feet two inches & a half high & as much higher as I am a mind to & I dont know but what I shall look entirely over some of the small fish I very much thank McDaniel for his compliments what he told John I want him to keep cool & keep his shirt on if he please for I do assure him I shall have his pay for his house & lot I will try to get home with Enough of the Root of Evel to pay him any how but Enough on this subject.

I have been doing very well I have two Teams hawling provisions to the Mines & with the two Teams I clear about forty dollars a day but I have had some bad luck I have had some of my oxen stolen by which I have lost considerable money & I have had some sickness & a Doctor bil! counts up in this Country I went to a Doctor three or four days ago to get some medicine He gave me a dose of Physick for which he only charged me five dollars but they charge from sixteen to thirty dollars a visit if they do not go more than two rods but if I dont have too much bad luck I can come home at this time with money Enough to get us a good home. Jim McDwrote me word that Barlow told him that we would all have to pay a portion of what we make to the Company at home but I'll sware they dont get any of my & none of them shall not know what I have made I will say as I have said before I will not see old man Sprague & Spice loose anything by my coming to California The fact is I have done the best of any of our Company Several of them have not money Enough to take them home as a general thing the miners have done poor business here this Summer & there is not one of the Company intends paying over one cent they make here to Barlow. You must write as soon as you get this without fail I will write to you again in about a month My health at this time is not very good but I think that there is nothing dangerous the matter I hope Wells & Philura will have their scrape settled before I get back Oh! Matilda how bad I want to hear little Sis talk God bless her life how I would like to see her & kiss her that is one comfort you have that I am deprived of you have her with you all the time & I know she is a good deal of company for you You tell her that Father says that he is a going to come home to sleep with her & Mother Do kiss her for me & tell her about me but I know you do that she will be three years old when I get home a great big girl.

I have not got but one letter from the folks at Johnston & that I got from Sam I have written several I think quite hard of them for it I think I shall write shortly to Mother & that is all I am glad to hear that John is good to you I always liked him the best of any of my other brothers He will loose nothing by being good to you Give my love to Mother & all inquiring friends Tell Collin he must be a good boy to you I want him to go to school this Winter No more this time but remain your loving & affectionate husband until Death Kiss little Sis for me.

Matilda Dewolf

David Dewolf

Nov 5th The Colera is increasing rapidly from sixty to one hundred are dying daily All business is suspended in the city.

JACKSONVILLE'S CENTENNIAL

By CARL E. BLACK,

President of Centennial Commission.

This article is in no sense an attempt to review in any detail the events of the Jacksonville Centennial year, but, rather to relate in a brief way some of the more important features of our several celebrations.

"If we play together, we will work together," was taken seriously by our Commission as the underlying principle of our plans. Every community will become one hundred years old if it exists long enough but that in itself may be no sufficient reason for celebrating. The community must have a history worth recording and the attainment of its one-hundredth birthday is an event which may be siezed upon as the occasion for carrying out a definite community program.

PURPOSE.

This naturally leads to a consideration of the purposes of such a celebration. These purposes should be definitely in mind from the beginning, and a thorough understanding of them constitutes the first duty of those who would make proper plans. Without attempting to list these purposes in any set order the main ones which inspired our effort will be discussed briefly. To plan effectively there must be an underlying civic pride which can be called upon to support the effort. This, we felt, Jacksonville had to a marked degree, being fundamentally a city of homes and educational institutions. On this civic pride we proposed to build a stronger and more expressive spirit of municipal patriotism. Some experiences of the past had taught us that people could have civic pride without feeling the necessity of outstanding patriotism toward its government and its institutions. In order for a community to have the right kind of loyalty to itself there must be a rather wide-spread understanding of itself. In order to give the community the correct basis for its proper appraisement one of our first plans was to appoint a strong and reliable committee on "History and Historic Publications", which soon gave us a comprehensive and correct "Epitome" of our history. This proved of great importance in all our future efforts. It was constantly referred to in order to keep all plans true to the historic facts.

With this Epitome we were ready for a campaign of education in local history. A committee on the teaching of our history

in school was active in disseminating this information. To interest our people they must know the history of our city and county.

Communities are not accidental aggregations of people. Whether the citizen understands it or not, he became a member of his community for rather definite reasons. There is a natural growth. A few people settled, others came, liked the "ideas" of the settled group and joined them. Still others did not like these "ideas" and moved on. Thus communities build their character and characteristics. For this reason our plans gave early attention to local history. We believed that the people must be informed regarding the historic events through which we had passed and the great personalities whom we had produced, in order properly to celebrate our one hundredth birthday.

Towns and cities seem to forget that they are continually under inspection by prospective citizens. Either directly or indirectly we are continually being looked over. Population is constantly changing. This was more apparent in the pioneer days than it is today and yet in America there is a great stream of population constantly flowing. Why is it that this stream passes some communities while a great part of it stops at others? If a city is ambitious for increased population and institutions it must study this question in all seriousness. While we are likely to ascribe the large and rapid growth of cities to natural advantages and conditions, it is probable that in the final analysis this is not the major factor.

COMMUNITY IDEALS

Some communities do not seek increase in population or institutions. They are self-satisfied-the worst frame of mind any city can have, as it stunts progress and growth. The first and greatest factor in city development and growth is the attitude of its citizens. It would be interesting to know how many people had considered making a certain city their home and after some contact, direct or indirect, with citizens of that place, changed their minds. Probably in every city those who have "passed it up" would far exceed those who were attracted and located.

A study of the history of Jacksonville shows plainly that its character and characteristics were determined by that happy union of Puritan and Cavalier in its early settlement. Such characters as Beecher and Duncan, Sturtevant and Hardin, Adams and Thomas, Douglas and Yates, Lockwood and Henry, Turner and Cartwright and many other representatives of the spirit of New England, and of the best of the South, joined hands here for education and institutions which made Illinois one of the most progressive states. These men determined the character and