Revolutionary War vet made a business near Highland making salt

Edith Donnelly Kaufman will be my guest author this week.

Edith wrote a booklet titled, “William Biggs.” It will be her column this week, as we do the final preparation for our grand opening of the Highland Home Museum on April 22 and 23. Full details of the ribbon cutting and tours of the museum will be in next week’s column.

Edith has donated a copy of her booklet to the museum. It will be filed under “B” in the office on the first floor of the 1912 Building.

Edith finished writing this booklet in August 2015. She is now 95 years young.

Edith was a cousin to Cecelia Horn Harris, my brother Udell’s wife, whose mother Minnie Ims (Horn), was a sister to Edith’s mother, Elizabeth Ims (Donnelly).

Where does William Biggs and the “Salt Farm” fit into this story? Well, Edith’s parents, Edwin and Elizabeth Ims Donnelly, moved to this Salt Farm in 1924 and lived there until 1942. The previous tenants were the Albert and Regina (Bircher) Wildhaber, and their daughter, Marion Wildhaber (Ammann), was born there in 1921, and their son, Alvin Wildhaber, was born there in 1924. Edith Donnelly was also born in 1921, when the family was living on the south side of Giger School on Giger Road in Deck’s Prairie.

William Biggs had served in the Revolutionary War in the Virginia Militia and was sworn in on June 2, 1777, by Patrick Henry as an ensign. Biggs served with George Rogers Clark, and Biggs joined the group with Clark in the conquest of the Northwest Territory. (Illinois is in the southwest corner of Northwest Territory. This was the same unit that Edith’s great-great-grandfather John Krick was with.)

Edith just recently discovered that William Biggs lived on the same farm, as the Donnellys did, in Section 19 of Saline Township.

“Growing up, I heard it was referred to as the ‘Salt Farm’ but didn’t know the Biggs connection. My brothers and sisters and I called it the ‘Indian Farm’ as we found bushels of artifacts, especially along a small branch and on a small hill. Kids from town would come from Highland to our place and take home sacks full. At that time, the arrow heads had no value. Wish I had some now,” Edith writes.

On Dec. 23, 1814, William Biggs acquired 320 acres in Madison County, while he was living in St. Clair County, but didn’t move to Looking Glass Prairie until 1823, when he opened his ‘Salt Works’ in the East Fork of Silver Creek. (We know that Biggs also had slaves in St. Clair County, but have no proof that slaves were used here.)

Biggs had 40 large kettles for evaporation of the saline water into salt. It would take 15 cords of wood to make six bushels of salt. About 20 men were employed.

Salt was needed by the pioneers and the Indians to preserve their food, but it was very hard to come by. But here was a ready supply, as long as the timber lasted in this area to boil the water down to salt. Biggs as the very first manufacturer of salt in the Highland area. He continued for a considerable time, and he cut down all of the timber for a distance around.

Biggs was captured by the Kickapoo Indians in March 28, 1788, near Cahokia, Illinois. He was held in Indiana for a time and then was released many months later, unharmed. (There is a narrative at the University of Illinois Library recounting this story. The 36 type-written account is titled, “Narrative of the Captivity of William Biggs.”)

Edith had many memories of the “Salt Farm,” as it was a fun place to grow up during the Depression days of the late 1920 and early 1930s.

“We fished in the city reservoir, before it had its dam, and also Silver Creek. We had lots of woods to find mushrooms, dewberries and blackberries growing wild, and sold them in Highland. We had cows and made butter and also sold butter in town. We had chickens, ducks and lots of guineas. (There was) a wonderful swimming hole in the creek, where we and kids from Highland, would swim on hot days.

“One bad thing was when Silver Creek came out of its banks, we didn’t get to Highland to school. Our lane was covered with water, and it was deep! My older brothers worked at the shoe factory, and they left their car on the main road and walked around the water, so they could get to work. Some summers, gypsies would camp out, along a shady area of the creek. They cut down willow branches and made woven fern and flower stands and peddled them in town and the surrounding area. They begged us for chickens, eggs and some of Mom’s homemade bread. We gave it to them, as we tried to get along with them,” Edith wrote.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 7:43 AM with the headline "Revolutionary War vet made a business near Highland making salt."