the muddy, smelly and mosquito-ridden bog of Springfield. [Elizabeth Lushbaugh Capps - "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln"] The township of Mount Pulaski extends 10 miles north and south, and 8 miles east and west - 60 square miles in area. The highest point on the hill rises 65 feet above the level at the bottom of the hill. This highest point where the courthouse stands is 703 feet above sea level. Jabez was from a large English family, born on Sept. 9, 1796, in London, England. Charles, his father, was a clothier. He tailored for government and Royalty officials. Upon his retirement, he handed over this business to his son, Thomas (younger brother of Jabez), who eventually retired a multi-millionaire. The London Thomas house is now a hotel, with TC etched in stone above a doorway. This tailor business was in Westminster on a street named "Threadneedle". Eventually, all but one of Jabez’s brothers and sisters, along with his mother following her husband’s passing, moved to America and settled in central Illinois. [Roger Capps’ family history, Portland, Or., 2009] Jabez continued the family tradition of excelling in merchandizing, when he set up one of the first trading posts in Springfield in 1824. He also became the first postmaster of Springfield at this time. He taught school for a short time as well. [Stringer, p. 588] Jabez Capps, Springfield’s “…first regular shoemaker…”, with his first wife [Prudence Stafford] and family lived near a “… log-cabin courthouse, the first county seat of Sangamon county…” near the north side of Jefferson Street between First and Second, where he had “… located his shop and store”. [Sandburg, Vol 1, p. 299] Jabez disposed of his own valuable property in Springfield before moving to Mount Pulaski -- including two significant Springfield landmarks: the property upon which the present state capitol is located, which he traded for a cook stove, and the lot on the public square, which he traded for a side-saddle! This land involved Jabez in a lawsuit and Abraham Lincoln was his attorney. [Roger Capps’ family history, Portland, Or., 2009] Shortly after the passing of his first wife, Jabez married Elizabeth Baker and moved his family to Mount Pulaski in 1836, where he had ten more children. “Sept. 5, 1836; Jabez Capps came into court this day and applied for a license to retail goods, wares and merchandise in the town of Pulaski, in Sangamon County, and states the amount of his stock in trade; it is therefore ordered by the court he have license therefor, by paying the treasurer the sum of five dollars for one year from date and it is further ordered that the said Jabez Capps have license to keep a tavern in the town of Pulaski for the term of one year, upon his producing to the clerk the treasurer’s receipt for five dollars and entering into bond as required by law.” [Stringer, p. 590] Dr. Barton Robinson was born in 1819 in New Malton, Yorkshire, England, and in due course graduated from a medical school in London. He came to America, joining his brother, James T., at Buffalo Hart Grove in Sangamon County in December of 1831. He married Mahala Barber and moved to Mount Pulaski in 1836, where he practiced medicine for many years. In 1858, Robinson moved his family, including his four sons, to Farlinville, Linn County, Kansas. [History of Logan County, 1878, p. 286] George W. Turley was born in 1798 near Mount Sterling, Kentucky. He moved with his father and family to Sangamon County in 1824. He became Justice of the Piece from the beginning of the creation of Logan County in 1839 to the time of his death on February 28, 1865. He actually served in this office in Sangamon County prior to 1839, as well as teaching school for a time. He was the local authority on legal matters for the early settlers before lawyers began to trickle into the Logan County area. George W. married Margaret Scott and had three children. [Stringer, p. 61, p. 120] From a shuttered town site nearby [Abany, “…as surveyed by me. A. Lincoln, for T. M. Neale, S.S.C.; Surveyor of Sangamon County Jan. 16, 1836”], [Stringer, p. 213] Capps moved a structure to his purchased lot in Pulaski: “lot 10, block 14, on the west side of the square. In 1838, this building was enlarged and made full two stories, Mr. Capps and family moving into the upper story and the store being conducted in the lower story. The stone for the foundation came from Rocky Ford, 16 miles away. The building was 30 feet square, with attic and cellar. For many years, it was known as ‘Capps Headquarters’. It was torn down in 1867 to make room for a more pretentious structure.” Settlers from miles around came to Capp’s store to purchase their goods, often with “peltry of various kinds which Mr. Capps took to Springfield and exchanged for goods”. However, most of Jabez’s purchases were in St. Louis. These were shipped up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to Pekin, where he hauled them onto Mount Pulaski in wagons. [Stringer, p. 590-591] Jabez was elected Recorder of Logan County in 1839 when it was organized and separated from Sangamon County that year, a position he held for eight years. He was also appointed postmaster of Mount Pulaski on March 2, 1838, serving in that capacity until January 7, 1854. Capps continued his mercantile business until 1858, when he retired and went into a nursery venture with his son, Charles C. [Stringer, p. 591] While Jabez was joined by these two other men in the founding of Mount Pulaski - Dr. Barton Robinson and George W. Turley - he nevertheless has become the principal "Founding Father" of Mount Pulaski. Indisputably, this new town would not have taken off so quickly and so completely without the help of his two friends. Yet, Jabez appears to be the prime mover - the catalyst - the one who corralled his yearning for a new town together with similar restless hankerings of his associates. Jabez apparently inspired his two friends to go along with him in this new venture. And, he outlasted both of them - spending much of his remaining sixty years serving Mount Pulaski in various capacities. He died on April 1, 1896, in his beloved and now sprawling town of Mount Pulaski, lacking just five months of being a century old. Indeed, Jabez Capps may be referred to as "Mr. Mount Pulaski". researched and written by phil bertoni - February, 2010
History of Mount Pulaski 1911
History of Logan County 1911 |
