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EDITOR’S NOTE—The following biography of John P. Stelle appeared in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. It was written by Roy V. Scott, a native of Greene County, Illinois, who is a member of the History Department of Mississippi State University at State College, Miss. Scott holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois. =O HEN HISTORIANS study the agrarian uprising of the late nineteenth century, their attention invariably turns to the colorful figures who provided leadership for the crusade. Ignatius Donnelly, the Sage of Nininger; Leo nidas L. Polk, dedicated North Carolinian who might well have been the Populist presidential candidate in 1892 had not death intervened; and the sincere is naive Mary E. Lease, with her “less corn and more hell’’ language, have all received due attention. But in addition to these well-known people, and often far more important to the ordinary farmers they led, were a number of lesser figures, largely ignored by scholars. Such a leader was John Patterson Stelle—farmer, school dawnline aAlé¢ne wmnlintamé mAlitl, Leacher, CULLUS, IELUCLEALIL es clan, and confirmed agrarian agitator—whose career extended from the Civil War to World War I and touched every farm organization and political re form group to appear in south ern Illinois during that span of years. Samuel Stelle, a descendant of a family which came to the New World from France in the 1660's, was born in Mercer County, New Jersey, August 27, 1793. Like many of his con temporaries, he resolved to move westward after the War of 1812, and in 1817 he set out on foot, carrying little more than a ride and accompanied by a dog. Not until 1820 did he arrive in Cal houn County, Illinois, where he settled down to farming. Life no doubt was crude and the soil far from hospitable; there is, in fact, no evidence that Stelle prospered. Nevertheless, on De cember 20, 1827, we married Patsy Parrish, a sixteen-year old New Yorker whose parents had moved westward a few years earlier. The sixth child born to this marriage, April 16, 1843, was given the name John Pat terson Stelle. Fate was less than generous to the family and its new son; economic problems in Calhoun County forced Samuel Stelle to move to Hamilton County in 1946, and the same year the three-year-old child suffered an attack of infantile paralysis which left his right leg partly paralyzed. As a result, he was never able to walk without a crutch or cane. Lack of edu cational facilities and the pover ty of the family further handi capped the boy's development. Public schools did not exist in Hamilton County in the late 1840's, and the family was far too poor to send the child to a private institution. Samuel Stelle was himself uneducated, at least in the formal sense of the word, but he taught the child to read and write and aroused in him a desire for knowledge. Legend has it that at the age of twelve John traded a pair of woolen socks he had knitted for his first book, a copy of McGuffey’s First Reader. Be that as it may, the boy's education received a boost in 1856, when a public school opened in the neighborhood. Stelle attended for two months, found that his handicap could be overcome, and resolved to attend the full six-month term the following year. The boy applied himself, and at the end of the term was awarded a volume on American history as a prize for scholarship. In the spring of 1860 he completed the education available in that school. 2 o0o Young John Stelle soon gave indications of commendable am bition as well as considerable ability. During the summer of 1860 he worked for the publisher of the Hamilton Sucker, a week ly published in McLeansboro. While learning the Printing trade, which he was to put to good use in later life, Stelle wrote articles which appeared in the Sucker and its successor, the Hamilton Express. Such labors, however, produced little income. In September, 1860, he applied for a teaching certificate, and after being examined by the School commissioners of Hamil ton County was duly certified. A month later, after obtaining a contract with the board of the rural school which he had en tered just four years earlier, he began his teaching career. The six-month term paid a sal ary of $120. Stelle enjoyed teaching, but the search for a more satisfac tory and remunerative liveli hood continued. Further educa tion was a prerequisite, he thought, and it pained him that on his twentieth birthday he did not possess “an English education.” Consequently, on April 29, 1863, he applied for admission to Carbondale College and was accepted after passing the required entrance examina tions. Lack of finances limited his college career to one three month term. Returning to Ham ilton County, he studied ambro typing, bought a camera and supplies for $75, and prepared to develop proficiency in a second trade. The outbreak of the Civil War had provided opportunities for additional experiences. Southern Illinois contained many whose loyalty to the Union was questionable, but Stelle was in tensely patriotic and devoted to the Republican Party. His physi cal handicap excluded any pos sibility of active service, but his not insignificant oratorical pow ers were instrumental in an old er brother’s successful effort to raise a company. By 1864 Stelle’s reputation was such that the Republicans of Hamilton County named him as their par ty’s candidate for circuit clerk. In the election Stelle cast his first vote for Lincoln, but in his own contest he was overwhelm ed by the usual Democratic ma jority. The decision of the Republi cans to publish a pro-Union paper in Hamilton County gave Stelle another opportunity to serve his party; he was appoint ed its editor. The Union Eagle, which was established in the spring of 1865, proclaimed itself to be “independent in all things, neutral in nothing,” but it was militaintly Republican in tone, and after the termination of hosttilities it called for a harsh reconstruction of the defeated South and belabored Andrew Johnson for his opposition to the Radicals. Such doctrines were less than popular in southern Illinois, and the paper collapsed early in 1866. Stelle returned to teaching in the fall of that year, expecting to devote the remainder of his life to the profession. It was as a teacher that he met his future wife, Eliza E. Coker, who was born in Polk County, Tennessee, January 26, 1846, was a co worker; they constituted the faculty of a two-room school in McLeansboro. The couple was married December 15, 1866, and the union produced ten children, nine of whom reach adulthood. Meanwhile, Stelle developed an interest in church work and emerged as a community civic leader. When he was only eigh teen, he had served as a Sun day School superintendent, and there were few years during his life that he was not busily en gaged in such activities. Appar ently, he failed to affiliate with a church but attended and par ticipated in the work of the one nearest at hand, whether it was Presbyterian, Baptist, or Meth odist. In addition, he was an active prohibitionist and in 1874 participated in the formation of the Hamilton County Temper ance Association. His desire for knowledge, so strong in his youth, continued during man hood, and he read widely and thoroughly. Shakespeare, ad vanced mathematics, and the Bible all interested him, and on numerous occasions in later life he showed that he could quote from such diverse sources with amazing accuracy. In moments of relaxation he wrote poetry. Although many of his verses were published (in papers he edited as well as in other out lets), Stelle considered them un worthy, but some had real merit. If nothing else, they expressed his concept of the good life. During the decade of the 1860's, Stelle acquired title to the family farm, a 120-acre tract located near Dahlgren. Although his physical handicap prevented his actual working on the prop erty, he devoted a great deal of attention to it and to means by which productivity might be in creased. The maintenance of soil fertility and all aspects of sci entific agriculture interested him. He developed, in fact, the first commercial orchard in Hamilton County. In time, he became something of an agricul tural educator, using the col umns of the various papers he edited to carry the message of improved agriculture to his readers. As early as 1872 he urg ed farmers to undertake the scientific study of their enter prises. When farmers’ institutes became common, he was in great demand as a lecturer in neigh boring states as well as Illinois, and in 1902 he was elected pres ident of the Hamilton County Farmers’ Institute. O O The years following the Civil War were bitter ones for Illinois farmers; as prices for farm pro duce fell, agriculturists found the burden of mortgages, taxes, transportation costs, middle men’s charges, and other e penses intolerable. The era was one of combination, as the rise of big business and organized labor testified, so it was only logical that farmers would turn to local, regional, and national associations as a means of self protection. Oliver H. Kelley, founder of the Grange, intro duced his order into Illinois in 1868 when he established a local in Chicago, but it was not until 1872 that the society reached a position of power. Designed to promote the educational, social, and economic welfare of farm ers, the Grange, officially, was a nonpartisan order, with no role in local state, or national poli tics. But distressed farmers meeting together were certain to discuss those matters which troubled them, and by the early 1870's many rural residents were convinced that only by po litical methods could basic in equalities be corrected. Conse quently, an agrarian crusade be gan which was to continue for a quarter of a century and was to feature the organized Grangers, Greenbackers, Alliancemen, and Populists, in turn. For John P. Stelle the appear ance of agrarian discontent was both an opportunity for service s and a challenge to firmly held convictions. A shrewd observer, and a farmer himself, Stelle was ecutely aware of the problems facing country people, and he felt sincere responsibility to do all in his power to aid them. At the same time, he was a confirmed agrarian fundament alist, saying in 1872 that while the farmer was the “bone and sinew” of the nation, he was the most abused individual in society. But Stelle recognized, as many a rural leader did not, that any decision to use politi cal power to correct injustices would in all probability lead to the formation of a new party. For Stelle such a step would be a traumatic one, since it would mean the repudiation of the party of Lincoln, to which he had been fiercely loyal during the ordeal of the Civil War. But, given his interest in every phase of agriculture and his strong sense of justice, it was inevitable that Stelle would be come involved in the Granger movement and play an active role in it. In the spring of 1873 organized farmers in the area formed the Hamilton County Farmers’ Association, a society which soon took on a distinct inflationary and anti-railroad zone. Almost from the outset, Stelle was a prominent partici pant in the group, calling for farmers to join together to pro tect themselves against the en croachments of corporations, mo nopolies, and public carriers; and by July, 1873, he was sec retary of the group. In reality, Stelle’s political migrations had begun. — His drift from Republican principles was clearly apparent in the columns of the Golden Era, a weekly which Stelle, in conjunction with others, had es tablished in McLeansboro early in 1872. At the outset the paper (with Stelle as its editor) was militantly pro-Republican. Dur ing the campaign of 1872 he was chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Committee, and in the Golden Era he sneer ed at the Liberal Republicans and denounced Horace Greeley in terms later reserved for busi nessmen and railroad managers. After Grant’s victory Stelle hail ed him as the “Invincible Soldier- Statesman.” But perhaps the seeds of doubt were already present in Stelle’s mind; at any rate, his transformation was rapid, and by the summer of 1873 the Golden Era had ecome an outstanding exponent of the farmers’ movement. In addition, as early as 1872 Stelle began publication of the Pro gressive Farmer, using the plant of the Golden Era. The Farmer, which was aimed specifically at the agricultural elements of Hamilton County, tended to be pro-Grander, but its career in Hamilton County was short. In 1873 it was moved to Evansville, Indiana, where Stelle exercised at least nominal direction until it stopped publication later in the decade. During the summer and fall of 1873 farmers in Illinois and other states along the upper Mississippi River ventured into politics to correct what they conceived to be obvious in justices. Contests on the state and congressional-district levels aroused the greatest interest, of course, but probably the ordi nary farmer was at least equal ly concerned with problems near at hand. At any rate, proceed ing on the assumption that “courthouse gangs” were corrupt and that the only difference between a dishonest senator and a dishonest county politician was that the latter could steal less, farmers throughout the Middle West nominated inde pendents for local offices. Join ing the general trend, the Ham ilton County Farmers’ Associ ation met in July and selected candidates, including John P. Stelle, whose experience and ability induced the convention to name him as its nominee for the position of county superin tendent of schools. Although the area was traditionally Demo cratic, Stelle won enough inde pendent and Republican votes to defeat his opponent . _ As Stelle studied the causes for agrarian distress in the late 1870's, he, like many of his con temporaries, came to the con clusion that the fiscal policy of the federal government was largely responsible for agricul tural problems. Forced deflation, he thought, could only harm the man on the farm and might well traded debts in more prosper ous times. Consequently, Stelle by 1876 was a thoroughgoing Greenbacker, and he worked energetically to develop the par ty in southern Illinois. Besides converting the Golden Era into a Greenback organ, he under took a heavy speaking program and became so prominent in the movement that he was chosen a delegate to the In dianapolis convention which in May, 1876, nominated Peter Cooper for President. Despite Stelle’s efforts, the Democrats regained control of Hamilton County in 1877, and he lost his position as superin tendent of schools. He had sold his interest in the Golden Era in the summer of 1876, but, de termined to use his editorial ability in the interest of Green backism, he moved to Murphys boro in 1878 and established the Industrial Tribune. In the fall elections he made an unsuccess ful campaign for the office of clerk of the Illinois Supreme Court. But interest in Green backism declined after 1878 as agricultural conditions made a slow recovery from the de pression that had driven farmers into the Patrons of Husbandry and caused them to question seriously their traditional politi cal allegiances. Consequently, the Industrial Tribune was short-lived; publication was dis continued in 1880, and Stelle returned to schoolteaching. The early years of the 1880's were favorable to farmers, at least in comparison to those of the preceding decade. In Illinois good weather combined with generally rising prices to amelio rate the farmers’ economic con dition. As a result, interest in jagrarian organizations faded; the yearly 1880's, in fact, was a quiet interlude between the Granger and Alliance periods of the agra rian crusade. But while most farmers turned their back on agricul tural organizations and concerned themselves with seed ing and harvesting, there were leaders who recognized that bas ic abuses still existed and that concerted action was still need ed. Such a leader was Milton George, owner of the Western Rural, a Chicago farm paper. Outraged by the extortions of railroads, George in 1880 created the Northern or National Farm ers’ Alliance, which quickly spread throughout the Middle West. By 1887 the upper Miss issippi Valley and the northern Plain States were thoroughly organized. Meanwhile, in other areas of the United States, farm ers joined together to create local farm organizations which increased in strength as econom ic conditions detriorated. Such were the Louisiana Farmers’ Union and the Arkansas Agri cultural Wheel; such also was the Farmers’ Mutual Benefit Association, _ oe The F.M.B.A., as it was called, traced itself to the chance meet ing of five farmers at Vienna in Johnston County, Illinois, in the fall of 1883. After a con troversy with a local grain buy er, these five outraged farmers decided to join together to ship their wheat directly to the St. Louis market. Shortly there after, other “clubs” of a similar nature appeared in the area, and, finally, the groups were united in a formal society. The organization grew slowly during its first three years and as late as 1886 included only about 2, 000 members scattered through six southern Illinois counties. Greater expansion seemed like ly, however, with deteriorating economic conditions and grow ing agrarian discontent in 1887. Consequently, the association’s leaders reorganized the order; secured a charter from the state; adopted a new constitu tion, creating a centralized asso ciation with assemblies on three levels—local, county, and na tional; and appointed organizers to work for more rapid expan sion of the association. The changes were remarkably suc cessful; by November, 1890, when the society was approach ing its greatest strength, officials reported 4,947 local lodges with 107,785 active participants scat tered through nine states. Some 88 per cent of the membership, however, was concentrated in Illinois and Indiana. Given the existence and pur pose of such an organization, it was only reasonable to expect to find John P. Stelle within its ranks. The date of his affiliation is unknown, but it is safe to assume that he joined as soon as the order reached Hamilton County, probably early in 1886. He was suf ficiently prominent to be ap pointed to the committee of five to secure state incorpo ration, and he served as one of ‘the first trustees under the ‘charter issued September 1, 1887. He in December, 1887, the general or national assem bly, a position he held until the order began the decline which terminated in its dis appearance as an effective or ganization. Stelle’s editorial experience and a controversy among the leaders of the society gave him an opportunity to play an even greater role in the order than might have been expected. Soon after the F.M.B.A. began its expansion in southern Illinois, one of the early officers es tablished at Marion the Binder, a paper devoted to the interests of the society. Later, Fred G. Blood of Mt. Vernon assumed control of the paper, but under his management it deteriorated in quality and tended to oppose positions taken by the organi zation’s new leaders. As a re sult, the F.M.B.A. assembly, which convened in Jefferson County in the spring of 1888, asked Stelle to establish a paper that would be more in accord with the desires of members. A trip to Marion convinced Stelle that the Binder was beyond re pair, and he agreed. In com pany with Mt. Vernon business men, a printing plant was as sembled and the first issue of the new paper, the Progressive Farmer, appeared on April 21, 1888. Success was almost im mediate. In November, 1888, the new paper absorbed the Binder and was designated the official organ of the F.M.B.A. By 1891 it claimed 16,000 readers and was the most popular paper of its type in the region. As the Progressive Farmer grew in popularity, so did Stelle’s influence and power in the entire farm organization movement. As editor of the Pro gressive Farmer, he was in a very real sense the voice of the F.M.B.A., respected not only by its members but also by leaders of contemporary organizations. In addition, as secretary of the F.M.B.A., he was a powerful figure in the order, usually overshadowing the other officers. Finally, his elogance and power as a speaker made him a central figure in all F.M.B.A. conven tions after 1887, and he was a frequent participant in gather ings of the northern and southern alliances as well . x x John P. Stelle, both in his capacity as editor of the Pro gressive Farmer and as secreta ry of the general assembly of the F.M.B.A., accepted these goals and promoted them vigor ously. In the columns of the paper and in innumerable speeches to groups large and small, Stelle denounced monopo lies, trusts, railroads, and other forces deemed detrimental to the “toiling poor.” xxx The dangerous crosscurrents of agrarian politics were clearly apparent in southern Illinois in 1889, when a special election was held to fill a vacancy in the Ninteenth Congressional District caused by the death of Richard W. Townshend. The Democrats, confident of the loy alty of their followers, ignored the farmers and nominated a party wheelhorse, James R. Williams. The Republicans toyed with the idea of naming John P. Stelle in an effort to draw farm votes from Williams, but after some hesitation they se lected Thomas S. Ridgway, a party regular. Such conduct out raged agrarian leaders and in duced them to put Stelle for ward as an independent candi date. In the ensuing contest he was overwhelmed, receiving only 2,388 votes to the victorious Williams’s 14,865. Only a hard core of agrarian insurgents sup ported Stelle, while a majority remained loyal to their old par ties. If nothing else, the affair showed the almost insurmount able difficulties facing rural candidates running on third party tickets. xxx ~ 6 ~ Although Populist hopes in Illinois were slight, Stelle labor ed manfully for the cause, ser ving as a presidential elector in 1892 and converting the Pro gressive Farmer into a militant Populist organ. But his efforts were of no avail; James B. Weaver received only token support, and two years later the foutlook was no brighter, in spite of a temporary alliance with Chicago's laboring men. Stelle himself suffered an overwhelm ing defeat in 1894 when he ran ‘for a local office on the Populist ticket. Moreover, the circulation of the Progressive Farmer fell steadily as Illinois farmers re jected the Populist doctrines it presented. As early as 1891 Stelle was convinced that the silver issue was the primary reform ques tion before farmers, and in 1892 he urged all F.M.B.A. locals to spend at least one evening dis cussing the matter. Consequent ly, it was with considerable in terest that Stelle watched the rise of William Jennings Bryan, and when the Nebraskan was nominated in Chicago in 1896, Stelle believed that the farmer had at last found a true and potentially successful leader. Stelle went to the Populist con vention in St. Louis in 1896, de termined that his party an accept Bryan, and powerful voice in pad weren = tat result. In the course of the cam paign, when Bryan visited south ern Illinois, Stelle traveled with him and introduced him at whistle-stops. To Illinois leader, Bryan’s defeat marked the final victory for Pa he feared. The struggle of oo however, was a benchmark in Stelle’s political evolution; he became at. The failure of Bryan in 1896 marked the end of Populism in southern Illinois, and the de clining fortunes of the Progres sive Farmer reflected the de clining importance of farm or aggee tale te of the paper hagun 1891 and continued yet thereafter. As early as 1895 Stelle indicated a desire to retire from editorial work, a decision clearly influenced by the fi nancial condition of the paper. In 1896 the name of the Pro gressive Farmer wased to the Progressive Home in an attempt to compensate for the loss of support among farmers, but to no avail. In February, 1897, the paper was discon tinued, and Stelle retired to his home near Dahlgren. The next year he returned to teaching in the same school he had left a decade earlier to lead the F.M.B.A. xxXX . Meanwhile, the F.M.B.A. con tinued to exist. In 1906 John P. Stelle was president of the group, which maintained the social features of the old or ganization and operated a $100 funeral-benefit service for mem bers. Official figures showed a strength of 3,007 farmers on January 1, 1907. A new constitu tion, providing for more effec tive organization and increased dues, was adopted late in 1906, with the obvious expectation of further growth. At a general assembly meeting in McLeans boro in March, 1907, Henry Dark of Warrick County, Indi ana, was named to fuce Stelle as president. But in spite of these favorable signs of growth and optimism among leaders and delegates, member ship began to disappear as par ticipants turned to the newer Educational and Cooperative Union, and shortly the F.M.B.A. faded into oblivion ciation and, perhaps, to give himself an income. Everitt in duced the society to adopt his paper, Up-to-Date Farming, as its ,official journal. In April, 1904, Everitt employed Stelle as, associate editor of the paper, a position that in January, 1909, paid a salary of $20 a week. Stelle apparently limited himself to writing articles and editorials devoted to the cause of agricul tural organization as envisioned by Everitt; there is no evidence to suggest that he took any part in the management of the group or that he participated in the internal controversies that re moved Everitt from his leading position and induced him to establish the short-lived Farm ers’ Society of Equity as a rival movement. Stelle’s wife died early in 1909, and this severe loss in duced him to retire soon there after. Returning to his home near Dahlgren, the aged agrari an leader spent the remainder of his life with his children, a number of whom lived in the Dahlgren-McLeansboro area. Death came unexpectedly De cember 10, 1917, as a result of a heart attack. For a few years Stelle was connected in an indirect way with the American Society of Equity, an organization that originated in Indianapolis in December, 1902. James A. Everitt, a seed dealer who claim ed to be its founder, believed that the only means by which the farmer could protect him self against the power of big business on the one hand and the power of emerging labor unions on the other was the or ganization of country people into a “third force.” The basic pur pose of the organization was the control of marketing by united farmers so that demand might more often approach supply. In order to give unity to the also- John P. and Eliza E. Stelle, 1907
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Mount Vernon Register News
Mount Vernon, Illinois, US
Tue, Dec 18, 1962
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