1809 List of Township Officers

Justices of the Peace. – The early Justices of the Peace held their offices by appointment, and it was not until 1827 that the people were deemed “competent” to elect their township judicial officers. The general view on the subject seems to have been that the dignity of the “Squire” would be or was in danger of being lowered by the vulgarity of elections.

The governor of the territory appointed the justices at the suggestion of the county commissioners, or “at will,” and the commissions issued to those dignitaries smack of monarchical origin, his excellency the governor using the plural number of the personal pronoun when referring to his own person.

The following gentlemen seem to have acted as justices in 1809:

Philp Fouke, William Arundel, Henry Levens, Pierre Le Conte, P. Harralson, David Anderson, Jean B. Barbeau, Robert Gaston, Archibald Thompson, John Guithing, John Edgar, James M. Roberts, John McFerron, John Bradshaw, Samuel Omelvany, George Robinson, George Hacker, Jas. Lemon, Thomas Ferguson, Hamlet Ferguson, John Phelps, and Marion Fuller.

Overseers of the Poor. — Ralph Drury, John Evert for Mitchie; Clement Drury, Pierre Le Conte, for DuRocher; John Gibson, A. Langlois, for Kaskaskia; Joseph Clendenin, Henry Leven, for Williamsburg; John Beaird, Paul Heilston, for Springfield; George Hecker (Hacker), and Squire Green for Mississippi; Hamlet Ferguson and Fredrick Grater for Massac; James Ford and Samuel Omelvany for Rocking Cave.

Overseers of the Highways. — Jesse Reynolds for Mitchie, Pierre Auguste for DuRocher, Jesse Griggs for Kaskaskia, Thomas Levin for Williamsburg, James Hughes for Springfield. For the newly organized townships Rocking Cave, Massac, and Mississippi, no appointments were made.

Constables. — Jesse Griggs and Samuel Davis for Kaskaskia; Michael Masterson for Mitchie; John Langston for Mississippi; Joseh M. Courtney for Marie; Antoin Le Chance for DuRocher; James Laird, Springfield.

Licensed Taverns in 1809. — Pierre Le Compte, at Prairie du Rocher; Philip Fouke, at Kaskaskia; Thomas Cox, at Kaskaskia; Jonathan Taylor, at the United States Saline; James Truesdale, on the road leading from U. S. Saline to Shawnee town; James Lane, do. do.

Reference: Combined History of Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties Illinois – Biographical Sketches of some of their Prominent Men and Pioneers; Published by J. L. McDonough & Co., Philadelphia, 1883, Page 103.