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| James R. Renshaw |  |  |  |  |
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| Tradition says that he "came across the mountains of Tennessee in his mother's arms." This may or may not be true as the facts seem to indicate that he was at least seven years old, and there were other children in the family who were also born in Rowan County. After the death of her husband, Nancy Leach Renshaw took her family to White County, Illinois, where many of her neighbors were settling. James and Sarah moved to Shelby County, Illinois, where James' brother John had settled, then on to Macon County, Illinois, in 1829 where they became influential in the development of Decatur, Illinois. James Renshaw became Decatur's first business man. In October 1829, he started operating a tavern and store on what is now the Lincoln Theater entrance on North Main Street in Decatur, Illinois. He is credited with putting up the first building in Decatur, a two-story log structure. "A hospitable man, he soon made his hotel the center of village life." His tavern license, issued in the county court, cost $4.00. Rates were fixed by the County Commissioners Court and were: Lodging and supper 62 1/2 cents Dinner and horse feed 37 1/2 cents Brandy, rum, gin, wine and cordial 25 cents a half-pint Whiskey or cider brandy 12 1/2 cents a half-pint In connection with the tavern "Uncle Jimmy" (as he was affectionately called) operated the first post office in Decatur and also a general store, the first center of trade for that area. He also acquired the first water powered sawmill built on Stevens Creek by William King in 1824. It was known as King's Mill until it was purchased by "Uncle Jimmy" when it became known as Renshaw's Mill. Macon County Historical Society published a new "History of Macon County" in 1976 from which the following information was gained: James Renshaw's account book, still preserved by members of his family gives many clues to pioneer life in the 1830's. One of the first entries in the book shows credit given to William Hanks for 104 pounds of fresh killed pork for which he was allowed 1 1/2 cents a pound. Credit was given at 18 cents a pound for 55 pounds of deerskins. Many visited the store buying whiskey and rum which they charged to their accounts. Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham Lincoln, was a good customer for the 'barks' during the summer of 1830. This bark was cinchona or Peruvian bark and was used as a cure for fever or ague, a disease that was manifested in what the pioneers called the 'shakes' and which attacked nearly all newcomers to the western frontier. The bark was boiled and the liquid administered as tea. Extract from the bark was later used as quinine - in capsule to avoid the bitter taste. Renshaw's drug store records show that Lincoln was charged $1.00 for one-fourth of a pound of bark, the purchase having been made by son. Carl Sandburg in his "Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years" mentions the Renshaw store and Peruvian bark: Fall came, with miasma from the prairie, and the chills, fever, ague, for Tom Lincoln and Sally Bush, and many doses of 'barks' a Peruvian bark and whiskey tonic mixture, bought at Renshaw's general store in Decatur. Other merchandise carried by Renshaw's store besides groceries, drugs, and liquor included blacksmith anvil, bellows, and steel. Since there was little cash; many transactions were nothing more than an exchange of home produced supplies. The account book shows credit for tallow, corn, making a pair of pantaloons, corn fodder, and turnips. Renshaw's prized daybook covered the years 1830-1835 inclusive. They show sales of about $10.00 a day for the first month, and by 1837 they had grown to $500 a month. The first entry was December 10, 1829. Nowhere in the book is there mention of a sale of a broom and apparently there were none in those days: bundles of ragweed are said to have been used for sweeping. James prospered and invested most of his profits in land. He owned and laid out an addition to the northeast part of the town and for several years he farmed there. He lived in a log cabin until 1859 when he built a brick home which was still standing in 1976 although it had been covered with yellow stucco. He and Sally had a family of six sons and two daughters and the estate he left them consisted of more than 1000 acres. He died January 17, 1860, never having fully recovered from injuries he received after digging a well. A favorite story tells of Abe Lincoln having made his first speech in front of Renshaw's store. Carl Sandburg in his book, "Abraham Lincoln, Wilderness Beginnings" makes the following statement: It was a change from the monotony of hard farm work in the summer of 1830 for Abraham to make his first political speech in Illinois. He had been delivering speeches to trees, stumps, rows of corn and potatoes just practicing by himself. But when two legislative candidates spoke in front of Renshaw's store in Decatur, Abraham stepped up and advocated improvement of the Sangamon River for better navigation. My mother, Sally Renshaw Wilson, often told that her grandfather had sat on Abe Lincoln's knee as a small child. When we observe that Abe Lincoln arrived in Decatur, Illinois, in 1830 and was there only one year and that her grandfather, William Renshaw, son of James was already eight years of age, a good size boy to be sitting on his knee, we might question the story. However, he did no doubt talk with Abe, listened to his tall tales and surely saw him splitting rails. In truth, another family story is that he cut logs for the Renshaw mill. Now that we know that James had acquired a mill, that story seems plausible. Since the Renshaw tavern and store was the center of life for the small community, I feel certain that the Renshaw family was well acquainted with the Lincoln family. Source: Our Renshaw Cousins by Bernice Everitt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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