Malon Bishop

As printed in 1874

Malon Bishop was born December 25, 1810, in Clark County, Ohio. His ancestors were Virginians, His father was a well educated and plain-spoken man, and insisted in spelling his son's name Malon, leaving out the "h," Malon Bishop was raised a farmer, and early accustomed himself to work. He obtained his early education at a common school. He was a good scholar and behaved himself well. It was the custom in those days in Ohio to bar out the teacher on Christmas days; this was the fashion, and of course Malon Bishop used to follow the fashion.

On the twenty-third of March, 1831, Mr. Bishop married Catharine J. Foley. He has had a family of eight children, four of whom are living, two boys and two girls.

After living for a while in Clark County, and afterwards in Champaign, Mr. Bishop started for the Far West. He came to Old Town timber in the fall of 1834, and in the following spring moved to Buckles' Grove, now Empire township. His land had been entered during the previous January. In September, 1835, Mr. Bishop attended the land sales; there the settlers formed lines to keep every one from coming near until they had bought what land they wished; the remainder was left for speculators.

In June, 1835, Mr. Bishop had the roof of his house carried away by a hurricane, at midnight, and the rain came pouring in. His wife was sick at the time and delirious, and it was not until the next morning that reason returned to her. Then she looked m'lean county. 575 up from her bed and saw the blue sky above her and everything wet with the rain and she almost questioned whether reason had indeed returned. The roof was soon replaced and Mr. Bishop, who had been somewhat depressed, again took courage.

Mr. Bishop has occasionally held office. In 1837 he was elected justice of the peace, and in 1842 he was sent to the legislature. During the latter year the Whigs first nominated Matthew Robb and afterwards James Miller, and the Democratic central committee put up Malon Bishop. The latter was very active in the work of electioneering and was voted for by many Whigs and elected as an honest farmer rather than as the nominee of a party. The country was then in a desperate condition; the banks had failed and many thought the legislature responsible for the sad situation. Mr. Bishop, when elected, felt himself in a very trying position; everything was expected of him and he was supposed to be able to accomplish impossibilities. Political matters were still further confused by the Mormon question and the Mormon war. The country was infested with horse-thieves, counterfeiters, burglars and murderers, and they made their headquarters at ISTauvoo, the Mormon capital. The people were terribly excited and thought the Mormons should be driven out of the country. Great depredations were committed by the Danite band and it is supposed that Governor Boggs of Missouri was shot and severely wounded by them. A requisition was made upon Governor Ford for Joe Smith and Hiram Smith, but these leaders of the Harmon church could not be found until Ford offered a reward for them. When this was done they immediately gave themselves up and claimed the reward of their own capture. They were finally examined, but it appeared that they had not been out of the State of Illinois and certainly did not personally assist in the shooting. The Mormons were so terrified by the threats of the settlers that they began arming for defense; but this only stirred up the settlers the more. Governor Ford called out the militia to keep the people quiet, and to one company was assigned the duty of guarding Joe Smith and Hiram Smith; but instead of guarding them, the company allowed them to be killed at Carthage by a lot of desperate men who wished to exterminate them all. At last the Mormons agreed to leave the country and prepared to do so; but the settlers became impatient and arose in arms and drove them off". All of these troubles increased the difficulties of the legislature; and the responsibilities which Malon Bishop felt resting upon him were indeed hard to bear. At that important session the State Bank of Illinois at Springfield and the Bank of the State of Illinois at Shawneetown were put in liquidation, and these two rotten corporations, which issued so much worthless money and assisted so much to bring financial ruin, were forever closed. The Illinois and Michigan canal also gave much trouble to this overburdened legislature. The canal required $1,600,000 to complete it, but this amount was finally raised and the work done. It was this legislature, which should live in history, that prevented the State of Illinois from repudiating its bonds, and gave them ever afterwards a firm standing in the money markets of the world. Never before in the history of the State was so much expected of a legislature, and never before were expectations 80 perfectly realized. It may be indeed a matter of pride to Mr. Bishop to have belonged to this public body which did itself and the State so much honor. Mr. Bishop tells of a queer incident which happened while he was in Springfield during the session. The State of Illinois received three per cent, of all the sales of public lands, and its money, which was kept at St. Louis, increased to thirty-seven thousand dollars. The legislature authorized James Shields, the state auditor, to go to St. Louis, buy a safe, and bring the money to Springfield. He took a two-horse covered wagon and an Irishman as a guard, went to St. Louis, bought a safe, locked the money in it, put it in his wagon and came to Springfield. The legislature adjourned to meet him. He and his Irishman came following the wagon and carrying their muskets through the mud until they arrived at the portico of the State Iloase. Here Shields gave the order to "ground arms," and he and his Irishman "grounded arms," while the members of the legislature unloaded the wagon. Shields was very tired and did not become rested for several days.

The members of this legislature received for their pay three hundred and ninety-two dollars in depreciated money, certificates of bank indebtedness and auditor's warrants. They used their auditor's warrants for taxes.and sold their certificates of bank indebtedness to be used by those who were indebted to the banks.

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Mr. Bishop has been a hard worker all his life. He has held many township offices, was supervisor in 1863 and '64.

Mr. Bishop remembers an incident of the Mexican war. When volunteers were called for in 1846 the whole community was very naturally excited and notice was given at a camp-meeting that volunteers would be called for. But when the volunteering commenced the government could not accept half of the men who were anxious to go.

Mr. Bishop has, of course, a very lively recollection of the sudden change in the weather which occurred in December, 1836. When the freezing west wind came after a thaw and warm rain, the weather became immediately most intensely cold. He saw a short distance from his house John C. Bradley and Aaron S. Williams with teams bringing loads of live hgs, and when the storm struck them, they went to Mr. Bishop's house for shelter. Their clothes, which were wet, froze on them instantly, and when they came to the house, Williams' overcoat, when pulled off, would stand on the floor. The harness on the horses were frozen so stiff that, when the traces were unhitched, they stood out straight. A bridle rein was thrown over a post, but it stood out from the post without falling down. The cold was so severe that the harness could not be removed from the horses for two days. John Bradley succeeded in reaching home with his sled and one yoke of oxen, the other oxen he turned loose in the timber and did not recover them for two days.

Like all the early settlers, Mr. Bishop speaks warmly of the good feeling which formerly prevailed among all Western people. When they met a stranger they were always anxious to take care of him and assist him and his family, if he had one.

Malon Bishop is the picture of good humor. He is of medium stature and not heavily built; his face has on it all the good-natured lines, and his voice has a pleasant ring to it, and even his Roman nose may be described as a good-natured nose. He has a great deal of shrewdness and is quick to see both sides of a question. He is always on the alert, and gets up at five o'clock in the morning to see that everything is moving right- He has never been troubled with any of the diseases of the country, but has always enjoyed the best of health. He has always been on the most friendly terms with his neighbors and no man ever complained of him for want of a warm welcome.

His children are:

]!ancy Jane, born in Clark County, Ohio, May 1, 1832, married Mark M. Craig, October 13, 1853, and resides in West township.

Stephen Lewis, born January 14, 1835, was twice married, but is now a widower. He resides in Leroy.

James F. was born December 6, 1836, and died August 6,

Elias was born January 12, 1839, and died March 11, 1864.

Catherine, born April 4, 1842, married William Hammond, December 12, 1861, and resides in West township.

Elizabeth, bo.rn June 22, 1845, died August 24, 1869.

Sarah Ann, born April 1, 1848, died in infancy.

Malon, born June 13, 1649, lives at home.

Thomas Davidson Gilmore.

As printed in The good old times in McLean County, Illinois / containing two hundred and sixty-one sketches of old settlers, a complete historical sketch of the Black Hawk War and ... all matters of interest relate (1874). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.