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https://archive.org/stream/pioneerportraits00cust/pioneerportraits00cust_djvu.txt
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.washburn/626/mb.ashx?pnt=1
Amasa C. Washburn was born May 25, 1807, on a farm, in Putney township, Vermont, His ancestors came from England. He was the only son, but he was by no means at a loss for playmates, as he had four sisters. He was educated in Putney, that is, he attended a common school there until he was eighteen years of age. At that time he started on his career as a schoolmaster, and taught school in various districts in Vermont for twelve dollars a month and boarded around.
After having taught for five years in Vermont and New York he determined to come West. He went to Albany, New York, where he met a company of thirty persons, bound for the West, and joined with them. On the fifth of May, 1831, the party went aboard a canal boat for Buffalo, and Mr. Washburn was fairly started on his way to the Great West. The journey was interesting and full of adventures. Mr. Washburn?A's trials began at the start. There was very little room on the canal boat for the party to lie down at night, so they took turns in sleeping. They arrived at Buffalo on the fifteenth and the next day started for Detroit in a steamboat. The steamboat was crowded. Mr. Washburn slept during the first night on some trunks, and the second night on deck on buffalo skins with some others of the party. About two o?A'clock in the morning it began to rain, and the party were drowned out. That night they came to Cleveland and the next day started out for Detroit but put back on account of high wind. The second time they started, although the wind blew violently. The boat rolled fearfully and the women and children on board were sea-sick. They arrive at Detroit on the nineteenth. Here a part of the company, among whom was Mr. Washburn, hired three wagons and teamsters and eight horses to carry them to Chicago, but after they had been for some time on their journey they changed their minds and went down the St. Joseph River. They started on the twenty-fourth of May. During their journey they fared very hard and their horses fared harder. On the second night the poor brutes ate up a part of the side-board of one of the wagons. The party had many difficulties in passing through sloughs, swamps and creeks, and sometimes they were obliged to lift the wagons out of the mud. When they came to the St. Joseph River, near Montville, they dismissed their teams, bought two log canoes, lashed them together, put their baggage aboard and started down stream. They went down sixty miles and then had their canoes and baggage transported by land six miles across to the Kankakee River. This stream was small, crooked and narrow, and after one day?A's sailing down it they were almost in sight of their starting point. The country was desolate and marshy, and when they touched the banks with their poles they were usually saluted with rattlesnakes. During the evening of the third of June they came to where the river widened into a lake, and as darkness approached they were lost, and clouds of mosquitoes surrounded them, and it seemed as if their troubles all came at once. But they built a fire and drove off the insects, and were made to feel that they had at least some company, for the croaking of bullfrogs on every side was varied by the squealing of wild geese. At last they found where the lake became narrow and the river flowed on. But they could not land because the banks were lined by thick grass, which prevented them from coming near the shore. Soon afterwards the wind arose and the waves rolled high. In the morning the wind became more violent and drove them on with fearful velocity, and it required all their skill to save themselves from upsetting. About noon they were soaked through and through by a thunder storm. Towards night they entered a lake and became lost a second time. The lake was full of trees that grew up out of the water. But after some difficulty they found their way out and came to where the stream was narrow and rapid. Here they ran against breakers (trees in the water) but happily found a shore where they could land. On shore they were saluted by the howling of wolves in all directions, which did not make them at all cheerful. On the sixth of June they killed a deer, and felt very much encouraged. In the afternoon they saw half a dozen Indians, the first they had encountered during their journey. They sailed nearly all night being aided by an extraordinary light which appeared in the West. Mr. Washburn said it made him think of the pillar of fire which guided the children of Israel. On the eighth of June they came very near being shipwrecked by the high winds and the large waves. At night they tied up to some small bushes by the shore and made their supper of slippery-elm bark, as their provisions were now almost gone. On the next day they mixed a little wheat flour (the last they had) in water and divided it among the party. This they ate at three different times. In addition to this they had only a few roots and some shoots of grapevines and briers. That day they passed several rapids and many dangerous shoals, sand-bars and rocks. At one time they ran against a rock in rapid water and were pressed against it sideways; they became free from the rock, but had only time to turn their craft straight with the current when they went over some falls a few rods father down. Soon after this they came to what appeared an inclined plane. The water ran swiftly, and after descending for about a hundred rods, the stream united with the Desplaines River and formed the Illinois River. In the evening they spread out their buffaloes and tired to get some sleep. But they were wet through again and again by successive showers, and could do nothing but stand around the fire. In the morning they started on and came in sight of some Indian wigwams. They learned from the Indians that there was a white settler five or six miles below and they joyfully started on. About eight o?A'clock they ?A"heard the lowing of cattle and the crowing of roosters.?A" At a log hut they obtained some milk and hasty pudding. They passed the dangerous rapids of the Illinois River, and came in the evening to a house where they received hospitable entertainment. On the tenth of June they passed the Fox River and went to the head of steamboat navigation, a little below the mouth of the Vermilion River. From there they went to Bailey?A's Grove where the company wished to settle.
On the eleventh Mr. Washburn started in a wagon for Fort Clark (Peoria), where he arrived on the evening of the twelfth. The next day was Sunday, and there being no church to attend, Mr. Washburn listened to the preaching of a man called Live Forever. This old gentleman had made appointments to preach five hundred years in the future. He said it was not God?A's intention that man should die, but, if they would exercise faith in Christ, they might live on the earth during all eternity.
On the fourteenth Mr. Washburn walked to Pekin, and there learned that a school teacher was wanted at Blooming Grove. Going back to Fort Clark he expected to take a stage, but being disappointed, started for Blooming Grove on foot, and arrived there on the seventeenth of June, 1831. By the twentieth he had obtained enough scholars at two dollars per quarter to commence teaching, and on that day he opened school in a log hut with ?A"no floor, no door, and a crack all round.?A" In the afternoon he chose his boarding place with Mr. William Lucas, for which he was to pay thirty-seven and a half cents per week. It was the best house in the neighborhood, but it contained only one room, and in it lived Mr. Lucas and his wife, ten children, three dogs, two cats, and the school teacher! On the twenty-sixth Mr. Washington opened a Sabbath-school at Mr. Lucas?A' house; it being the first ever in Blooming Grove. He was very much shocked at the ignorance of the children with regards to religious matters; one little boy declared he had never heard of such a being as God.
The crowded condition of Mr. Lucas?A' house made things appear a little strange, sometimes. He had a daughter about eighteen years of age, who received a great deal of attention from a young man in the neighborhood. He made lengthy visits sometimes, and as the house contained only one room the lovers got their stools together and carried on their conversation in whispers. Sometimes the young man stayed all night and, when he did so, the school teacher was somewhat wakeful! On one occasion Mr. Washburn heard the Lucas children discussing among themselves as to which they preferred should marry their sister, the young man or the school master, and the school master received the most votes. But the fates decided that neither of them should have her.
The country was wild and game was plenty. There were prairie chickens and deer and wild turkeys. On one occasion Mr. Lucas killed a deer without stepping out of the doorway.
In September 1831 the Methodists held a camp-meeting at Randolph?A's Grove, which Mr. Washburn attended. The sermons preached at this camp-meeting were more remarkable for force than elegance. One of the preachers enumerated the offenses which they should beware of, and spoke of the liar and said that to ?A"be a liar was to act the part of a poor, mean, black devil, and for any one to be a devil was degrading!?A" Another preacher wished to have something done for the children and thought he must alarm the parents on the subject; he said: ?A"How sportive are they in vice, and you often laugh instead of weep; the devil has got your children, the fiend of hell has got them and is leading them captive at his will and you smile!?A" The next day Mr. Latta preached, and made some very queer observations. He said: ?A"There is a certain class of people who cannot go to hell fast enough on foot, so they must get their poor, mean pony and go to the horse-race! Even professors of religion are not guiltless in this respect, but go under the pretense that they want to see such or such a man, but they know in their own hearts that they went to see the horse-race!?A" But he preached a strong sermon, and when he was through one man jumped and said he was as light as a feather, another clapped his hands and when around shaking hands with everyone; some laughed, some cried and some shouted. Reverend Peter Cartwright then arose and said, he had been requested to preach a funeral sermon but would say what he pleased. He was peculiarly severe on Eastern men because of their low opinion of Western intellect and Western character. He said: ?A"They represent this country as being a vast waste, and people as being very ignorant, but if I was going to shoot a fool I would not take aim at a Western man, but would go down to the sea-shore and cock my fusee at the imps who live on oysters!?A" But this sermon had a great effect and he concluded by giving a description of the glories of heaven. When he finished, some people fell down, some screamed, the children were frightened and Mr. Washburn says that he never before heard such a noise and saw such confusion. The camp-meeting was a great success and, it is to be hoped, did great good.
Mr. Washburn continued teaching and charged as quarterly tuition two dollars per scholar. But he was usually obliged to take his pay in chickens or calves, or some kind of ?A"trade.?A" In December, 1831, he began teaching in the town of Bloomington. Here it had been the custom of the scholars to study their lessons as loudly as they could shout and this was the custom everywhere, for parents thought this the only way children could learn. Mr. Washburn, after teaching in Bloomington for three months in this manner, told the parents he would do so no longer. He convinced them with great difficulty, but had his own way at last.
On the fifteenth of April, 1833, Mr. Washburn started for a visit to his native home in Vermont. On the twenty-seventh he arrived at Chicago and put up at Beaubien?A's Tavern. He said that at that time he ?A"considered Chicago a very important station.?A" On the twenty-eighth, which was a Sunday, he was shocked to see people go about their common business. A large number were engaged in shooting pigeons in the streets of town. (Was this their common business?) On the thirtieth he visited the place were the soldiers of General Scott?A's army who died of the choler the year previous, were buried. It is said that one poor fellow, who was detailed to dig graves, cursed and swore a good deal; he was taken with the cholera that day and died before night, and was buried in one of the graves which he himself had dug. On the first of May Mr. Washburn went aboard a sail vessel for Detroit, which place he reached on the evening of the ninth. On the eleventh he started for Buffalo on the boat, Sheldon Thompson. The crew got to racing with another vessel and were much the worse for liquor, but they came safely to Buffalo on the eighteenth. He started for Albany by canal but walked the last thirty-three miles of the way. He went by steamboat to Troy, and walked from there to his old home in Vermont, a distance of eighty-six miles and ?A? found that his father had sold out and moved away. On the twenty-seventh he found him and the whole family, all well. On the fifteenth of August he married Miss Paulina Parker. On the twenty-seventh he started for the West.
Mr. Washburn was a very religious man, and about this time he read one quite remarkable passage in a book called ?A"Flavel on Keeping the Heart,?A" which made a serious impression on him. ?A"A man had taken great pains and made great efforts to amass wealth, and had been very successful. He had only one son, and this property was all designed for him. When the old gentleman was laid on his death bed he called his son to him and asked him if he loved his father. The son replied that the bonds of nature, as well as the kind indulgence he had met with obliged him to do so. Then, said the father, manifest it by holding your finger in the candle while I say Pater Noster. The son made the attempt, but could not endure the pain. The father replied: ?A'I have risked my soul for you and must burn in hell forever, instead of a finger in a candle for a few short moments.?A'?A"
Very little of importance occurred on their journey home. At Chicago they found a great many Indians who had come to there to make a treaty with the government and get their pay and go to the far West. While coming from Chicago to Bloomington Mr. Washington had very little adventure; he was once soaked with rain, and the teamster was at one time incautious enough to break a wheel, but these were trifles. At Bloomington he began teaching once more. On the thirteenth of July, 1834, Mrs. Washburn, who seems to have been a very amiable lady, died.
In the spring of 1834, Mr. Washburn taught school at Buckles Grove, near Leroy, but returned to Bloomington in the fall, where he has resided ever since. On the thirtieth of September, 1834, he was elected Secretary of the McLean County Bible Society, and agent for the purpose of distributing Bibles. He was very active in the work. In 1835 he was appointed the agent of the American Sunday School Union for Illinois and worked to establish Sunday-schools all over the State.
On the thirtieth of April Mr. Washburn married Ann Packard, who has shared with him the difficulties and trials of pioneer life. From the year 1835 to 1843 Mr. Washburn followed various pursuits. For a while he kept a meat market. He kept the first regular provision store in Bloomington and continued in that business for twenty-five years. In 1868 he retired from business.
Mr. Washburn was one of the eight members who organized the First Presbyterian Church. This was in 1832. In the spring of 1833 he organized the first temperance society in McLean County. In 1833 the first Sabbath-school in connection with this church was organized with from fifteen to twenty-five scholars, but now it has from a hundred to a hundred and fifty. He has always been connected with schools and churches. His seven friends who worked with him to organize the church are now all dead, and the pastor, too, has long since joined the church above. Mr. Washburn is about five feet six or eight inches in height. He is very muscular, and has all his faculties unimpaired. He has a very honest looking countenance, and is a man of sincere piety. His hair is a little white and the crown of his head is rather bald. He never meddled with politics, has always lived very quietly and has ?A"done unto others as he would have other do unto him.?A"
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The H600 Project Genealogy DB
1807 - 1890 (82 years)