Edwardsville High School - Tiger Yearbook (Edwardsville, IL)

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 TM1E TlffiEM DEDICATED TO GOVERNOR NINIAN EDWARDS First Governor of Illinois, and, to the First Settle of Madison County.

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 TIME THEISM FOREWORD In this, the historical volume of The Tiger, we have reviewed the high lights of the history of our own community and at the same time recorded the events of our school during the past year. We realize that these events will themselves soon be history but we hope that this record will serve to keep fresh our memories of them even until that time shall come. FOUR

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 TIME TEffilEire YE HISTORY of our metropolis EDWARDSVILLE A on , long time ago, in fact, quite a while ago, or to be exact and more specific, one century, two decades, and five years before the penning of this manu-sdipt, the piesent city of Edwardsville was begun, originated, or settled (take one). In ttle eai 1805, a man from the state of North Carolina journeyed up the Mississippi Ri ei and thence into the beautiful valley of Cahokia Creek where he was attracted by the pleasant surroundings and prosperous looking country. This pio-neei, Thomas Kirkpatrick, by name, built his rude cabin on this same creek somewhere near the present site of the old cider mill on the Bunker Hill road behind the Lincoln school, and took possession of some hundred acres of land near there. In a few years, quite a few of the wandering pioneer families of the time had collected in this vicinity. No one occupied a more important position during the younger days of this settlement than did Kirkpatrick. In 1812 he provided for the protection of the town (which lacked an adequate police force at the time) by building a fort. This fort was constructed on what is now North Main Street and proved very useful in protecting the settlers from the neighboring Indians, who were very hostile at the time. When Madison County was formally created on September 14, 1812, the home of Kirkpatrick was named as the seat of government for the district and it was there that the first court of the county held its original session. It is interesting to note that, during the early period of Edwardsville’s sway over Madison County, that district included all of Illinois north of its (the county’s) present southern boundary, all of the present State of Wisconsin, and small portions of Minnesota and Michigan. The Canadian line was designated as its northern limit. According to this the town “ain’t what she used ter be,’’ but when we consider that the territory which Edwardsville now governs contains many more people than this old expansive district held, we can readily see that the city has increased greatly rather than diminished in importance. In those days the town was the distributing point of the business and trade activities of the vast area and the center of its social and community features. The city itself was roughly laid out in 1813 and three years later it was surveyed and plotted by Kirkpatrick, its original founder. He bestowed upon the town the name Edwardsville, in honor of Ninian Edwards, then the territorial governor of Illinois and later said to have been one of the prominent citizens of the town. The judiciary and civil government of Edwardsville has gone through many stages of progress since the first court session in 1813. After a few meetings in the home of Kirkpatrick, the rather informal county court began to hold its sessions in the taverns of the town. However, by 1817 Edwardsville had become the proud possessor of its first court house. This building consisted of a log cabin, erected by Samuel G. Morse at a cost of four hundred thirty-seven dollars and fifty-two cents. It was soon supplemented by a jail of similar architecture and construction, completed by William Otwell for one hundred ninety-four and a half dollars. The first provision for a government for the city that can be unearthed is an act, passed by the state legislature on February 23, 1819, designating Benjamin Stephenson, Joseph